With the March 15th return to the stage for Lucifer’s Love Child approaching like a speeding train, our manager, Rupert, has the band doing the rounds for media promotion.
Yesterday we were in the delightful studios at Penistone FM for a chat with David Higgins
Take a listen to us below…. it includes me doing the weather!
Just wanted to take a break from learning lines and let you know I’ll be on stage March 15th, in a new play, The Boys Are Back Int’ Tarn, written by local legends Lee Pollard and Paul Athorne.
Lucifer’s Love Child are back!
30 years after they last performed together, Yorkshire based rockers: Jimmy, Malc, Briggsy and Gordon are planning a new album and world tour.
After their 1980 s hit single “You Make it Hard to Love You” was used in a popular Viagra commercial, the band have attracted a new generation of fans. All they must do now to enjoy their second chance at fame is set aside dodgy prostates, chiropodist’s appointments and even an adopted Gorilla and they’re on their way.
Join us as the band return to the recording studio accompanied by their long-time manager Rupert and Thomas, the mysterious new sound engineer. What could
possibly go wrong?
It’s ONE NIGHT ONLY, Friday 15th March. 7.30 pm, at the PENISTONE PARAMOUNT – Tickets £14.
It’s a great cast, and we are having lots of fun bringing these rockers to life, so grab a ticket, get out your old Rock T-Shirts, and come along for the ride.
Crikey, it’s March and my last update was back in August last year.
My apologies dear reader. It’s sort of a mix of there being no news, and too much news, so I will try and update a bit. So – Work first – then my life….
WORK
Winter is generally a quiet time in my line of work, as TV and Film tends to wind down a bit.
I did some theatre in September, with Dead Earnest Theatre, in a production of The Ratcatcher, part of the Festival Of The Mind in the Spiegeltent in the centre of Sheffield.
I’ve done some voice work too, on a wonderful series for VanitasArts, a new jazz based audio drama series titled Persons of Interest– four audio drama podcasts based on the lives of prominent jazz artists who are Black and Queer: Gladys Bentley, Josephine Baker, Ken Snakehips Johnson and Ada Bricktop Smith. You can listen to these as they’re released here, or through your favourite Podcast sources.
My voice has also featured on a new story on the Geostories App: Freyda Skald of Jorvik.
The Jorvik GeoStory is about magic, myth and mystery as a young woman’s life is transformed after an encounter with a legendary Viking Seeress, Gudrun. Developed in partnership with The Jorvik Viking Centre and supported by Arts Council England, the story begins in Coppergate, York.
Launched at the 2023 JORVIK VIKING FESTIVAL in February, it features Augmented Reality images that come to life as you are transported back to Jorvik in the Year 960 and into magical Viking Realms.
Freyda Skald of Jorvik is free to listen to and can be accessed in the GeoStories Library by downloading the GeoStories app on the App Store and Google Play or by scanning the QR Code on the flyer below.
LIFE & LOVE
2022 ended wonderfully. I met an amazing woman.
Just when you feel like there is no one out there for you, that you should just maybe give up on the idea of romance. That a hand blindly fishing around in the Quality Street tin for a wrapped chocolate may be the most exciting thing to happen over Christmas.
Beverley is much nicer than a Quality Street Strawberry Cream or a Purple One.
She’s an author, writer, coach, entrepreneur, single mum, and much, much more – and things are quite lovely. We laugh, sing, cuddle, and kiss a lot.
You can find her here or at The Writers Workshop.
Or read her latest Grief blog update here – Swimming Through Clouds: A journey of love and loss. I am mentioned in the latest update.
The Writers Workshop is an amazing resource for you writers out there, with workshops, motivation sessions, mentoring, live events, retreats, masterclasses, and much more.
It’s very affordable, and the sessions are either in person or online. Take a look
Inspired by being with this amazing Writer Woman, I have started writing more myself, and I’ve even dug out some older pieces to tinker with. I will share some of my new stuff at the end of this update.
BIRTHDAY
My birthday arrived in January. It wasn’t unexpected of course.
I decided on a trip to Edinburgh for my birthday treat, as I’d never visited before.
So it was the Castle, Royal Mile, Haggis Neeps and Tatties, Deep Fried Mars Bars, and a walk up Arthur’s Seat.
And I slipped walking back down from Arthur’s seat, hurting my own seat, a bang on the Coccyx. It’s still painful now.
VISITORS
My Brother John and his daughter Modena visited from Canada in January. Our birthday’s are 4 years and a day apart. So it was lovely to catch up, have family time, and a drink or two with old friends.
COVID HITS Damn! After avoiding the lurgy since the very beginning, Covid hit the house at the end of January.
Mum and I are both fully vaccinated, so it could have been worse.
I was pretty miserable with it for a few days, but bounced back.
Mum is 90, so it has hit her harder. Though now testing negative, she has ended up in hospital, but we hope she will be home again soon. Keep everything crossed.
WRITING
As I mentioned, Beverley has inspired me to write more. And to be public about it.
So here’s a couple of recent pieces.
BIN DAY
It’s bin day
Wind day
Bins blown over everywhere
Regardless of colour Black, brown, blue
On it’s side, lid flapping like a puppet mouth
Spewing garbage like a politician Pizza crusts
Used wipes
Eeeeuw I don’t even know what that is
But it’s not nice Dogs try to sniff. No!
Home we rush with chilled ears through streets awash with flotsam and jetsam Bin day
Wind day
It’s Bin Day again
Wind day again Blue Bins put out to stand street-side
Like Bobbies in a row
Guarding our road like sentry’s on duty
But blue bins are slender
Thinner than Grey and Brown
And with contents of cardboard and paper
There’s no weight to hold it down So blue bins blow, off they go
Like drunken revellers
Until they trip off the kerb
And they’re down, rolling around, regurgitating contents Prescription copies, old bills, egg boxes, dozens of Amazon cardboard envelopes, pizza boxes, cardboard sleeves off yogurt containers, magazines, newspapers Almost no bins left to empty now
Contents blow freely
Twisting and turning Escaping down the road
Hiding in gardens and under cars Bin lorry comes, empties the few still standing, then blue bins left on the pavement Empty now, lighter and giddy, they wheel around
Throwing themselves down once more
They roll around like pigs in muck
It’s bin day again Wind day again
A man down the road has a DeLorean.
A man down the road has a DeLorean.
Yes, that sporty stainless steel car made famous in the Back to the Future franchise. On our road. Just parked there on the street. Under a tree. Hardly ever moves it, it sits there, falling blossoms gathering at the base of the windscreen. Which must block his air intakes because he often puts a sheet of plastic over the air vents in autumn. That fancy rear cover over the engine compartment. Tied down with a length of tatty rope. And what of the owner? No Marty McFly or Doc Brown here.
A mild mannered chap, dresses conservatively, slacks and sweaters. Silver framed glasses, greying blonde hair parted to one side. His other car, his daily drive, parked behind the DMC – a silver Ford Focus. Seen him in the paper shop. Buys two loaves. Appears to be single. And heard Linda in the shop ask about his mother. So why? Why a DeLorean? The dream car of the 80’s, sitting outside a Sheffield semi? He hardly ever moves it. If he does then it’s MOT time, though he did park it around the corner for a few days when they repaved the street. I often stand beside it when I’m walking the dogs. They seem to have a fascination with it, they sniff the alloy rims and custom rubber tyres. Where has it been to gather smells so interesting to canine olfactory organs?
Then, this morning, walking back from the paper shop, the rumble of an engine. Not a normal rumble. He’s sat in the drivers seat – on the left of course, it’s American – giving it an occasional monthly turnover to keep it running, circulate the juices that keep the beast alive. Or is he? Is there more to Mr Normal. Is he actually from the future? Holding out on Holdings Rd, keeping watch over the steel city, his DeLorean the Time Machine that brought him here, and his lifeboat to return him home. Are those “sitting there running the engine” times really to keep it roadworthy? Or perhaps he’s generating some time clock energy, rewinding us all to correct something that shouldn’t have happened. But I still remember you. And what we said last night. That can’t be rewound by Mr Future. So, we are good. No objection raised by the Time Panel, no temporal anomaly created, we can go on. And how can we say no to the future?
So, I think that’s just about all the interesting stuff.
There’s more of course, but my instagram and Twitter Feeds may fill in the gaps for you.
Wishing you all love, prosperity, and the fall of this evil Tory government.
An upcoming event to plug to you! I’m on stage this Friday evening (Oct 22nd/2021) in two pieces of new writing for Next Left.
Next Left is a political theatre project based in Sheffield, assembling immediate responses to current events.
The show: TEST•TRACK•TRACE – Brave New World? is on Friday 22nd October 2021 at Theatre Deli in Sheffield. You can get your tickets here.
The evening features new work from writers Bryony Lavery, Ella Hardy, Melanie Hopkins, Paul Kenny, Rachel E. Thorn, Ray Castleton, and John Hunter.
Performed by Ali Mylon, Beatrice Comins, Claire Dean, Connor Gale, Maria Sims, Eleanor May Blackburn, Ashleigh Cordery, Lisa Armytage, Ray Castleton, Ross Cawton, Kate Rutter, Sean Corey, Melanie Crawley, and myself.
Directed by Olwen May, Kate Rutter, James Stone and Neil Sissons.
I’m in – “Back to the New Normal‘ – Written by Rachel E Thorn, performed by Rowe David McClelland, Ali Mylon and Melanie Crawley, directed by James Stone.
And – “Variety Shitshow” – Written by Ella Hardy, performed by Eleanor May Blackburn, Sean Corey and Rowe David McClelland, directed by Hassun El-Zafar.
And coming up….
I’m going to be on your telly box!
Not once, not twice, but THRICE!!! Just got a smasher of a new gig today….
Details to come soon.
Just a quick update… Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been working with Flippin’Mental Theatre to provide the final video element to an online Drama Project, Drama For The Mind 2021.
The participants have developed their own work, and have then performed their monologues to camera. There’s 8 lovely pieces, funny, moving, emotional… a fantastic job by all involved.
I’ve assembled it all to in to a video to Premiere online this Saturday evening at 7pm (UK). Please drop by if you can. https://youtu.be/t72A6-RtVeo
Meanwhile Lockdown continues.
As does my Lockdown log. We’re now at Lockdown 3, Day 74 – can you believe it?
And still the bnuch of lying con artists we have in government continue. And now they are trying to stop us protesting. I see trouble ahead….
You can see my latest updates below….
Sorry, there was a YouTube error.
As you can see from the updates, I’m building a garden bar, assembled from old pallets, in preparation for the March 29 Roadmap date for meeting another person in your garden – and the April 12 date for up to 6 people meeting in a garden.
Better stock up on the booze 🙂
Ey up from the Steel City!!! Hope you’re all doing okay, staying warm and staying safe.
I write this on the 39th day of Lockdown 3. It just goes on and on doesn’t it?
But, thankfully, I have something to tickle your funny bones on these cold nights.
I’m a member of Sketch Up! – a group of Actor’s, Writers and Voice Artists, that got together to record comedy sketches, directly from the mind and nimble fingers of Rachel E. Thorn
We were due to perform these LIVE!!! Yes, LIVE!!! with an audience, at the renowned Leicester Comedy Festival. But, alas, a Global Pandemic thwarted our bid for Global Sketch Comedy Stardom.
Live comedy’s loss is, however, your gain…
Thanks to the power of T’interwebs, you can enjoy our sketches in the comfort of your very own home/car/van/tent/workplace/ears… via the Leicester Comedy Festival – until Feb 21.
We’ve already had a 4-STAR REVIEW (“a delight…with a bit of bite!”) and lots of lovely feedback which is great. Its free to listen (you bloody old misers) online – 45 comedy sketches – listen all in one go or individually.
They range from the surreal to the domestic and sometimes incorporate a bit of both but nowhere will you find even the vaguest reference to the dreaded pandemic!
Last weekend was a happy/sad one… My eldest son Benjamin turned 19. He lives just outside Blackpool, and with Lockdowns and Tiers, etc, we haven’t seen each other in person since last August.
Sadly Benjamin, my daughter Sophie and my youngest son, Joseph, lost their mum, my ex-wife Jane, to Covid just before Christmas. It’s such a difficult time for everyone. And it’s really hard not seeing my children, when all I want to do is hug them.
I posted a link to my Ko-Fi account in case anyone wanted to send Benjamin a bit of birthday love. And many of you did, thank you so very much! It made his day!
Benjamin has now created his own Ko-Fi Page, so if you’d like to check it out and send him the price of a a coffee, cake, or even more, the link is here….
A reminder, I post daily Twitter and YouTube Lockdown Log updates, featuring 2 Minute 20 Second updates on the boring minutiae of my Lockdown life. Really selling that, aren’t I?
Here’s the YouTube Playlist…
Sorry, there was a YouTube error.
Thanks for dropping by! Subscribe to this blog at the bottom of the page, or follow any/all of my socials, top of the right hand column!
I hope you’re all keeping well during these strange continuing times.
Last year I was in a play called The Sylvia Swing, a touching piece about loss and loneliness. Playwright Melanie Hopkinshas adapted the stage version to be performed online, and it went live Friday night.
Take a look at the results below. A lovely piece – and feels apt for these times.
I passed the days of Lockdown 2 doing a daily log update with a max running time 2:20, so I could post to Twitter.
I’m keeping up with the Log now we’re in T3.2, hopefully through to Christmas at least. Link below is for the YouTube Playlist for the Nov/Dec videos… Take a look, I walk the dogs, eat breakfast, drink coffee and spend time at the computer…. Exciting times.
Had a great MOCKDOWN show Sunday night, with three fantastic guests…
Emmerdale actor TONY AUDENSHAW, was here to chat about how his shed kept him busy during lockdown…
Actor, writer, singer, social media star, and Lockdown SitCom creator FANNI COMPTON…
And we travelled to France to chat to my friend DOMINIC RAINFORD – he’s done panto, opera, Scooby-Doo and Shakespeare – now he’s entertaining the crowds at Disneyland Paris.
IF THE VIDEO ABOVE IS NOT AVAILABLE – PLEASE WATCH ON FACEBOOK LINK BELOW…
Back next Sunday for more! Stay safe me hearties!
D x
GUEST INFO:
Tony Audenshaw attended Guildford School of Acting, Tony enjoyed a few years acting and directing T.I.E. and filling multiple roles at Thorpe Park, theme park in the summers.
A few pantos at Oldham Coliseum and a load of commercials for the likes of Barclays Bank, Quorn and Tetleys Beer led to bits on Brookside and parts in other popular telly and the films Going Off Big Time and Ken Loach’s Raining Stones. And he’s played Bob Hope in Emmerdale since 2000.
A lover of variety and light entertainment he was thrilled to do Stars in Their Eyes twice (Kenny Rogers and Roy Wood) and appear on the likes of Blankety Blank, Family Fortunes, Harry Hills TV Burp, The Chase and Celebrity Mastermind.
He’s been singing with the covers band White Van Man since 2001, contributing regularly as ‘Tony’s Trials’ to the Running Podcast Marathon Talk, is a keen birdwatcher and helps run a weekly community quiz in his hometown New Mills, Derbyshire. Guest Links: Tony Twitter: https://twitter.com/TonysTrials Tony In The Shed YouTube Channel – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTzmZ05_P-3yK6PGUbR-Lyg
Fanni Compton is an Actress, Writer, Social Media Creator & Recording Artist based in the North West. Her dreams of becoming a prima ballerina were dashed when she was told that her ankles were too weak.
She then tried her hand at varying jobs, but it didn’t take long for her to realise that she was on the wrong path– graduated Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts in 2010. Since then he’s done hundreds of sketches and monologues for Social Media, started her music career andhas a Television Comedy Pilot in post production entitled Nowhere Close. And she’s made full use of the 2020 Pandemic to develop an Online Sitcom called Lockdown Lifeline. Guest Links: Fanni Music website: www.fannicomptonmusic.com Fanni YouTube: https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCJU6ZsSSC22CyM2hQ43B7Dw
Dominic Rainford – Raised in Blackpool, Dominic trained in Musical Theatre at LSMT (London School of Musical Theatre). Since then he’s had a varied career going from Panto to the English National Opera. Scooby-Doo to Shakespeare. Dungeon creature to Drag Queen and has now swapped one tower for another as he’s living and working in France at Disneyland Paris. Guest Link: Dominic Twitter: @DommyPoppins
MOCKDOWN! streams live on Sunday evenings at 8pm (UK) on my Actor Facebook Pageand on my YouTube Channel. There are also occasional Mockdown Confidential shows on Tuesday evenings.
Previous shows are on my Actor page, and are also available as a Playlist on YouTube
MOCKDOWN contains video clips which are not owned by myself, they are found on YouTube, and used during the show to demonstrate my guest’s work.
No infringement is intended.
You need HOPE in this time of global pandemic – and this week I have Bob Hope, Emmerdale actor TONY AUDENSHAW, here to chat about how his shed kept him busy during lockdown…
I have actor, writer, singer, social media star, and Lockdown SitCom creator FANNI COMPTON…
And we’ll travel to France to chat to my friend DOMINIC RAINFORD – he’s done panto, opera, Scooby-Doo and Shakespeare – now he’s entertaining the crowds at Disneyland Paris.
They’ll be here to chat about their lockdown experience – and what they have coming up next…
MOCKDOWN! streams live on Sunday evenings at 8pm (UK) on my Actor Facebook Pageand on my YouTube Channel. There are also occasional Mockdown Confidential shows on Tuesday evenings.
Previous shows are on my Actor page, and are also available as aPlaylist on YouTube
MOCKDOWN contains video clips which are not owned by myself, they are found from YouTube and used during the show to demonstrate my guest’s work. No infringement is intended.