Bit of an update of things I’ve been up to recently… last month I got to see Martin Smith perform at Night & Day in Manchester which was really cool. I’ve seen him play there a few times now, and it’s a really intimate venue, and I was pretty much at the front for the whole show, so had a great view!

I was wondering if I might bump into people I know, and I managed to go the whole gig without spotting anyone, but at the end of the night I saw Craig (who I used to work with back at MUTV) and his wife Ima. I’m not sure when I last saw them – it’s been quite a while, but it was really nice to catch up with what they’ve been up to.

Then, the weekend after that gig, I went to see a heat of the West Didsbury Comedy Festival, because Edi Johnston had travelled from Nottingham to take part in one of the heats of the ‘New Comedian of the Year’ competition.

I met Edi years ago through Greenbelt, and back in 2012 made a video for his band at the time, the Austin Francis Connection. He was drawn to go on near pretty much at the start, next to the other musical act which wasn’t ideal. Edi’s set was really good, but it was so early on in the night that people wouldn’t really remember it by the end. He decided to head off after the interval, because he had a long drive back, and also he didn’t think he had much of a chance, but it was really nice to catch up.

Some of the acts that night we definitely better than others – there were a couple of really unfunny comics who bombed that I kind of felt sorry for. A name on the bill that I did recognise was Jack Wood who used to be a presenter on Radio X. I used to hear him quite a bit on air, and it was interesting to see him perform in such a different setting. His humour wasn’t too different to how he is presenting, and on the whole was quite funny, although I’d say it was a tough crowd to impress!

One thing I thought about the night was that the voting was pretty flawed because you had not choose your top 3 on a voting slip, but there was no recap, so you were trying to remember which act was which. Would’ve been much better with photos of each of the comics to help know who we were voting for!

And then last weekend, I went to Wales!

I drove over to Llandudno on Saturday because it was Emma’s 50th and she was having a birthday party to celebrate. I got there about 2.30pm, so parked up in the town and walked down to the seafront and had a wander around, before going down to the end of the pier to take some photos. It was a bit chilly, but the sun was out and the sky was blue, so all in all it was a pretty nice day.

After checking into my ‘budget’ hotel, I drove to Emma and Matt’s house, but had just missed them as they were doing party prep stuff, so had to wait in the car for a while for them to get back home. And then when they did get back and let me in, they had to go out for a bit, so left me with Emma’s dad and step-mum who were staying at the house! Luckily I’d met them previously when I was in America in 2010, so it wasn’t too awkward!

In the evening, we headed down the road to Colwyn Bay, where the party was being held. I didn’t really know anyone else there other than Zoey and Emma’s family, but it was a nice gathering.

Next morning I was up early to go to Emma’s church, which is where the party was held the night before. After grabbing coffee following the service, I set off on the long drive home, taking a scenic coastal route, getting home just in time for that evening’s entertainment… Dave Gorman at The Palace Theatre.

I’m a big fan of Dave Gorman and his Powerpoint shows – I’ve watched all his TV stuff, and saw him live at The Lowry a few years ago, and as expected, this performance didn’t disappoint. Really clever observational stuff, and I love how intricately the material is put together to connect seemingly random bits together.