Tag Archives: london

Country & Western

October 28, 2017 Neil

Hi there, how are you doing? I hope you have had a really good couple of weeks. Mine have been fairly busy with lots of fun stuff going on. A couple of Saturdays ago I went up north to go to a Birthday party. It was for my mate’s son’s eighteenth birthday. This did make me feel quite old. As I remember once walking him to school with his mum when he was about five and that kind of seems like yesterday. The party was taking place in Warrington, so we were all booked in to a lovely hotel on the outskirts. The staff were great and the place was fantastic. It was called The Partridge. And if you ever need somewhere to stay in that area. I would recommend it.

It was a Country and Western themed fancy dress party. When I was younger I never really liked fancy dress but over the last ten years or so I have actually started to really enjoy it a lot. Plus the chance to dress up as a cowboy was simply to good to miss. I got myself some Cowboy boots, some faded denim jeans and a really nice country style shirt. Which I actually intend wearing again at some point, as it is that good. The outfit was topped off by a Cowboy Hat and bandanna. That I got from a fancy dress shop online. I am not going to lie. I really thought I looked the part. And I believe that look quite suited me.

We had a quick drink in the hotel before we headed to the party venue. I will be honest at this point I left off the hat and bandanna, to blend in a bit and not to scare the other customers. After that one drink we headed to the hall. Fair play to my mate and his wife. They had done it up well and it felt very country. They had a mobile bar there which was outside and housed in a horse box, very much keeping with the theme of the event. They also had a friend of their’s singing and playing the guitar. He was ace and did a few classic country songs. There was also a disco, so I did hit the dance floor and throw out a few shapes later on in the evening.

During the party one of the people who was there, dressed in non-fancy dress clothes. Suddenly disappeared out to his car and came back in wearing a Robin from Batman and Robin outfit. Admittedly this was very much not in the spirit of the actual theme but as the guy was about six foot eight and pretty skinny. Seeing him dance very badly around the room wearing this costume made for great entertainment. I am not saying it was too tight but let’s just say it did not leave too much to the imagination in certain areas.

As with all good parties there was a buffet, which included a cake my mate had made himself. Which for the record looked and tasted amazing. I also rediscovered an item of food from my childhood. Which I had not had for years. They had little packets of Iced Gems available. Do you remember them? They are tiny little bits of shortbread style biscuits with different coloured icing on top. Now I had enjoyed a couple of drinks by this point but they tasted so good. I wondered how I had survived not having them in my life for so long. It was a good fun night and a brilliant party. I had a lovely time celebrating such a happy and special occasion.

My friend and his family have recently moved to a lovely village on the English/Welsh border between Wrexham and Shrewsbury. The day after the party I went back to their new place with them to spend a nice relaxing Sunday there. After the birthday boy had finished opening all his cards and presents from the previous night. We decided to go out for an afternoon walk. The view of the countryside from their house is breathtaking. There is a river that runs down from the hills near by and just down the road a canal that actually goes across a viaduct.

So we went for a nice relaxing walk along the canal. It was so peaceful and relaxing. Despite being very popular with dog walkers and bike riders. As all good walks should the first part ended with us popping in to a pub on the canal to enjoy a couple of pints and some food in the beer garden. It was pretty busy with lots of other folk clearly all having the same great idea. Once we had refueled we walked back to the house this time along the river and through a field of sheep. Then to round off a great weekend we watched the Blues Brothers film. While having some tea and a chat. It was nice to see them all and an enjoyable couple of days.

The current series of Newsjack has come to an end on Radio 4 Extra. It was another brilliant and very funny series. Sadly I did not get any of my jokes featured this time but that will not stop me trying again when the programme returns in the new year. One of the weekly writers of the show Jenny Laville is another former attendee of a Logan Murray Comedy course, just like me. Nice to see her involved and doing well.

I do of course produce my own weekly topical five minute comedy podcast. It is on I-tunes please follow the link to subscribe and then you will get it automatically delivered to your phone or tablet every week. https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/neil-quigley-podcast-41-2017/id1236437663?i=1000393780498&mt=2

Last week I met up with a great bloke, who I used to work at Wembley Stadium with for a couple of drinks. There is always a chance that you could bump in to him pretty much anywhere in London. As he works at so many different places. For example he is sometimes at The Globe Theatre, The London Stadium, The Houses of Parliament and on the River Thames.

He is a professional and brilliant tour guide, who knows his stuff and always puts on a great show. Not only that but he is a drummer in a band. Who at one point nearly ended up going on the road with Status Quo for a bit. A real life actual Londoner and always good fun to be around. I am hoping to enjoy one of the trips around the House of Commons he fronts at some point in the not too distant future.

I have been asthmatic since the age of seven. It used to be quite bad as a child specially when I got a cold or a chest infection. But it has never really held me back or stopped me doing anything. As an adult it is very much under control. Although I still do require a couple of squirts of an inhaler every morning. Recently I had my annual check up. Where they simply have a chat about how you have been, check your blood pressure and note your weight. I had put on four kilograms since my last visit and the nurse then warned me that now I am in my forties I need to watch my weight, as it is easier to put it on apparently.

The final thing they do is make you blow in to a tube, so they can see how much puff you have got against their flow chart meter. I have always been rubbish at it. This is one of the reasons why I have never been able to blow up a balloon. I just cannot do it. It is always so annoying and frustrating. As when I do it I always feel like I have managed it brilliantly. Then they read you the score back and it turns out I have done badly. Every time I go I feel I am doing it better and every time the results are slightly worse. But this test does still prove I have asthma, so therefore it means I am eligible for a flu jab. Which I gratefully accepted. Anything that is free and that could stop me getting ill has got to be a good thing. So at the moment I feel invincible.

I have managed to squeeze in a couple of more trips to Wembley Stadium to see Tottenham Hotspur play. Firstly in the Premier League against Liverpool. Which I have to say was a very enjoyable game. We scored early on added a second soon after. We then conceded a goal and wobbled for a bit before going on to score two more goals and run out as comfortable four-one winners.

It was a game that I never felt we would lose. Which is still a new feeling that I am getting used to with Spurs. A very good mate of mine is a Liverpool fan and he was less than pleased with his team’s performance but I was delighted with mine.

I also managed to meet up with my friend Dez Kay for a beer before the game. Which is always good fun. He had been to the away game at Real Madrid, so I was getting all the details about that from him. I am looking forward to seeing the home game against them this coming Wednesday. At half time during the Liverpool game they brought out Diego Maradona. Who was at the game with our former player and fellow Argentinian Ossie Ardiles.

He actually played for Spurs in Ossie’s testimonial. Our Manger of course Mauricio Pochettino is also Argentine. In fact it was him who gave away that famous penalty David Beckham scored against Argentina in the 2002 World Cup. He had much longer hair then. Maradonna seemed very impressed by the team and also gave Harry Kane a bit of decent advice, while he was there to.

I took my dad to the League Cup game against West Ham United. And just like the previous round I managed to get some tickets to sit in the perfectly positioned and very comfortable Bobby Moore seats. Which seemed even more fitting bearing in mind who the opposition were. The manager juggled the squad around a bit, as I expected him to do. But I was very happy to see some players returning from injury and some others getting a run out.

Well at least I was at half time when we were two nil up and looking very comfortable. Then in the second half we stopped playing and they came back to win three-two. Which did sour what was very much otherwise a good evening. Going out of any cup competition is disappointing. But to lose after being two up and against another London club makes it even more annoying. As I said earlier I will be back at Wembley on Wednesday to cheer on Spurs against Real Madrid in the Champions League. That will be a good night whatever the result. But a win or even a draw would be brilliant.

It has been another couple of fun weeks working for the BBC in London. I watched the last series of W1A. It is slightly weird watching a comedy programme set in the exact place where you work. You are trying to relax and enjoy the programme but it does just remind me of being at work.

I have the same feeling when I am watching the news and they show shots of the people in the newsroom or the building, you can never really escape. That said it is always a great feeling when I arrive there and walk through those famous doors.

Have fun and we will catch up again in a couple of weeks. Cheers Neil

Much Ado About Nothing

October 13, 2017 Neil

Hi there, how are you doing? I hope you have had a really good couple of weeks. Mine have been very busy with loads of fun stuff going on. During my school days I never studied any Shakespeare. I did not get to read or see any of his plays. I did however visit Stratford-Upon-Avon for a weekend as a teenager with my Cousins and my Uncle and Auntie. While we were there we did go and see a few Shakespeare related tourist attractions. Then I will be honest I had kind of forgotten about him until Ben Elton did a sitcom based on him starring David Mitchell called Upstart Crow. I guess this kind of got him back in to my mind again. And started me thinking that as a lover of theatre and performance in general. That I should at the very least go and see one of his plays.

A few years ago I went on a tour of the Globe theatre in London. Which is a replica of the very theatre that he used to put his plays on in the capital during the early sixteen hundreds. I remembered from the tour that it was an inspirational and spectacular place. Since that visit it had been in my plans to see a show there. I put these two things together and I decided the only place to see a Shakespeare play for the first time should be the Globe Theatre. I went to see the current version of Much Ado About Nothing. Now the Globe does have basic wooden seating on three levels and also private balcony’s. Traditionally these were for the rich and even for Royalty. While peasants would stand up to watch the action in the yard area on the floor level. I decided that I wanted to do it traditionally this way. Plus I had never stood at the theatre before.

The tickets to stand and watch the play in the yard were just five pounds each. It is an open air theatre by the way, so if it rains you will definitely get wet seeing the show from there. I wanted to have as authentic experience as possible. There was a Mexican theme to this particular production so the staging, costumes and music were adapted for this. But everything else was pretty much directly from the script as written by the great man himself. It did take me a few minutes to adjust to the South American feel of things and to get in to the rhythm of the Shakespeare style speech patterns. But I have to say I absolutely loved it.

The whole cast were fantastic and it was all so cleverly and smoothly done. They pretty much used the whole theatre as their stage and walked amongst us poor people in the yard area, as they would have back when it was originally performed. The story line, plot twists and development of the saga were so good and very easy to follow. Plus it does contains so many laughs. Fair play to the “man” he did pack quite a bit of comedy in to this piece of work. As well as some nice drama and tension. I would without hesitation certainly go and see another performance there. Five pounds for nearly three hours of top class entertainment is exceptional value for money. I am now keen to see more of his work.

I took a trip out to the Brixton area of London with a friend the other week. It is not often I venture that far south of the river but I always think it is good to experience new places. We had a bit of a look round and found a very nice pub to have a pint in. By what looks like a really fancy new flat development. Then we decided to go and get some food. We stumbled across The Blues Kitchen. Which was a place I had heard of before but never been to. As there are actually not that many of them around.

They play Blues Soul and Funk music. And specialise in New Orleans style food. So we are talking lots of barbecue meats and fried chicken dishes. Which we of course took full advantage of. We had a starter that consisted of ribs, wings and sweet potato fries. Then for my main I had fried buttered chicken, which was lovely. Their portions are very generous. I was so full when I left there, I could hardly walk. Plus if you are into you Bourbon. They have the biggest selection there I have ever seen. I would certainly eat there again but they do only have places in Brixton, Camden and Shoreditch.

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As I have mentioned before Tony Law was the professional comedian who headlined my first ever stand up comedy gig. I had seen him perform a few times but only doing ten or fifteen minute slots. I had never seen one of his full length shows. I put this right last Monday. When I went to the Soho Theatre in London. To see him do his show from this year’s Edinburgh Festival called “Absurdity For The Common People”. It was my first time at this venue. It is a great place to watch comedy and also it seems to attract a lot of decent comics. When I was waiting in the bar before the show I spotted Alex Horne who had also been doing his show there earlier in the evening.

Tony Law kind of goes against almost every lesson I was taught in comedy school. He is so unique and has his own very well crafted style. You would have to go quite a long way to see such a surreal show covering so many random and historical facts. It is so out there, sometimes it is impossible to tell what he is completely making up and what if anything is actually true. But the important thing is that it is very funny. You are never quite sure where he is going to go and what he is going to do next. He always has on such strange outfits. Sometimes he will reference them and other times completely ignore them. He is a top man to and was very supportive and helpful during my first ever gig. It was great to get to finally see a full show of his.

I went to see the musical Kinky Boots recently. It was another one that had been on my radar for a while. Ever since I saw the cast perform two numbers from it during one of the Sunday Night At The Palladium recordings, I was at. I think I do vaguely remember seeing the film when it came out. Would you believe it was actually released back in 2005. And another fun fact Nick Frost was in it.

The music and lyrics for the musical version were written by Cindy Lauper. It originally opened on Broadway. Where it won a Tony Award. I have to say I thought it was brilliant. It has a great story behind it with a bit of pathos to it as all good plays do. It is very colourful and spectacular. The songs are brilliant. Plus the cast were fantastic. It received a well deserved standing ovation at the end of the performance.

I had a quality day out with friends at the annual Ascot Beer Festival Race Meeting. A full programme of races with an onsite selection of beverages from local brewers. I mean what is not to like? I had not seen all my mates together for a while, so that was brilliant for starters. It was so good to have a catch up and chat. While enjoying the racing and sampling a few of the ales on offer. Luckily for me they had two of my favourite local brewery’s there. So I did enjoy a couple of pints from Rebellion in Marlow and XT, who are from Long Crendon. I did also try an ale from another beer producer, who I had not heard of but who are based in Prestwood.

Mind you I had a terrible day for picking the winners. However I was not alone as we all struggled apart from one of us who managed to get a couple of wins. Two more had some placed horses, so got some money back. Although one of my friends who is not really a gambler managed to put on a five pounds each way bet, which he then got six pounds fifty back from, so despite coming second in the race and sort of winning. He was still three pounds fifty down there. Once the racing was over we just went to one of the pubs in Ascot and had a few more drinks. It was a fun day out with good friends. Which is always time well spent.

The day after the races I had been invited by another mate on his birthday outing. Which was a day trip on the Waverley, the last sea going paddle steamer in the World to Southend-On- Sea and back. I had to catch the boat from Tower Pier in London at nine thirty in the morning.

Which after a day out at the races the previous day was not as easy as it may sound. Anyway I got on board just after nine in the end. It really was an impressive sight as I walked up to the vessel and it looked great against the back drop of the Tower of London and Tower Bridge.

It has a restaurant, tea room and a couple of bars. On arrival the first thing I did was grab a bacon roll and a cup of tea. I then managed to find the rest of the group with the birthday boy. There were about fifteen of us in the end, I think. We set off down the Thames passing all of those great iconic sights. The boat is so big that they had to raise Tower Bridge for us so we could get under it. Which is possibly a once in a life time thing to pass under it in those circumstances.

There was commentary provided on the things to see as we headed down the river. It was very impressive I thought going through the Thames Barrier. I had never seen it that close up. Inside the ship there was a viewing area where you could go and watch the steam powered engine in action. That was hugely impressive. Its top speed is apparently around twenty-five miles per hour.

They do of course have toilets on board the ship. Now bearing in mind it was about a three and an half hour journey to Southend. I did have to use them a couple of times. I did not mind however as they had port holes in. So you could be at the urinal while looking out and enjoying the views along the river. It was almost therapeutic. When we docked on the pier at Southend and got off the boat.

We had about four hours there. So we tried to do as many sea side style things as possible. We took the train down the pier. Then had fish and chips on the beach overlooking the sea. Played a round of crazy golf. Had a couple of pints in a pub on the sea front. Got an ice-cream. And finally enjoyed a stroll down the pier on our way back to catching the boat.

During the journey back to London I enjoyed the hospitality of the bars on board. Got another fix of the toilets and admired the working steam engine. Making sure I was back on the top deck to enjoy coming up the Thames in the dark and seeing everything lit up. It was a great experience and a thoroughly enjoyable day.

I will be honest it is probably something I would have never of done had I not been invited to. Which would have been a shame, as I really enjoyed myself. After being on a cool boat all day, it made the train journey back from London to Buckinghamshire seem a bit dull.

Have fun and we will catch up again in a couple of weeks. Cheers Neil

Blues Brothers

August 4, 2017 Neil

Hi there, how are you doing? I hope you have had a really good couple of weeks. Mine have been pretty busy with loads of fun stuff going on. A couple of weeks ago I made my maiden visit to the Cabaret Theatre at the Hippodrome in London to see a Blues Brothers Show. I was pretty impressed to be honest.

You have to go through the casino to get to the theatre. So the house rules are, that you have to check in any coats and bags in to their cloak room. Which to my surprise and delight was free. We had booked what they said were standing tickets. But that turned out to mean we were by the stage in an area where they had tables and booths. They put us in a booth just to the left side of the stage. Which was perfect. We had a great view and there was nobody around us.

It was table service, so they had waiters to take your drinks and food orders. I had not eaten, so I thought I would try one of the Blues Brother themed dishes they had on the menu. I had the Jake & Elwood classic burger. Which to be fair was reasonably priced and actually very tasty. So while you are enjoying your food and drink the actual show takes place on the stage.

It was a recognised and established Blues Brothers tribute show featuring a great live band, with excellent backing singers and the two stars who did sound and look just like Jake and Elwood with brilliant voices. They also put in quite a few nods to the film. Plus there was quite a bit of humour in the show. All done in a fun and professional way.

I went with two mates who had really gone for it and had turned up dressed as the Blues Brothers themselves. Fair play to them they both really looked the part. There was a great moment when the performing Blues Brothers were waiting off stage near us, while the rest of the cast were doing a song that they were not involved in. As they were there Elwood clocked my friends and gave them a smile and a thumps up.

It was a ninety minute show with a quick a ten minute interval. They as you would expect did all the big songs associated with this story. By the end everybody was up on their feet dancing and singing along. It was an excellent evening and all finished by around nine thirty.

It was the first time that I had been in the establishment. I have to say I was very impressed, it was all nicely run and the staff were great. I would happily go back and see something else there. I believe this Blues Brothers show that I saw is there until the end of August.

When I was working at Ivel fm in Yeovil I interviewed a guy who was in a Blues Brother’s tribute act, as they were coming to play at the Octagon theatre in the town. He looked exactly like Jake. He had even changed his name by deed poll. Plus on his passport had got special dispensation from the Foreign Office to wear his dark glasses in his passport photograph, wearing that iconic suit and wearing the hat. It really was total dedication to the cause. Although I do believe, that he was not on the run from the police or anything.

I went out for a few drinks after work in London the other Friday. It was the perfect storm. As a few friends actually all happened to be finishing around the same time on the same day, which is pretty rare to say the least. We just visited a few of the near by pubs before heading off to see another friend of ours who was Djing at a bar not to far away. It was an eighties themed night. So when we arrived we found the bar staff dressed as a Ghostbuster, a member of Kiss and a character from Fame. Beer costs and we had to start paying.

We were chatting in between him selecting and playing songs. While talking all over the intro’s to the songs and hitting the vocals. Which weirdly is something that pretty much always seems to happen, if you have at least two radio presenters and music in the same place. It was quite a decent and busy bar. I had been there a few times before but only during the day, so it was nice to see it full of people for a change. Another friend also popped in for a quick beer, so it was good to see and catch up with him to. A nice sociable evening with good company and decent music. Always a good way to kick off the weekend.

My cousin moved to the Richmond area about a year ago now. And last Saturday I finally got round to visiting him. Something we have been trying to organise for ages. In this hectic world we live in, it can be really hard to find a suitable date when two different people have nothing in the diary. But at last we managed it.

I have not been there for years. But it is a lovely area. We were hoping for a nice sunny evening, so we could have some drinks by the river but it was actually hammering it down with rain. After a cup of tea and an initial chat at his flat. We headed out and found a couple of really nice pubs in the centre of town.

Then we thought we better get some food. So we ended up in Nando’s. Which I guess you could argue, depending on what you order is potentially one of the more healthy fast food style options. The service in there was super quick to be fair. From there despite the weather we did go and have a drink in one of the pubs on the river. Which I can imagine would be lovely on a warm hot evening but not as good in the rain. So we stayed inside.

There was a section cordoned off for a private party. We noticed that everybody was pushed back against the wall all facing the same way. It was at that point we worked out it must be a surprise party, but it did look really odd seeing them all like that. I was relieved for them as much as anything when the birthday girl arrived. Meaning they could then mingle and use the other half of the room as well.

We then decided to head to Putney to try out a bar that my cousin had heard was good and wanted to try out. We decided to get a taxi there, but only ended up finding one on the wrong side of the Richmond one way system. Which meant the journey took longer and cost us a bit more than we were planning.

It was five pounds on the door to get in, once we had paid the money the bouncer then told us there was a private party there, so only half of the place was open. It was not that busy, so we ended up having just one quick drink there before moving on. So the money to time ratio for this particular excursion, did not make particularly pleasant reading.

We both came to the conclusion that we fancied some live music, so we hopped in another cab and set off for Road House in Covent Garden. I actually got asked for ID on the way in, which I must admit has not happened for a very long time. Took me ages to find my driving licence and I am pretty sure I had not been asked to produce it for at least twenty years.

Once we got in we caught the last fifteen minutes of the band’s first set, luckily they were coming back on later to do another hour or that would have been a little disappointing. It was a fun night having a few drinks including a rather nice Passion Fruit based Cocktail and hearing some live music. The band were pretty good, as you would hope for a Central London Venue.

They played a lot of guitar based classics by the likes of Oasis, Kings of Leon, Greenday and Bon Jovi. They made the effort to present themselves well and to look the part. The lead singer was even wearing a leather jacket. Which in a room that warm, was at best a very bold move.

The band played till around two and then it was a DJ till the place closed. It was a fun big night out in London, which I had not done for a while. I am hoping not to leave it so long before seeing my cousin again, as I really do want to re-discover Richmond on a nice sunny afternoon and sample a few of the pubs on the river.

Last weekend I managed to catch up with two of my best mates and their families at one of their houses. It was really nice to see them all together in the same place. It is quite scary how quick their children seem to grow up. Obviously I only see them periodically but the changes that seem to take place between the times I do see them, are huge.

It was nice to see the children all playing together. And really nice to have a chat to the adults and catch up on what is happening in their worlds. I am not sure if there is a better way of spending a Sunday afternoon than simply having tea and biscuits with close mates.

I am really in to Horse Racing and I would one day possibly like to own or at least have a share in a race horse. I tend to go to Windsor Races quite a lot, as that is one of the nearest courses to where I live. Recently through their website they ran a charity competition raising money for the Thames Valley Air Ambulance on behalf of one of the racing teams.

Basically for a donation to the charity you could then suggest a name for a new two year old horse that the connections have just acquired. If that name was selected you would get a five percent share in the horse for two years. Which would mean you would be able to attend at least one race meeting as an owner. Which for a fan of the sport like me would be amazing. Sadly for me I was not successful but the important thing is a lot of money was raised for a brilliant and essential charity.

As ever it has been another couple of fun weeks in the world of radio. I was leaving work the other day when I walked past Michael Gove. I also spotted Vince Cable across the office. Plus I got to do a show with the brilliant and lovely Chris Mason, which was great fun.

On the train in the other day was none other that the travel expert Simon Calder. Although that does not top my best ever train spot on that journey, which was the actor Robert Lindsay. Or even the time that Gabby Logan sat next to me on the way in to London. I clearly did not make that much of an impression, as she did not recognise me when we shared a lift at Broadcasting House a lot later on. But that is show business!

Have fun and we will catch up again in a couple of weeks. Cheers Neil

Stand Up and Make It Count

June 23, 2017 Neil

Hi there, how are you doing? I hope you have had a really nice couple of weeks. Mine have been fairly busy with lots of fun things going on. It has been a pretty decent week weather wise and I do think I am more of a Spring/Summer person, as I do like the sunshine.

The other Sunday afternoon I met a mate and just went for a few drinks in and around London. When you have no timescale and no real plan. You can just wander around and go where the mood takes you. And let’s face it there are lots of options in the Capital.

We started off just by Bond Street before making our way to Soho to enjoy a pint in the legendary Dog and Duck. From there it was just down the road to The Cambridge just opposite the Palace Theatre. In there we tried a few different halves of some local real ales including an intriguing plumb flavoured porter, which was lovely.

Next we headed to a tried and tested favourite The Albany at the top of Great Portland Street. The main reason being that they do a fantastic Sunday roast in there. Which once again did not disappoint. Then we called it a day and went home. I do like relaxing and fun afternoons like that.

I have always been good at going to the Dentist pretty regularly, which I appreciate some people do struggle with. Now I have got to the stage where I actually book my own clean and polish appointments without being asked to.

I would not say I particularly enjoy these extra trips but my dentist is very nice and I always feel better for them. It is a pretty thorough clean which I am relieved I do not have to go through every morning and evening when I am brushing at home. I mean what do they use to power that special tooth brush? I am guessing it is the battery from an pneumatic drill by the sound of it.

I had a bit of a disaster the other week. I was walking out of work when I decided to look at my mobile phone. As I was getting it out it got caught on the side of my pocket and fell out of my hands only to fly about a meter through the air and come crashing down twice on the screen. Needless to say this did not do it much good.

In fact it pretty much shattered the whole display screen. Luckily it was still somehow working but with the screen broken and big cracks in it. It was pretty hard to read anything on it. After doing quite a bit of emergency research on what to do next. I was advised that as I had insurance it was best to claim on that and get a new replacement phone.

So I phoned the insurance company and they said it was all fine. They could do it but there was an excess charge of one hundred pounds to pay. But as this was considerably cheaper than buying a new I-phone. I went ahead with the claim. So you have to send them the broken phone and then they assess it before sending you out the new phone. This process could take up to seven working days. I got my first mobile phone in about nineteen ninety-nine and I had not been without one since. Like most people pretty much my entire life is on my phone, so I was a bit concerned about being without it for a whole week. But basically I had no choice. So away it went.

I will be honest I actually found not having one to be quite liberating. It meant I actually had to talk to people and just spend time chilling and thinking when I was travelling to places. Although I will admit it was annoying not to be able to check the internet whenever I wanted. It did feel a bit strange only being able to speak to people by email or through Facebook when I was near a computer.

But I did not actually miss it as much as I thought I would. I mean I still managed to have friends and meet up with them prior to ever having a mobile, so I should still be able to do that. However it was really odd not having one. But I kind of liked the freedom that no one could get in touch with me, like some wild and crazy maverick just going through life by himself.

That said I was pretty happy and excited when the new phone arrived. Happily they under promised and over delivered, as I received it within five days of making the initial claim. Although setting up the new one was a bit stressful. I use I-cloud so all my settings and documents were saved there, ready to install on the new device.

However as a part of this set up Apple send you a code to your phone, which at that point is not set up so you can’t see it. So unless you own another Apple device that you can log in to, it means a long call to Apple Support to get it sorted. Credit where it is due, the lady I spoke to was brilliant and very helpful and talked me through it. But we can certainly file this in the nothing is ever simple is it file. Mind you I got it all sorted and set up. So I am now back in the twenty-first century. And have a mobile phone with me again at all times, just like the rest of the world.

I went to see a Radio 4 Sitcom pilot being recorded at the BBC Radio Theatre last Monday. It starred the brilliant Tony Law. Who was the professional comedian that I was with when I did the Tringe Festival Roving Comedy Night for the first time five years ago. More on that later.

This comedy was written with him in mind and has his name in the title. As I have met him and do kind of know him we did have a brief Twitter exchange beforehand. Although to be fair as it was such a lovely hot and sunny day it was just me checking the air conditioning was on. Which for the record it was.

So Tony Law being Tony Law he had dressed up in character for the performance. But to be fair his stage gear is usually pretty distinctive anyway. The cast also included the great Helen Lederer and excellent Nina Wadia. The basic premise is that Tony is an explorer, who leads his own unique crew around the world on missions. A little bit like a kind of radio Indiana Jones.

It was a fun night and I really enjoyed the show. It is just a pilot but the episode will get played out on Radio 4 at some point and then the powers that be will decide if it gets a series or not. I enjoyed it and would like to see it get a series, mainly because I think it is something that Tony Law deserves. Keep a look out for it. It is worth a listen, if you like your comedy a little surreal and slightly off the wall.

I had my first experience of Royal Ascot this week. It is an event I had always wanted to go to but never quite got round to. Until I decided very last minute to go along to day one of the festival on Tuesday.

I had been to Ascot a few times before but as soon as you stepped off the train at the station you can tell that it is a big deal. The atmosphere is ace and hits you right from your arrival. All the bars have marquees and music blaring out and there are just very well dressed people everywhere.

I had managed to get myself a ticket in the Windsor Enclosure and headed straight there. It was around lunch time, so my first port of call was the food stand to get a pretty decent burger. As you know it is important to fuel yourself properly for these occasions.

It was a lovely hot day and my hair does not offer the protection it once did so I then decided to check out the Ascot shop and buy myself a Royal Ascot baseball cap. Which did an excellent job keeping me from burning my head. Although I am not sure it went that well with my suit.

Now I know opinions differ on this but I am a big supporter and fan of the Royal Family. So I made sure that I secured myself a nice spot to see the Royal Procession. Which takes place before the start of the days racing.

It was a spectacular sight with the military horses leading the way followed by the carriages containing the Royals. It was great seeing the Queen and Prince Phillip go past smiling and waving. And it was the first time I had got to see Prince William and Princess Catherine in the flesh, which was nice. Once they had gone past, it was time to get down to the racing.

I had a bad day on the betting front. Despite wearing my “lucky suit” I did not pick any winners at all. That is the first time in four meetings that it has let me down. But I am seriously thinking about burning it. That’s show business. I do not think I was alone I saw a lot of happy bookmakers at the end.

Despite my lack of success it was a great day. The whole thing has a party atmosphere to it and it was an exciting day out. It is such a spectacle. I am already hoping and planning to go back and do it again next year.

This weekend it is the Glastonbury Festival. I have been twice before to this amazing event. In fact this year is the tenth anniversary since my first visit. I camped there for the whole weekend and had a brilliant time. Although we did have back stage passes and were in a special area with our tent.Which did make the whole experience a bit more exciting and interesting. I saw some brilliant and amazing acts and performances.

I would really like to go back to do it all again but I never quite get round to organising it. If you have never been I would recommend you try to go along once to experience it but tickets are so hard to get hold of as the demand is so high. It is well worth experiencing though. The atmosphere there is so special. There is so much on offer to see and do. You will miss much more than you actually manage to see but the things you do see will become a special lasting memory.

Next Sunday 2nd July it is the Tringe Festival Roving Comedy Night. I made my debut at this great event five years ago. And this year I return to the event at which I gave my first ever stand up comedy performance. I am really looking forward to performing. It is going to be a fun night.

It will be great to catch up with the members of the Roving Comedy Club and my comedy guru and teacher Logan Murray. He will be the host at one of the four pubs in Tring that are taking part. One of the four venues has already sold out. So if you want to get some tickets for one of the other venues, I would not hang about. Roving Comedy Night

So you buy a ticket for one of the pubs and stay there all night to see all of the comics performing. While the comedians move around and perform in each of the pubs. So we have a great laugh and giggle moving from pub to pub and experiencing a completely new audience every time. Headlining each of the groups of comedians at each venue will be Carey Marx, Paul B Edwards, Silky and Arthur Smith.

The first time I did it, it was one of the best experiences of my life. I was happily recommending to people that they should do it, so when the opportunity came up for me to do it again. I did not hesitate and said yes straight away.

Have fun and we will catch up again in a couple of weeks. Cheers Neil.

Up For A Laugh

May 26, 2017 Neil

Hi there, how are you doing? I hope you have had a really nice couple of weeks. Mine have been fairly busy with lots of fun things going on. A couple of Saturday’s ago I went to my mate’s brother’s thirtieth birthday drinks at a cool bar just near to London Bridge Station. I had not been there before and he had hired out a private bar area just for all his guests. It had a decent selection of different craft beers for me to try to work my way through.

I have known my friend and his sibling for years. In fact his brother very kindly designed and built the first version of my website. Which he did as part of his University studies and for the very reasonable fee of a crate of beer. Which is how I like to pay for most services I use. He has now gone on to work for an agency, which promotes much bigger brands than me and which means he is often jetting all over Europe for work. So it is fair to say he has done very well for himself. It was great to catch up with him.

There were also lots of other very friendly and interesting people there to talk to. I met their cousin for the first time, who is an actor. I have actually seen him perform once before although I did not realise that at the time. He was in a touring version of Spamalot, which I went and watched at the Aylesbury Waterside Theatre.

He was also in the television show Peaky Blinders for a bit to. He has just signed with a new agent who already has some very big and well respected actor’s on their books. So hopefully we will be seeing a lot more of him on screen and on the stage over the next few years. For the record he is a great bloke. We had a really nice chat.

I also met an amazing lady who has set up from scratch her own Indian Restaurant in a pretty trendy area of London. It has been running for a couple of years and is doing so well that she is about to open another one in Brixton. So this could be the start of a big chain of this particular brand. She seemed so enthusiastic, happy and energetic, which I guess you need to be if you want to become a successful entrepreneur.

I have since seen pictures of some of the dishes served there and they look fantastic. I do plan to go there and check it out for myself at some point. As the original place is not that far away from where I work. It was cool to meet her. It was a very chilled, fun and interesting evening.

So since we spoke last my team Tottenham Hotspur have played their last game at White Hart Lane. We beat Manchester United by two goals to one, meaning that we went the whole of our final season at the old place undefeated. There was a fitting send off after the game with lots of former players there.

They are not messing around with the new stadium project though. They literally started pulling it down within a couple of hours of the closing ceremony. So next year we play our games at Wembley Stadium. I must admit that is easier for me to get to and with hopefully more tickets available for each match. I do hope to get to a lot more games next season.

We finished the season strongly winning our last two game’s away at Leicester City and Hull City by six one and seven one, respectively. If we can somehow take that form in to the start of next season that will be amazing. We finished second, so we will again play Champions League Football next season. Our Striker Harry Kane was the Premier League’s leading goal scorer for the second year in the row.

It has been a brilliant season. As a lifelong fan of the club I can honestly say that there has never been a more exciting time to be a Spurs fan. I already can’t wait for next season. I hope the players enjoy their break and then return even hungrier for success. And that we will keep all our best ones and add a few new ones.

Last Saturday as a Fortieth Birthday present a good friend of mine Adam Fisher took me to Newbury Races. It was the first time that I had been to that particular course. We went via train. It actually has its own dedicated station, which is about two minutes walk from the entrance. So as a way of getting there and back it is excellent.

On arrival we decided to sensibly get some food, so found a burger bar which fulfilled our needs and set us up for an afternoon’s racing. Now for me personally part of the fun is having a bet on the races. I like going to the bookies by the course and once I have decided on my horse I quite enjoy going round them to find the one which will give me the best odds on the animal I believe or rather hope will win the race.

You do get a great view of the track and the racing from the Grandstand. You can see the whole course. Although I do enjoy the social side of things. I do also like to watch all of the races. I only had one winner all afternoon. Which I picked purely because the horse shared its name with a former Spurs forward. So Defoe was the only horse to win me any money.

Although annoyingly I did have a few of my selections finish second but when you have only backed them to win, that is sadly not good enough. It was a nice afternoon, having a laugh and enjoying some exciting racing. After the races had finished we hopped back on the train and headed to Reading for a few drinks.

We went to a couple of pubs. In the first one they had an ale called tea. Now as possibly the world’s biggest tea drinker I had to give it a try to see if it compared to the normal standard of my hot drink of choice. Happily it was still served by the pint and not the cup. It was very drinkable but I think I will stick to the other version during the day and at work. For productivity reasons if nothing else.

We then went in to this other bar. There were just the two of us, me and Adam still. We sat down on this fairly big table as there were not many options, so we had lots of spare seats around us. Then a bloke comes over and asks if they can have a couple of the seats, to which we said yes. Then six more of his friends appear to ask to borrow seats to sit at a table for two that had just become available. So me being the nice man I am suggested we switch tables. Although part of me did want to try to see all eight of them with chairs get round this tiny table. But my good manners got the better of me. It was another top day out with a very good mate.

I once again visited the Old Rope Comedy Club at The Phoenix Pub in London. It is the new material night run by Tiff Stevenson. Every Monday night in the Capital. If you are free on a Monday and like new and quality comedy, you need to go and check it out.

If you buy tickets in advance it is not expensive either about six pounds in fact. The place has a good vibe to it. The acts just mill around in the bar area themselves in between performing. Everybody is very friendly and approachable. Plus it always attracts some top quality comedians.

The brilliant Tiff Stevenson was hosting as always. And on the bill trying out new jokes on the night were Sarah Kendall, Phil Wang, Adam Hills, Rhys James, Felicity Ward, Ed Byrne and Tony Law. They were all ace.

I have always liked Ed Byrne, so it was good to see him again. The only time that I had seen him do his stand up before was at the Glastonbury Festival. Another top night of comedy, enjoyed in a great London venue.

While we are talking about stand up comedy. I am delighted and very excited to announce that I will be performing at this year’s Roving Comedy Night as part of the brilliant Tringe Festival. Now I first did this five years ago. After completing an eight week comedy course led by the guru that is Logan Murray.

My fellow trainees and I headed out to perform our five minute sets in four different pubs in Tring on the same night. We were split in to groups and each one was led by a professional comedian. Who we went round with. I was with Tony Law who was exceptional, as well as being very supportive and encouraging. It was a truly memorable night and an amazing experience.

So this year there is no training course but they are inviting back former trainees from the last eight year’s that this has been running. So I am very proud to be representing the class of 2012 at this year’s event. When I was offered the opportunity to do it again I jumped at the chance. It is such good fun.

We will again be supported by some top professional comedians including Arthur Smith and the legend that is Silky. Who I gave a lift back to his hotel after my original appearance at this event. It you fancy coming along to support this great and very entertaining night. Tickets are available now. Here is the link with all the information you need. See you there. http://www.get-stuffed.biz/tringe/2017/07/roving-comedy-night/

I went to see the comedy play “The Miser” at the Garrick Theatre in London the other night. It is a reworking of a classic French farce with a brilliant cast which includes Griff Rhys Jones, Lee Mack, Matt Horne and Andi Osho. It was brilliant fun.

It is fair to say it does offer both Griff and Lee the chance to drift off script a bit and have a little bit of additional fun with the audience. The fourth wall is knocked down pretty early in the proceedings. There are some brilliant set pieces, as you would expect in a farce. A word of warning you do get to see a little bit more of Lee Mack than you may be expecting. But all done for laughs and in the best possible taste.

The set and costumes are great. I have to admit it was the first time I had been to The Garrick and it is a lovely traditional West End theatre, which I love. The play keeps you amused and chuckling from start to finish. The whole cast were great but I thought Andi Osho was brilliant. I have seen her do stand up before but this was the first time that I had seen her act and on that performance I can definitely see her doing more theatre work in the future. Overall just good old fashioned theatre fun.

It has been a good fortnight for celebrity spotting. The other week Serge from Kasabian walked past me on the way to a radio interview. I bumped in to Nick Grimshaw as he was arriving to do his Radio 1 Breakfast Show.

Then one day Huw Edwards was in the canteen queue in front of me and then the next day Sophie Raworth was behind me. I also saw the former Rugby player Matt Dawson wondering around to.

Have fun and we will catch up again in a couple of weeks. Cheers Neil.

Neil Quigley Presenter