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Friday 14th January 2011

Friday 14th January 2011

I had even more programmes with me today - I think I will have to get a cab in one day to bring enough in for the remaining shows, but I am persisting for the moment. It made my bag pretty heavy, so I only managed short walks today.
After a quick trip to the gym I got the tube to Broadcasting House for an interview with Front Row. ( available for limited time on iPlayer). I changed from the Piccadilly Line and lugged my bag down the long tunnel to the Victoria line northbound platform. When I got there I wasn't sure if all the exertion had given me blurred vision. I stared at the platform in front of me and it appeared to have gone all wonky. The yellow line was broken, the tiles didn't seem to meet and it appeared at first glance as if the actual edge of the platform didn't meet up either - on one side it looked like the drop came a couple of inches earlier. It turned out that the platform edge did meet up - only the white line was askew, but what had happened here? It looked like an earthquake perhaps, but one that was very uniform. It was like two platforms had been inexpertly welded together and whoever had done it couldn't be bothered to match up the paint job. Or had the platform been designed by some modern artist, wishing to challenge our view of the world and make us look twice at the mundane. At the very least you would think that the white line at the edge of the platform would have been easy to connect.
It's hard to know how to google this but "green park tube wonky platform" give no explanation as to how and why this occurred. It made me feel a bit cross eyed and discombobulated. Did anyone else even see it? Had I spotted some kind of Harry Potter style anomaly? If I walked in the right spot might I pass into a magical world and meet Aslan?
I tried. But to no avail.
Anyone know the story of how this platform got so higgeldy-piggeldy? Has anyone else spotted it or am I the only one? Has anyone ever fallen over the edge because of the lineal disparity?
Another lovely show tonight and a reasonable sized crowd. There was a nice moment when during the 10 commandments bit I accidentally pressed the release button on my microphone and the lead fell on the floor. "That's what you get if you mock God," I told the audience and then looked to the Heavens and said "Is that the best you can do?"
The disciple also turned out to be a sommelier (which in case you don't know is a wine taster/expert/steward). It was another unusual job to have chanced across and I had a little bit of fun with it, though I was internally cursing the fact that I am not doing the bit from the original version of the show when I turned water into wine and then got my disciple to verify that it really was wine (which in case you are worrying that I am magic, it wasn't, though they usually agreed that it was). The show is loosening up considerably and the first half, which has been a bit sticky sometimes has been going much better thanks to this.
The show might even sell out tomorrow. Bit too late, but hoping the last week in London will be as fun as this one has been. The last three in particular have been terrific fun and have been getting a terrific response from the audience. My mood has been swinging back and forth of late, which might mean I am on the edge of mental breakdown or (hopefully) more likely, just really need that holiday. Or a drink. Or both. It's only two weeks away. I am looking forward to stepping off this rollercoaster for a couple of weeks. Before all tube platforms start looking fractured and mind-bending.

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