Due to the situation over the last two years most of the comedy nights I had been to were open air events. A couple of weeks ago for the first time in a very long time I went to a “normal” comedy night inside, something which at one point was a monthly occurrence. A friend of mine was down in London for the day so my girlfriend and I decided to book a hotel and plan a night out in town meeting up with my mate beforehand. Unfortunately owing to a string of unexpected developments this did not happen but even though that was the real reason why we organised it, we still had a great time.

We had booked tickets to the 99 Comedy Club in Covent Garden. It was being held at a University Student Union bar which gave it a real air of nostalgia. We arrived and had to go down about four flights of stairs to get to where it was taking place. It was a bigger area than I was expecting with a civilised queue for the bar. As it was an actual college venue the drink prices were favourable for central London, therefore we had a couple of glasses of wine each that were it is fair to say better quality than we were expecting.

There were three acts in total on the bill plus the compere. One of the reasons we had picked this gig was because I like the comedian Chris McCausland and he was performing. I have always found him funny on television but I had not seen him live. He was the opening act and he was brilliant as I expected. I like his style and I think he has some great and obviously unique material, so that was a good start to the show. Between each of the acts they had an interval so you could go to the bar or the facilities.

The next comedian on stage was Marlon Davis who I had seen before. His set was slightly disrupted by a drunk member of the audience which I always find a bit annoying. But he was having some fun with her and seemed to be enjoying the situation. He appears to have quite an innocent way and doing some quite gritty jokes which works very well, I think. There are so many excellent comedians up and down the country get out to see them if you can, one thing we all need at the moment is a laugh.

The final act was Fin Taylor who you might recognise from The Mash Report or Have I Got News For You. I thought he was very funny and would happily see him again. It was a well-run night with three very good comedians. The show lasted about two hours and was finished by half past ten, giving us time to have a quick drink at a pub on the way back to the hotel, as well as one in the bar when we got back to where we were staying. Comedy and a few drinks is always a classic combination for a good night out.

Before we went to the comedy club we had dinner in a nice little place in Leicester Square that we discovered last year. It is called the Cork and Bottle. From the outside it just looks like an old shop front but you go in then down some stairs and it is actually a cosy French style wine bar. That happens to do very nice food. We had booked a table there this time but we have managed to walk in and get a seat previously. They do provide gluten free food options and they were great with me and my coeliac requirements.

I had the Pumpkin and Butternut Squash Curry with rice which is amazing. Not sure why but I seemed to be very hungry so I also had some Brie with Gluten Free bread and a huge bowl of ice cream for dessert. And as it was of course a wine bar it was all washed down with two very nice glasses of Rioja. Lynda and I both like it there and it is fast becoming one of our go to places in London when we fancy some food and drink in nice relaxed surroundings.

I appreciate all I seem to do is to go out and eat a lot. I would like to say that is not true and I do lots of other things in my free time but last Saturday Lynda and I did go out for a nice meal in St Albans. The key thing when finding a restaurant nowadays is that they have to be able to cater for a Coeliac like me. I have an app on my phone that is set up to suggest such places all over the country. We found one that was called Lussmans that had been recommend by several people who have the same condition as me and who had been there.

When we arrived we were shown upstairs to our table and they took our jackets to the cloak room before we were seated. Our waitress came over to me and explained the gluten free options and the steps they take there when preparing food. That instantly put my mind at rest. The food was lovely. I had the pulled pork and lentils dish for my starter followed by a cod and shrimps creation with leek and apples for my main. As I have said before you must always finish a meal with something sweet so I had the dark chocolate mousse for my pudding.

They had a gluten free beer on the menu that I had not seen before so I decided to try a bottle of that. It was called Green’s and it was really nice, so I will be looking out for that in the future. After I had finished that which was only for research purposes you understand I then had a couple of glasses of a very nice medium priced red wine that they had.

It was an enjoyable dining experience. The Staff were brilliant. Once we had finished we retrieved our coats and then found a pub to have some more drinks in. I am not saying we picked the place that all the locals liked but no word of a lie the Mayor was there standing at the bar wearing his chains, I presumed as a nice welcoming party for my entrance. I really wanted to see if he would let me borrow them for a photo but I never got round to asking him in the end.

It was Mother’s Day last Sunday so I went to my parent’s house to cook dinner for the whole family to give my mum a day off. I did roast beef with carrots, peas, sprouts, cauliflower and broccoli as well as roast potatoes, parsnips, Yorkshire puddings for those that were allowed them and gluten free gravy. I am not saying I am the greatest cook in the world but I do produce a nice roast or a decent steak meal when I am required to.

I am also a terrible judge of portion sizes so it is fair to say I filled my Mum, Dad and Sister up with their food to such an extent that they all needed a two hour break before they felt ready to face pudding. Although I do not cook for more than one person very often I quite enjoy it when I do and even I was impressed with how well this last effort turned out. We had a relaxing afternoon just having a good old chat and a bit of a laugh. I did also get her a card and present to. I am not looking for a medal or anything but I did the washing up myself. By which I mean I put everything in the dishwasher and turned it on.

Like most of the country I have been doing a lot of remote working recently but in the last month I have started to slowly return to the work place. I am in up to three days a week now, which is great as I like the place where I work. There is always lots going on and you never know who you might bump in to and who might be sound checking outside ready for their performance on The One Show that evening. The worst thing about it is the daily commute. The trains are often rammed and it takes up a lot more time to travel there and back again, time that I was previously using as part of my exercise regime. It is funny how quickly you can adapt your routine when you need to. I am just about getting the hang of it again now.

England have played a couple of football friendlies as the Premier League took a break for a week. I was delighted to see Harry Kane go past Gary Lineker and draw level with Bobby Charlton’s total goals for England tally of 49. That was the benchmark for such a long time until Wayne Rooney scored 53 goals during his career for his country. Kane is just four goals behind Rooney. He is clearly going to become the greatest goal scorer of all time for England. He has also played 52 less games that Wayne did in total so far. I am a big Spurs fan so I know how great he is as I see it week in week out but I feel sometimes that he does not always get the respect he deserves for his goal scoring achievements.

Last night we went to see an amateur production of Evita at the Eric Morecambe Centre in Harpenden. It is where the comic genius lived and it was the first time that I had been to the venue that was named in his honour. The reason we went to see it was to support Lynda’s cousin who was playing in the Orchestra. It is a great show which I have seen a few times before. The cast were excellent and it was all done as true to the original as possible. It is always pleasing to see people performing on stage just for the pure enjoyment and nothing else.

I am looking forward to next week as at last I get to go to the Aintree Festival once again. I have been many times over the years and it is always a great few days. I go and see my mate Jeff and stay with him. We go to Ladies Day on the Friday before partying in Liverpool city centre in the evening. Then we watch The Grand National some where local the next day. It is always fun and normally takes me at least a week to recover from it. I will tell you what it was like this year next time we speak.

A quick reminder that you can listen to me every Saturday afternoon between 2pm – 4pm on Radio Ninesprings https://www.radioninesprings.co.uk/

Have fun and we will catch up again soon. Stay safe! Cheers Neil.