This week, Monday 23rd September 2013

Marvels and Improv Magickings

Gosh, I’m back in the real world today, quite exhausted and wild-eyed from a week away in Dorset. It has been an incredible five days of improvisation in a place I would never normally visit – a very strange culty place (oh yeah, literally a cult -check out the dude who set it up – I have no faith in rich gurus) – but all that was quite avoidable since we were doing improv with sixty other amazing people.

It’s really very nice to be home with my Marilyn, Merly and stuff though.

♥ This week’s scribbles

Wednesday Slightly Broken: Soul Searching with John Cremer A great week but fuck me, some of it was tough.

Thursday The Desert Crystals Part 22 “Dead Air” There’s something out there.

Friday Book Review: Feast and Famine by Adrian Tchaikovsky A fabulous book of short stories.

Updates on my thrilling life

Writing

Well last week went really well, mainly because I got to have a good old rant on Tuesday and did all the rest of my writing on Wednesday on the train to Gillingham (Dorset – apparently that’s important). I love writing on the train, and I love that we have the technology to do it. Brilliant species, providing we agree that my tablet is better than bears. I’m back in the swing of Desert Crystals after that catastrophic week or so ago (it feels like I’ve been away for a month) and the story is cruising along horribly/well.

This week is already almost devastated by my total lack of planning over the weekend. I made lots of notes on improv workshops though… in a notebook. Yes, I used a pen for the first time in ages. It’s a particularly lovely little moleskin notebook with a Lego brick in the front (happy present!) and my handwriting in it is truly appalling. I’m going to try to write about the improv wonders…

Writing? Read it – we have Pub Poetry tomorrow – Tuesday 24th September – which will be a grand chance to read your funny stuff and listen to comic spoken word / poetry / prose. Martin and I shall beat poeting…

Last week’s scribbles

Tuesday Things I Hate: Fucking Adverts An unnecessary rant about how offensive I find advertising to be.

Thursday The Desert Crystals Part 21 “Nascent Horrors” It’s in his eyes…

Friday Film Review Shorties: White House Down / Riddick (2013) Two bad films.

Lego

Zero activity. Sadface. Well, I did talk at length about Lego with a very nice chap called Josh from Bristol’s improv scene.

Improv Comedy

I almost have no words for how exciting and terrifying the last five days have been with The Maydays down in Dorset. A five day residential improv festival is exactly as awesome and knackering as it sounds! Four workshops a day with shows, jams and a showcase. I’met so many really funny and creative people who I’m desperate to play with again that I’ve become rather overwhelmed by it all. I’ve done things as diverse as improvised Shakespeare, singing in the dark, doing a show with a man wearing nothing but one of my socks, staring in a man’s eyes for an hour, consuming a lady’s wombmeat, fighting off daddy longlegses and bellowing mock-Nazi songs at night (I blame new merchants of the grotesque Necrotic Sausage buddies Sam and Jules).

It’s been one hell of a week and I’ve no idea when I’ll manage to document it all or track everyone down on t’web. I can do little right now but thank The Maydays and friends for their fine workshops, comedy and companionship.

Books

As you might imagine I’ve not really done much reading either… but I am most of the way through the first of Jim Butcher‘s fantasy series – The Furies of Calderon. It’s not as fun as the Dresden Files, but it’s got a rare fantasy vibe that I’ve been loving under the duvet at night.

Events and Excitement