Thursday October 8th Corona times.

 How hard it must be for colleague comedians who depend on Comedy for their income, Corona has shut down so many places where we would usually be doing our thing. I’m lucky to be old (who would have thought I’d ever say that?) , and, I’m at the arse end of my ‘career’ so the cancellations haven’t really hit me financially. What corona and all the cancellations of shows has done is put a dent in my confidence and has confronted me with a life without the daily comedy pressure, adrenaline rush, ego and meaning. 

Twenty two years I’ve been doing comedy, solo shows,  line-ups all over the place, and now I sit at my desk as I always have done, but without the extra motivational pressure of the next gig… (it’s in another four days).

I don’t need sympathy, most people are in the same boat, not just comedians and entertainers, a lot of people aren’t sure if they will have a job by the end of the year… 2020 it started out well, but really bombed after March. (in comedy terms we should give 2020 ‘the light’ to get off stage) 2020 has dug itself into a hole it can’t get out of. 

So we have Corona, job security and the threat of loss of income to worry about, on top of which comes Climate Change, the effect of Brexit (on us in Europe too) and the threat of six more years of the White House being a cuckoos nest and destabilising the world, and what’s more I have a leak in the bathroom and can’t seem to get a plumber to come around. Strange times. 

As always I sit here thinking ‘how do other folk manage?’ Am I the only one worrying? Getting up everyday and staying positive, how do others do that? Do they do it? Or is everyone stuck in denial? There are enough over-enthusiastic motivators on You Tube showing their shiny success teeth while telling us how to be as successful as they are, Instagram is still full of influencer ‘you go girl’ types bouncing their hair and taking ‘awesome’ (filtered) selfies, or their male colleagues taking selfies while on strenuous walks, hikes or fitness workouts… are they real? Or do they crash into tears every time they put the camera down for a second? 

I miss going to music venues, I miss madly dancing to Idles or Sleaford Mods in public (I still do it around the kitchen, but it’s not the same without a mass of others), I miss being able to browse around in bookshops without a smelly mask on my face, I miss audiences, I miss I miss I miss… but so do you, we all have to struggle through this, taking one day at a time, doing our best to keep the infection rate down, and hoping, praying, or whatever your particular way of spiritual begging is, that this will pass and that this time next year everything will be back to ‘normal’ - whatever that is. Stay safe.