I now have an exercise bike, though it didn't make an appearance in tonight's show. I had picked it up from the Argos this afternoon on my way back from the BBC, where I had been interviewed on Richard Bacon's show and excitingly ended up in the middle of a breaking news story. Robert Peston came into the studio to reveal that he had leaked extras about Vince Cable and I sat and witnessed the story being told for (presumably) the first time on air. But there was also time for a long chat about my show and about atheism in general. It's pretty cool that nowadays an atheist can get to air their views on national radio without too many repercussions. Though there was the inevitable backlash from people wanting balance (though they don't seem to call for that during any of the BBC's religious programming) or asking me why I didn't do a show called "Mohammed on a Moped". I tried to explain that the show was based on my personal experiences of being brought up as a Christian and that I don't know enough about Islam to comment on it, and that as an atheist I am as much at odds with Islam as I am with Christianity and that in any case the show is not an attack on Christianity. There is also the issue that Muslims are a minority group in our country and get enough flak as it is and that to hone in on them might be perceived as racist or unhelpful. But that doesn't stop Christians complaining. Perhaps they haven't read the bit of the Bible about turning the other cheek. I think I encouraged Christians to take up arms if they wanted to frighten people out of criticising them. It didn't come out quite as I had intended. But you can't be a member of a religion that proposes peace and passive resistance and then get annoyed when others criticise you.
But the show is really about my own stupidity anyway, so really people should see it before they get annoyed by it.
I realised as I started to lug the bike back home that it would have been a much more sensible plan to pick it up on the way to the gig. Of course I hadn't been sure how heavy it was, or how easily I could collect it, so that might have been a risk. But as it turns out I could have just carried across the road and then only had a short walk once I was in town. I had a good walk back home and although the bike wasn't massively heavy and was boxed up, it was awkward and it would be tiring to carry it back later on. And by the time I had to leave I realised I couldn't rely on getting a cab, nor on he stop and start nature of getting the box to its destination. Maybe tomorrow.
Tonight's audience was the smallest, but also the most receptive of the run so far. And maybe I had got back into the rhythm of things. Annoyingly, as always, the reviewers come early and thought the crits have been positive, it was hard to argue with the Guardian review that came out tonight (from my nemesis Brian Logan) that the audience had been unresponsive during the first half on Monday. Tonight they were up for it from the start and as a result the show whizzed along nicely. All I have to worry about now is getting bums on seats. The audiences for the first three shows combined would have pretty much fitted into the auditorium. It will be a shame if I end up doing gigs that are a third full, when I could have done two weeks to packed crowds. Hopefully it will pick up after Christmas. The show after me had been selling out until this week, but had similarly sparse pickings tonight. So the seasonal Christmas show was maybe a poor choice. It's a bit early to be writing the eulogy yet. Though I am far from being a comedian who can guarantee sell-outs despite the positive increase in audiences over the last few years and a relatively high profile twelve months. I must keep plugging away and try not to lose momentum or enthusiasm. On the plus side, the number in tonight's crowd was higher than pretty much any of the gigs I did in London back in 2001 when I first did this show here. There is time for improvement. But I am a little fearful and frustrated evenso. There's been plenty of publicity and interviews and so I can't blame anyone else. If nothing else I will get a chance to keep working on and improving the show thanks to the extra performances. But perhaps a single gig (or maybe 2) in somewhere like the Hammersmith Apollo would have been a more time effective way of doing this.
Still I enjoyed myself tonight and I think these people will tell their friends and it seems word of mouth is still the way that I sell tickets. So stop keeping me as a secret to yourself, you motherfuckers, and spread the word!
