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This was an intense day from start to finish. My poor wife, who had to cancel so much when I only had to cancel one gig, when I got Covid, took a lateral flow first thing, ahead of her own podcast gig to find the faintest of second lines greeting her. She had to pull out of her gig, out of social events and out of coming to Somerset with me this weekend and cancel a hair appointment for the second time.
The rest of us were fine Covid wise, so I got the kids to school and walked the dog and then prepared to pay Catie back for looking after me when I had Covid. She had no more symptoms than being tired, but as I keep on pointing out, that’s our constant state, so this had come out of the blue.
Once I was back home the heartbreaking news came in that Barry Cryer had died. I was just thinking yesterday that there was a chance he might speak at my funeral, and I think I might have even engaged him to do so during our podcast chat and the old bastard had let me down.
I was genuinely gutted by the news though. This was like a family member dying. Except you really loved him. I have written about him often on this blog and was lucky enough to tell him how much he meant to me last autumn the last time I saw him (but not the last time we spoke - he rang me a couple of times to say how much he enjoyed the recording and how rude he’d been listening back to it and also to tell me a joke on hearing that I was free of cancer). I aspire to be half the man he was - I don’t even aspire to be anywhere near the writer he was, but I think I can have a punt at emulating him to a 50% degree in terms of loving comedy, supporting other comedians and keeping on doing this job til I die. He had a brand new podcast out. He was working to the end. He died with his curly toed boots on.
He made me laugh so often that it’s only fair that he made me cry today. I knew this day had to come. I just hoped I’d be dead first.
I put up the video version of the podcast we did on Youtube as it felt like a fitting tribute and it’s great to be able to watch this master at work, still at the top of his game, so near the end. It’s been an absolute honour and privilege to spend time with this legend and I am very glad that for once, I got the interview in in time.
I had to go into hospital myself as I’ve been a bit concerned about developments in my scrotum in the last few days and had more or less convinced myself that my other bollock had joined the mission to kill me. Almost a year to the day since I’d come to the hospital for the scan that revealed something was awry, and while I was writing about that experience for the book, I came back to the same room in the hospital, not knowing if my reign as a monorail was about to come to an end. And so soon. If I was going down to none then at least I’d probably get a second book out of it.
But the half pea sized bump that I had discovered during diligent self-examination turned out to be a harmless cyst. It must be nice doing the job of scanning testicles when you can tell the patient there’s nothing to worry about. I had tears in my eye for the second time in the day, as waves of relief came over me. There’s no point in dying now that Barry won’t be there to talk on the news about you. So I will stay alive then.
I then dashed back to pick up the kids from school and look after them and feed them and bathe them and put them to bed, whilst my jammy Covid wife got to lie in bed. I mean she’d done the same for me, but still.
A bit of a rollercoaster and a reminder of both how fragile life can be and how it’s possible to live it well. I was also sent some photos of myself taking part in Taskmaster Champion of Champions, at the peak of my fitness and weight loss and I looked damned hot. So all of this is an incentive to remember to look after myself as well as possible, because I’d like to stay on this ride for a good few years yet.
RIP Uncle Baz. It’s genuinely wonderful to see how much you meant to everyone who knew you, but I am glad that you knew that this was the case while you were still here. I am not entirely convinced that you won’t ring me with a joke on my birthday still. If anyone can do it, you can.
