Blog

In October the BBC began recording another series of I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue, one of the recordings taking place in my home town of Croydon.

The Clue national tour of the stage show, under the aegis of Random Entertainment, began in late November, and we did half a dozen dates. The bulk of the tour – 25 dates – took place from the last week of February 2023 until the end of March, covering much of the UK and playing to packed and very responsive crowds.

The teams were drawn from a sparkling array of comedy talent who joined us variously around the country. They were Rory Bremner, Marcus Brigstocke, John Culshaw, Pippa Evans, John Finnemore, Tony Hawks, Harry Hill, Milton Jones, Fred MacAulay, and Rachel Parris, with Jack Dee chairing as ever.

I’ve been kept busy this academic year, in drama schools old and new (to me).

In October East 15 invited me to work on song repertoire with the MA students. I returned mid-November to work with the MA International students on the music and songs for their two children’s Christmas shows.

In the Autumn Term I also taught weekly singing classes at SchoolLondon https://www.facebook.com/theschoolldn/ a drama course run by my ex-colleague Trudi Rees. I was back again at East 15 in January – illness had bedevilled their Music Dept since October – working with the BA 3^rd years.

I then taught 1^st years for a couple of days at Drama Studio London, working on singing skills.

In terms of composition, the works I started with Chris Lowe are now complete and will be freely available. Both The Primary School Oratorio, for primary music teachers in search of material for their young classes, and Carmina Comica , for choral societies with a sense of humour, will soon have links on the First Note Music Trust website https://www.firstnotemusictrust.com/

On 30^th September, with hardly touching a keyboard (except for a rousing finale on the melodica), I took on the fun job of narrating Brenda Longman’s entertainment in Farnham, A Tale of Two Theatres. This was a light hearted but thoroughly-researched history of the Castle and Redgrave Theatres, with many past friends participating in readings and playing scenes, playing to a very supportive audience.

The Comedy Store invited me to play for their show on 15^th May, and although I hadn’t been involved in the music side of impro comedy for some time the evening went well – at least, so they all said. Josie Lawrence, Lee Simpson and Neil Mullarkey were on the team, and it was good to be back with such stalwarts again.