Reading Between The Lines

Well

Once again I am finding it hard to describe my show last night in Reading. It was just like every other show I have done on tour, couples in the front row, a father and son, two platonic friends, you know – the usual show. Except for Tom.

Tom arrived late with two other people (who I later found out, had no idea who Tom was) so I grabbed all three and brought them to the front of the room to meet the father and son and the couples. Tom seemed shocked that one of the couples was actually a couple, and started asking them questions. Then he took the microphone and interviewed them as the other two hangers-on looked on:

I then started chatting to Tom, and found out he works at a Nursery (he took pains to point out it was a Nursery for children, not for plants). The thing was, everything Tom said was funny. It wasn’t even what he said, it was the way he said it. Dry, assured, unassuming – just funny.

It was a whole twenty-five minuets before the actual show started, and to be honest it was a bit of a let-down after the spontaneous joy that Tom brought. I suggested that we were quite the double act, and Tom asked how many shows I had left on the tour. I told him I was in Coventry and Portsmouth, to which he said “I could make it to Portsmouth”.

So I asked Tom to come to my final show next Sunday in Portsmouth, take to the stage, and tell a story about the Nursery. This got a massive cheer from the audience, some of whom said they would even make the trek to Portsmouth to see the show, and Tom’s debut. Tom agreed… so…. next Sunday, at my final show of “Inflatable” Tom will make an appearance to tell us a story about working in a Nursery. I think tickets are still available, so feel free to join us at The Wedgwood Rooms on Sunday.

To give you an example of Tom’s influence, during the interval I heard a few people talking outside my dressing room.

Man: “So, is Adam as funny as his DVD?”

Woman: “Tom wasn’t on the DVD”

Man: “Yes he is amazing”

Woman: “He’s just so dry”

Man: “Stoned is the word”

So there you have it from Reading. Tonight Coventry, then a weird international week of gigs – Belgium on Monday, then Madrid on Friday and Barcelona on Saturday doing a double act show with Jason Byrne.

Then the last show of Inflatable on Sunday night in Portsmouth, where Tom will make his story-telling debut.

Hope to see you there

Adam