Hi there, how are you doing? I hope you have had a really good couple of weeks. Mine have been very busy with lots of fun things going on. Firstly on the May Day Bank Holiday Monday. I went on a road trip with my good friend Andy Holmes. To see his football team Hereford FC play in a Cup Final.

It was the Herefordshire FA County Cup Final between Hereford FC and their local rivals Westfields. It just so happened, that it was being played at Edgar Street. Which is The Bulls home stadium. Mainly because it is the biggest and best ground in the county. It was the first time I had been there. And the first time I had ever seen his side play.

We decided to watch from the seated area. There was no seat allocation. So you could basically sit anywhere you liked. We sat right at the back and by ourselves. With no-one either side of us. Before kick off the Hereford FC mascot.

A great big huge pedigree Bull was shown around the pitch a couple of times. While they were playing Woolly Bully by Sam the Sham and the Pharoahs. Which to be fair was the perfect song for the occasion. They play in the FA Vase final next weekend against Morpeth. And apparently the same Bull is heading to Wembley to do the same thing there.

The game itself was pretty entertaining. If not a very one sided affair. Hereford FC beat Westfields by five goals to one. With the visitors being reduced to ten men after conceding a penalty. At the end of the game we were allowed to go on to the pitch. To see the players lift the trophy in the stand over the other side of the ground.

It was a very pleasant afternoon watching a better standard of football than I was expecting. It was nice to be able to share in my mate’s team’s victory. It also means I have an one hundred percent record of every time I have seen them play they have won. I really do wish that I could say the same with my team Tottenham Hotspur.

Talking of my team. We did get back from Hereford in time to see Spurs draw with Chelsea on the television. In what was a very lively game to say the least. It has been a while since I have seen that many of our players get booked. And I have to admit I was a little bit disappointed at the final whistle. I then also watched us lose to Southampton at home last Sunday to. Which was equally as annoying, to be honest.

That said a point tomorrow away at Newcastle. Will mean that we finish second in the Premier League. Our highest finish in twenty-three years. Mind you whatever happens. It has been a brilliant season. And I am greatly looking forward to next season already. The club motto is “Audere est Facere” which means “To Dare is To Do”. Which is also a mantra, that I do try to use in my everyday life to.

The other week I was once again back at the fantastic Museum of Comedy. It is a place that firstly contains lots of great comedy memorabilia, from the Carry On Films to Tommy Cooper and much more in between. Including the actual stuffed bear that appeared in an episode of Steptoe and Son.

And secondly it has a lovely small performance room. Where lots of top comics often come to perform “work in progress” shows. In front of audiences of around ninety people. I was there to see Stewart Lee do just that.

I have to confess that I had not really seen much of his live stand up myself. So I was not sure totally what to expect and if I would like his stuff. But he does seem to be the comedians’ comedian. As lots of his peers often reference him as being someone very clever and creative. Who totally gets the art form. And who you can learn from. I have to say that he was brilliant from start to finish. A master of his craft.

From his very specific and explicit no pictures rule. That he laid down the second he walked out on stage. Through to him then reading out some of his columns from The Sunday Times. He was hilarious. I thoroughly enjoyed it. He also did the set he used to do at Open Spots. When he was just starting out in comedy in 1989. And that in itself is a bit of a masterpiece. Which has weirdly just about stood the test of time. Well it has with a few ad-libbed amendments anyway.

It was another great gig. At one of my new favourite comedy venue’s in London. So far I have seen Trevor Noah, Josh Widdicome, James Acaster and Michael McIntyre play there. It is a really friendly room, giving the acts a great environment to try out new jokes in. While I was there I did notice that the exceptionally talented Maddy Anholt is there performing her new show Rent Girl on 23rd July. If you are free and around London. I would suggest you get along and check this out.

While we are talking about comedy and comedy venues. The line up for this year’s Tringe Festival has been released. It is a three week annual event organised by the great Ben Moorhouse. Most of the gigs take place at the Pendley Court Theatre in Tring.

A lot of the acts who perform are previewing their latest Edinburgh Festival shows. This year the Tringe runs from Sunday 26th June through to Saturday 16th July. Comedian’s appearing include Milton Jones, Sam Simmons, Shappi Khorsandi,  Nish Kumar, Katy Brand, Mark Watson and Sean Walsh to mention just a few.

The Tringe Festival does hold a lot of very happy memories for me. Because it was as part of this great event four years ago now. That I made my stand up comedy debut. I took part in the brilliant eight week comedy course led by the Guru that is Logan Murray. When I started I thought I was amusing. But had no idea if I could write material, stand up on stage and then make people laugh. I met lots of great new friends. We spent the time just playing games and constantly laughing. Then some how at the end of it. All of us had five minutes worth of jokes to perform at The Roving Comedy Night.

For the night we were split in to groups of four. Then we were allocated our own professional comedian. We then travelled around four pubs in Tring performing our new comedy musings to around four hundred people in the process. With the professional comic headlining each of our little shows. I went around with the sensational Tony Law.

It was great to see him at close quarters and then get to talk to him as we walked between gigs. The whole of the night was just a totally unbelievable experience. It gave me such as buzz. It is hard to explain the feeling of excitement, relief and satisfaction. That I felt as I met up with the rest of my comedy group for a pint after our memorable shared experience.

This year’s Roving Comedy Night is on Sunday 3rd July. I would recommend you go to see new people giving comedy a go for the first time. While also being supported by top class comedian’s. It is a really entertaining night out.

Best of luck to all the trainees currently on the course. And preparing to give their first performances. You will absolutely love it. For more information about the Tringe Festival and The Roving Comedy Night click on the link here. Tringe Festival

I was back at the Fountain Studios in Wembley last week. To witness a recoding of an episode from the new series of the Dave Channel comedy show Taskmaster. I have just realised it is quite a hard concept to explain in writing.

A team of celebrities are given a selection of weird and wonderful tasks to complete. They are all set the same one and have to compete against each other to win points. Their efforts are then scored in his own unique way by the Taskmaster. Who is Greg Davies. The show was devised by Alex Horne. Who assists Greg with the show itself and also he helps the contestants with some of the challenges to.

Greg Davies was hilarious. And did a great job hosting and chatting to the audience in between takes. He and Alex Horne were really good together. It is a very funny. If not at times slightly surreal programme. With some of the things that they make them do. Taking part in this series are Doc Brown, Joe Wilkinson, Jon Richardson, Katherine Ryan and Richard Osman.

Now I do not want to give too much away but to say Jon and Katherine are very competitive is an understatement. The whole panel were on form and very entertaining. But for me on the night I thought Joe Wilkinson just edged it. Mainly with his sly looks to the crowd and his reactions to what the others were saying. Which at times were priceless.

It was a fun show to watch being filmed. I had a decent seat right in the middle of the second row. So I got a perfect view of all the action. Not only that but the production team also gave me a free bottle of Budweiser on entry. If you saw the first series. You will know a lot of it is filmed in advance with them doing the tasks.

Well we got to see them played to us on a big screen. While watching the contestants watching themselves and more amusingly the others attack these dilemmas in very different ways. Keep your eye out on Dave for when this new series starts. It is well worth seeing. I witnessed some true works of genius. While I was sat there in that studio.

Last Sunday Night it was the TV Baftas. Hosted brilliantly by Graham Norton. I thought his opening monologue was great. He kept the whole thing together very nicely. I do always try to watch the awards ceremony if I can. Mainly to see what great dramas or documentaries have passed me by over the last twelve months.

Well done to Peter Kay for winning two nods for his brilliant come back situation comedy Car Share. I thought it was right that Strictly Come Dancing won the Entertainment award. The last series was brilliant. The standard of the dancing was so high. Every week the show was a real spectacle. And very enjoyable.

Lastly it was nice to see Leigh Francis win Entertainment Performance. The character’s that he plays including the wild Keith Lemon. Are I get the impression a million miles away from the actual man. Who I have heard is one of the nicest and loveliest people. You could wish to meet and to work with. That is according to a friend and former colleague of mine, anyway.

I even liked the way he did not want to or feel comfortable accepting the award in his own voice. May be showing how he likes to try to keep his public and private life completely separate. Anyway Well done Leigh Francis. Totally deserved. I almost got to interview him once. It was all booked in. Then unfortunately something came up at the last minuet and it never happened. Oh well that is showbiz.

If you watched last week’s Britain’s Got Talent. Towards the end of the show you may have seen a familiar face appear in the crowd. I went to the final London audition. Now as they cut and change from location to location during this stage of the show. You never know when acts you witnessed will be on or indeed if they will make it on screen at all. There was a fantastic singer called Rachael Wooding. Who came on and did a great version of “With You” from the musical Ghost.

She admitted she had been an actress and appeared in the West End before taking a break to have children. At the end of her song the camera cut to the audience. And you got a nice view of me appreciating her stunning performance. Clapping and smiling. It must have been quite obvious it was me. As basically straight away after it happened. I was getting text and Facebook messages from friends and family. Telling me that they had just spotted me on their television.

So it might be worth keeping your eyes out for me for the rest of the audition shows. Just in case you see me clapping and cheering for another one of the wannabe’s. That I saw when at the Dominion Theatre, trying out for the judges. That is them not me, just to be clear. I was sat right behind the top judging panel. So I got a good view of their reactions to the acts.

As I said previously I am going to be working for the BBC starting this summer. I will be doing some behind the scenes radio production work. Across several different shows on a few of their different networks. I am really looking forward to the challenge. And I am very much looking forward to when I start with them. I have always wanted to work for this great organisation. So I am very thankful for this amazing opportunity.

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