Last Friday, I returned to the stage for the first time in nearly seven weeks.
I felt a little rusty, but broke the longest stretch of time without a gig since I returned to stand-up nine years ago. I needed a break after what was a physically and emotionally draining August. Then a resilient cough and cold extended my absence from the stage.
So, what have I been doing with myself other than being ill? I’ve been writing songs about the life and career of Ross Kemp, that’s what. I’d like to do an Edinburgh show on this, but it may take a while to come together. And as the old saying goes: if you’re going to write a musical about Ross Kemp, you might as well take the time to do it properly.
The other thing I’ve been doing is consistently questioning what I’m doing with my life and my next step. It’s been something that has left me dumbstruck, because I genuinely have no idea at the moment. What the hell am I doing and where am I going? I may still not know the answer to the former, but now have at least a temporary answer to the latter. I am going to New Zealand.
In March, I will return to the country I spent four months in my early 20s that consisted of travelling around and doing stupid things.
What’s different with this trip is that I’m going there to perform comedy, as I’m taking How To Win A Pub Quiz to NZ. A show that was inspired by giant squid is going to a country where these creatures live off the coast of.
I currently have dates in Wellington and Dunedin, with others potentially in the works. I’m only going for two and a bit weeks this time, with a gig in Singapore on the way. But if the gigs sell well, then the trip should pay for itself.
An awful lot has happened in the 12 years since I was last in New Zealand. A ridiculous amount of things have happened to me personally and the world we live in. What hasn’t changed are my need for adventures and adrenaline rushes.