Hello Everyone! Hope that you are all well. Hopefully I will have seen most of you at the Easter Parade this year, but just in case I didn't/haven't (I genuinely have no idea what tense I'm in, sorry!) then thought I would write a few words to let you know what I've been up to for the past year or so. I am fortunately frequently updated on the various goings-on at the BMC by Stevie, but which only makes me more sorry not to have attended a meeting in absolutely ages. Such a shame being so far away now, that can't just pop along on a Friday night without clocking up some serious mileage! Oh well, it's fun reading the backlog of Billets that I acquire whenever have been away for a while. But it does mean that I am usually rather out-of-date for most of the time. For example, I still think that Darren Macdonald's twelve...foot taller than me, nowadays. True. Sadly. Never mind. Hi Darren. And so I think the last time I was about up north, I'd just started a PhD in Geophysics at Cambridge. Now, I know it's difficult to imagine, but it was in fact: really quite boring. Plus a lot of it was based in the Faroe Islands; a very strange and practically 100%-inbred group of islands about halfway between Denmark and Iceland (slap-bang in the middle of the North Atlantic). Quite chilly and ultimately (and again) very boring. Anyway, to cut a long story short I decided to cut my PhD short (Ph - sorry, that's two really bad jokes in a row!), and take up writing and performing comedy professionally; something that I'd grown very fond of whilst doing bits and pieces with the Cambridge Footlights. Had taken part in their National Tour that year called 'Beyond A Joke', which went up to the Edinburgh Festival in 2004 and then across the country. And so I then took my own one-man show up to Edinburgh the year later (last summer) called Back In Town Again: - "Waltzing out of town; which fortunately went well and signed with PFD. (They're an agency based in London and represent all kinds of people: from Alan Bennet to Keira Knightly (via Ricky Gervais). Keira Knightly's nice isn't she?!) Anyway, my agent has been truly wonderful, essentially sorting out all of my contracts and legal stuff, which I know nothing about, plus setting me up with auditions and meetings with producers (for radio and television). The production company Brown Eyed Boy (who got the Perrier Award with Laura Solon's comedy show last year) then bought the rights to an idea I was working on for radio called Animal/Mineral. Which was then subsequently adapted for television. It took a long time getting the scripts to the stage they're at now, mainly because the producers kept on changing their minds about some of the characters and the material. I think that the final pilot episode was in its eighth draft by the time it went off to the broadcasters! But it was all good fun. I play the lead character called Daniel Thornthwaite, who is essentially a very bad television presenter who frequently gets distracted and ends up talking a load of nonsense, but always with a very serious and passionate tone. He is also, what he believes to be, a Natural Receiver, and so can talk to plants and animals! Which is good fun, as it means working with dogs, horses and pigs. I'm actually not allowed to say exactly who may (or may not) acquire the rights to the potential full television series but we've just finished filming a series of teaser shorts for the Paramount Comedy channel (it's on cable, I think - I actually don't have cable, but have just received the DVD) and they will be going out after Easter. They were all filmed outside and so I got very, very cold. One was filmed in water too, which was nice! By the end, I'd completely lost my voice and I've still got quite a bad cough (Nick coughs! - Ed. Cheers Ed. - Nick (still coughing)). Have been doing various bits and pieces for the BBC too, which have been wholly brilliant fun and worthwhile experiences. Recorded a live show at the Bloomsbury with a load of other comedians which is going out on Radio 4 in June/July - will let you know the exact broadcast dates when find out. Just filmed the pilot for Lenny Henry's new show, which was great fun. He was very tall, that's all I remember. Maybe even taller than Darren. Hi Darren. Also in development with the BBC for a new comedy sketch show (for BBC Three). It's essentially an absurd character-based sketch show and so I'm looking forward to starting work on that - have meetings to chat about the show content/format etc. next week. Plus I've just started and submitted to the BBC a new sitcom about the Magic Circle. It's genuinely all based on personal experience! In fact, although I don't want to get into any kind of trouble (!), I haven't even changed some of the names of people yet who feature in the script. Anyway, will let you know as and when...you appear in it! So it's all been quite busy these past few months and has meant even more reasons why I can't be up north more, which is a genuine shame. I've just finished previewing my new Edinburgh show in Cambridge (called The Forer Factor - have pasted the details below) and so am doing re-writes and rehearsals for that in between the radio/television work. Can't wait to go up to Edinburgh again though. It's an awesome place. If any of you can make the show in August that would be much appreciated, although I understand that it's a bit out the way. Fingers-crossed/depending on how well it goes, I may be touring with it, which may take it slightly closer to home. Right, I hope that was of some interest and not just a barrage CV-esque dribble! I hope that you are all well and look forward to seeing you all soon. All the best. | 
