I slept solidly and woke up at about 9am, finding myself miraculously un-jet-lagged and adjusted to the new time zone. And just by being away in a different place I felt rejuventated and relaxed. A change is indeed as good as a rest.
When I am at home a day can disappear without me achieving anything, but suddenly breaking the routine I was able to seemingly potter and lounge around, but still got a lot done. I did some writing, just for fun, not stuff I will be able to use for the moment, and did some work on my act - checking to see if the locals knew about Lion Bars (they don't) and thinking more carefully about what should go into my 12 minutes for tonight. I read and went swimming and went down to the mall for coffee and a late lunch. I chatted with the other comics that I was bumping into every fifteen minutes or so (we're pretty much all put up in the same hotel, so there's always someone in the bar or the lobby to have a chat with. The more I feel like a proper stand up, the more comfortable I am in the company of the proper stand ups. I have almost entirely shaken off the demons of my past and most of the time no longer feel that I am a proper stand up now, but occasionally I can't quite believe that I am. Don't tell the other stand ups that though. I think I am fooling them.
I was much more in the mood for a gig tonight, sharper and focused and looking forward to it. I am doing Britcom at Club Soda which is a big room on two tiers and even though it started at 7 o clock on a Monday it was packed with an incredibly enthusiastic crowd. Stephen K Amos was compering and got massive laughs from the outset. It looked like it would be a good night, but it only takes one duff act to come on and ruin things. What if they saw through me and realised I was only pretending to be a stand up?
I was on second and was uncharacteristically nervous as I waited in the wings, my throat going dry, wondering if I would be unmasked as the chancer I am. But I needn't have worried too much. They went for pretty much everything and it was great fun playing off an audience of this size and enthusiasm. The rude stuff went down better than the erudite stuff and I will probably refine the set a little tomorrow, but it was a thrilling gig and it was a relief to go down well. It was an amazing line up with big names like Frank Skinner and Jimmy Carr, stalwarts like Sean Meo and John Maloney and newer acts Michael Mcintyre and Wes Packer and the variety of styles was remarkable, but everyone went down well and I actually felt rather proud to be part of the show.
I drank a few too many beers in the green room, out of relief as much as anything, but went into the crowd to watch the second half. I was particularly impressed with Wes Packer, who was the winner of "So You Think You're Funny" and thus the newest act on the bill, but he held his own and I don't think anyone would have picked him out as the most inexperienced. He is a very engaging and likeable performer who took the brave risk of telling just one story during his seven minutes on stage, which worked a treat. Look out for him.
Then back to the hotel for a couple more beers and a enjoyable chat with my fellow stand ups al fresco under the Montreal stars (they have their own special stars here).
It has been really good for me to get away this week and I hope I can get some good work in on the Edinburgh show. Anyway, enough hanging around in the hotel lobby writing this. I am in Montreal. You're not (almost certainly). I'm going to make the most of it.
