Bookmark and Share

Thursday 5th October 2006

The dizziness still afflicted me through another day of work. But though I am undoubtedly tired I did manage to push on through and get draft 2 of "Double Act" completed. It's not perfect, but it's a hundred times better than the first draft and Channel 4 liked that, so they should love it now! My work is not done. I still have to do an outline of what would happen in the rest of the series, but I should be able to achieve that in the morning, before then heading off to Brighton to see the new cast do "Grumpy old Women" (the autumn tour is selling brilliantly, so book ahead if you want to see it) and then doing my own gig on Saturday (ticket sales are picking up, but still some seats left for this Saturday afternoon event), before heading home to catch my plane on Sunday.
But it's very nearly time to relax and I intend to enjoy my nights in Brighton, dizziness allowing. And then to really enjoy my days and nights in Africa.
It's a great feeling when you've completed a draft of a script. I have found writing both the scripts I have done this year phenomenally hard and though neither of them are totally done yet, I'll be working on the other one when I get home and we're filming it in the Spring. Hopefully having got through the quagmire of the pilot scripts for both shows I will find writing more (and there's no guarantee of that on either project yet) a Hell of a lot easier.Whatever happens it fells like I've been wading through treacle a bit for the last few months and even years and that now things have started moving again - including my brain (though it's moving in the wrong direction for the last two days, circulating instead of going forwards). Certainly the right hand column on this site that tells you what I am up to seems to be much fuller than it's been for a while. Plus today I got details of a possible London run and tour of menage a un in the Spring. Nothing certain yet, but it will be great to have a proper run at the show and hopefully it will be coming to a town near you.
All this PLUS a Screech sex tape. Things are definitely going too well. Something terrible must be about to happen.
I always like to predict disaster before a holiday (I'm working on the same theory as the brain tumour). I've been donig it ever since I was about 5, but the way i look at it one time I've got to get it right adn then everyone will think I was an incredible mystic who foresaw my own demise and then maybe I will be the new Jesus (which will be some comfort ot me as the lion rips apart my flesh).
But if I don't get to be the new jesus then I do at least get the chance to come back home and do some cool stuff, so it's a win/win situation.
More hard work will of course mean more days in the house and less good Warming Ups, but that's the price you pay. Still managed one or two that aren't utter crap this week.
And I'm trying to decide whether my holiday might also be a holiday from Warming Up. I mean it's very tempting not to stop as I am so close to four unbroken years, but then again I want to be able to relax and anjoy myself. Even if i do write anything out there it probably won't be posted til I get back, so you'll have to wait and see. It may be time to make good on my New Year's resolution. Though I imagine there will be lots I want to write about when I am away, so you never know.
Nothing to write about/
Oh I've thought of one thing. At lunchtime I went out of the house to go and buy some sushi. I'd just been working and lounging so I was dressed in some baggy old shorts and an old T-shirt, as well as my quite expensive but now slightly grubby leather jacket. I haven't shaved for a few days. As I waited to cross the road a homeless man approached the man standing next to me at the crossing enquiring if he could give him some money. The man said no. I was all geared up to give homeless-o a similar rebuttal, but he just walked on by me without giving me a second look. I believe he had judged me and decided that I either a) wasn't the kind of person who would give money to a vagrant or b) wasn't the kind of person who would have spare money to give out. I think b) is the more likely option. He thought I looked a mess and assumed I had nothing spare to give. He was wrong I had plenty spare, but he had saved himself some effort as I am in fact an a). But it felt bad to have been juedged in this way by a tramp. I felt slightly offended. i almost felt like chasing after him and pressing £20 into his hand to prove that just because I was scruffy didn't mean I didn't have money to throw away. I don't think he was employing a clever psychological experiment on me. I think he genuinely didn't think I was worht the waste of breath.
What does it say about you if a tramp feels you're not even worth asking for money. Tramps ask everyone for money. He can only have assumed that I was another tramp. Maybe he saw me staggering around slightly and thought I was drunk. I don't know. I don't think so. I just think I've reached a point in my life where I might end up making more money begging on the streets than I will by sitting in and writing scripts. Even though i am doing quite well with the scripts. That is how trampy I am becoming.

Also this. Please lend your support to this petition. Even though Ouch! had a go at me back in 2004 I still think it's a great site and for once let's try and fight the BBC's stupid decisions before they have finally come into effect!

the BBC are STILL planning to shelve the Ouch podcast!

Part of the BBC disability website 'OUCH!', this podcast is downloaded each month by thousands of disabled and non-disabled people from the UK, and indeed the world. Presented by Liz Carr and Mat Fraser, it's irreverent, it's cutting edge, it's funny, and it's not like anything else.

Thanks for your support so far and if you haven't signed the petition yet, please just click here and do so.

PETITION

We still need more signatures by Monday if we're to save the Ouch! podcast... we're handing it into a meeting of media bigwigs who are part of the Broadcasters and Creative Industries Disability Network

We've hit 300 but I want 1,000 so we can give them the message that we want this podcast to say!

Please repost this bulletin if you can to reach as many MySpacers as possible - thanks!

Bookmark and Share



Subscribe to my Substack here
See RHLSTP on tour Guests and ticket links here
Help us make more podcasts by becoming a badger You get loads of extras if you do.
To join Richard's Substack (and get a lot of emails) visit:

richardherring.substack.com