Tag Archives: Old Rope Comedy

Racing Ahead

March 16, 2018 Neil

Hi there, how are you doing? I hope you have had a really good couple of weeks. Mine have been pretty busy and lots of fun. I went out for a few drinks in Camden recently. I do not go out there very often but when I do I always enjoy it. It has such a different and interesting vibe to it. Plus there are lots of great pubs to visit. It is an area where you really do see all sorts of people in every outfit you can imagine and yet nobody there looks out of place.

I ended the night in a pub that I always visit, when I am there. Which is the Hawley Arms. It simply is just a cool place to hang out with a great energy and atmosphere to it. It was famously Amy Winehouse’s local. There are lots of memories of her dotted around. It is also the place where Pete Doherty once held a press conference in the beer garden. They both used to drink there regularly. But it was a popular haunt with celebrities and music stars long before them. Liam Gallagher, David Bowie and Boy George were once fairly frequent visitors to the place. Having a drink there does make you feel a little bit like a pop star.

I made another one of my fairly regular visits to the excellent Old Rope comedy night in London last Monday. It is a new material night for top comedians at the Phoenix Pub just off Regent Street. The night is hosted by the wonderful Tiff Stevenson. She is helped by her dad and mum. Who work on the door and look after all the other acts. It was another great line up. The place was sold out with an audience of comedy lovers. Which does make for a lovely atmosphere for the comedians.

On the bill performing their new stuff were Eleanor Tiernan, Andy Zaltzman, Phil Wang, Tony Law, Tania Edwards and Simon Brodkin. They were all brilliant. It is all very honest. In that they will sometimes make reference to if a new bit has worked or not or even admit if something needs more work. As an audience member it does make you feel that you are part of the process of shaping their new shows. I also find that owing to the fact I have attended a comedy course with Logan Murray and because I am in the process of reading his book. I can spot some of the writing exercises, that they have been doing to create the new material. There is a process and science to comedy.

The headliner was the brilliant James Acaster. He did forty minutes of his latest show. Which is already hilarious and will probably be even better by the time he tours it. He really is on fire at the moment. It was another fun night. If you are free in London on a Monday night. Then go to the Old Rope. You really cannot go wrong.

While we are talking about comedy. Very sad news this week with the death of the great Ken Dodd. He died at the age of ninety in the same house he was born in and lived in all his life. And what a life it was. One of the best comedians this country has ever produced. Sharp, clever, funny, silly with a love of comedy and making people laugh. I do regret the fact that I never got to see him perform live. I bought my parents tickets to see him as a present once. His live shows were famed for over running. If he and the audience were having a good time (as they always were). He would just keep on going. It always got to the stage where people were in danger of missing last trains or trying to re-book taxi’s for later.

It was a running joke at every venue that the theatre staff would leave him the keys and he would lock up when he was finished. This was the case when my parents saw him. The show started at 7.30pm and the interval did not happen until 10pm. He eventually and probably reluctantly finished just after midnight. You could never say that you did not get value for money at a Ken Dodd gig. He rightly has a statue at Liverpool Lime Street Station. With him depicted holding one of his famous tickling sticks. It is a very welcoming sight when you arrive in to the city. RIP Doddy. Thanks for the laughs.

My team Tottenham Hotspur have been knocked out of the Champions League. After a two all draw away at Juventus in the first leg. We were beating them one-nil at home in the second leg at Wembley Stadium. I was at the game. The atmosphere, as you would expect for such a big game was fantastic. We played brilliantly in the first half and were deservedly one up. All was looking good with the world. Then as soon as the Italian team got their first goal. It really seemed to jolt our players. They looked a bit shell shocked. Which seemed to lead to a lack of concentration. Which in turn lead to the second goal.

We gave it a good go and were unlucky when Harry Kane’s header hit the post in the dying minutes. If that had gone in it would have at least taken us to extra time. But alas it was not to be. The whole competition was fun. But as a team you can’t buy experience. Going out like this after doing so well, will hopefully help us to progress further next season.

Finishing in the top four has now become even more important for Spurs with the European adventure coming to an end. It would be disappointing to not be playing in the Champions League in the first season at our great new stadium. I was at Wembley to see us beat Huddersfield. Which was another important three points at home. It was also pleasing to see us bounce back from the European failure with a good away win on the south coast against Bournemouth.

The downside of that was Harry Kane going off with an ankle injury. Obviously any team would miss his goals and a player of his quality. But oddly our record when he has not played is not that bad. And personally I feel the team as a whole misses Christian Eriksen more. When he is out. That said I hope Harry is back and playing soon. And that we have a great end to the season.

Congratulations to Ant & Dec who recently celebrated the one hundredth episode of Saturday Night Takeaway. Which is still the best Saturday night entertainment show in my opinion. The centenary show featured lots of old clips from the show. It was fascinating how young the two Geordie presenters looked when it first started. They work so well together. It still regularly delivers new fun items and classic old favourites.

When a programme has been going for such a long time. It is so hard to keep the quality up. It is tough finding new ideas because they have basically done everything that can possibly be done. Which is always a problem for long running shows. However when you have those two fronting it. They can make anything entertaining. I am looking forward to the rest of the series.

Just a quick reminder that I do a weekly podcast. Which is basically a radio show on the internet with no music featuring stories and old interviews from my twenty years working in radio. It is available on I-tunes, so why not subscribe to it? Then you will get every new episode automatically downloaded to your device. I would also like to point out that it is free. https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-neil-quigley-radio-podcast-ep7/id1236437663?i=1000406202689&mt=2

Thanks to my mate Dan Smith for giving me my first experience of the Cheltenham Festival last Wednesday. I am a big horse racing fan and have previously been to Royal Ascot and The Grand National meeting at Aintree. But never before had I been to the considered home of National Hunt racing. It had been on my to do list for a few years now. Therefore I was very happy to put that right on Ladies Day this year. As it is set in such a beautiful part of the country. The train journey itself gives you the chance to enjoy the wonderful countryside, as you head there with tens of thousands of fellow race goers.

It is as you would expect for an event that has been running for so long very well organised. They run shuttle buses from the station to the course for five pounds return. They pick you up outside the station and drop you right by the entrance. We were in the Club Enclosure. Which gives you a great view of the finishing line from the stands. It also offers you the chance to enjoy some nice bars. The whole course is so well designed that you can see the entire course sprawling out in front of you. All framed with the Cotswold Hills behind it. It really is a perfect setting.

As it is a race meeting that does pit the best British Trainers against their Irish counterparts .While taking place during St Patrick’s Day, week. I thought it would be rude not to have a few pints of Guinness, while I was there. The day’s racing itself was top quality. With some brilliant high class contests. You really cannot beat seeing the end of the races as the horses jump the last and fly up that big hill to the finish line. Especially if your horse is in contention still or ideally winning. It is perfectly acceptable to scream and shout at the top of your voice to cheer you selection home.

I bought a brand new suit for the occasion. And if I do say so myself, I was looking fairly Dapper. I had a brilliant day battling the on course bookies. I had a winner in the second race. Another winner in the fourth race. Then came the final race of the day. I was looking for an outsider to put an each way bet on. I recognised a horse that was called Relegate. I remember seeing it win somewhere before. I liked the fact it was being ridden by Katie Walsh. She is a great jockey. Who has had a lot of success over the jumps in Ireland. It had odds of 33-1 for it to win. I just fancied it, so I put a ten pounds each way bet on it.

I then returned to the grandstand to watch the race. With two fences to go my horse was right at the back of the field. Then after it had jumped the last it suddenly flew in to action and caught the horse that was leading right in front of me on the home straight. I had to double check it was my horse. As it had just come from nowhere. You can imagine my joy and excitement as it won. I netted three hundred and eighty pounds. Which was a great way to round off my first Cheltenham Festival. I also got to see the force of nature that is Altior storm to victory. I will definitely be returning there next year. I cannot wait. It really is a fantastic day out. If you are a fan of horse racing, it is something you must go and experience.

Today is St Patrick’s Day. My Granddad was born in Ireland and I do have an Irish surname. Which I think gives me the right to go out today and enjoy a couple of pints of Guinness. I will be heading as always to my favourite pub in London Waxy O’Connor’s. Which I also believe serves the best pint of Guinness in the capital.

It is always a great place to celebrate. They have live Irish music. The day will be improved further this year by the fact that Ireland play England in the Rugby Six Nations. Which will ramp up the atmosphere even further. I will let you know how it was next time we speak.

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

Upstart Go

February 3, 2018 Neil

Hi there, how are you doing? I hope you have had a really good couple of weeks. Mine have been nice and busy with loads of fun things going on. I once again managed to do something I had not done before. I went along to this year’s National Television Awards at the O2 Arena. It is something that I have watched on television from home for many years. It was great to actually get the opportunity to be sitting there in person to watch it all unfold.

The place was looking very glittery and sparkly. When I arrived it was getting fairly close to show time. I just had chance to grab a quick drink before I had to take my seat ready for the ceremony. There was definitely a buzz and an air of excitement in the place.

With around five minutes to go before we went live to the nation our Arena MC the brilliant Andy Collins came on to get the audience hyped and ready for action. And also to tell us what was going to happen right at the start of the programme. While he is doing this all the celebrities are filtering in to their seats, so that they are all sat down ready for when the proceedings begin.

The opening sequence was pre-recorded, so the first thing we actually witness live is the pay off to the opening gag. Which is Piers Morgan being lowered from the roof. Before Dermot O’Leary re-appears to save the day and remove the Good Morning Britain presenter from view. Then we get live music from last year’s X Factor winners Rak Su.

Once their song is over and after Dermot’s opening monologue. It is down to business. The night follows a pretty standard pattern. The people presenting the awards come on, give us the nominations. Then they announce the winners. And they come up to give their speech. In the arena like the people at home, we see the clips and the faces of all the nominees in turn on the big screens.

It was nice to see Ant & Dec pick up another three awards. I was also pleased to see This Morning get one as well to. I have seen the Geordie duo, Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby present various different studio based shows. They are all brilliant and at the top of their profession. It is one of those disciplines that looks a lot easier than it is. Especially when the aforementioned foursome are the ones doing it.

It was a really good night and fantastic to see so many talented performers and writers all in the same giant room. It just reminded me of the high standard of television from all the different genres. That we have access to on our screens. Everyone was actually very well behaved. And the night went pretty smoothly. I thought Dermot did a great job of hosting it. In the main the guests reading out the nominees did what they had to do. Plus most of the thank you speeches were short and to the point. Which is what you want.

I thought it was nice to see Toff coming up for the I’m A Celebrity Award and doing a bit of back stage presenting. I do like her, she is upbeat, happy and positive. Plus I can tell she is keen to learn more about the trade of presenting. She did a great job handling Stanley Johnson, when they presented an award together.

It was nice to see Andy Collins on stage doing his thing during the ad breaks. While you at home got sold holidays and hoovers. He entertained us. Another one of his jobs seemed also to be wrangling the celebrities, keeping them in order and in their seats ready for when they were going to be in the next segment. I have met him a couple times. He is a top man. As well as being very funny.

It was good also to see another familiar face as the Stage Manager for the evening was Alan Conley. Who does pretty much all the big shows. He is on Strictly Come Dancing, Britain’s Got Talent and Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Take Away to mention but a few. He is a man at the top of his particular game and very well respected within the industry.

After the awards were over. I stayed for a couple of drinks before heading home and calling it a night. It was a brilliant experience. I really enjoyed myself. It was a fun event to be at. I got chatting to some younger people just before I left. We were talking about our stand out moments. Most of them said it was Blue Planet 2 getting its award for highlighting the issue of plastic in our oceans. If that is the thing that struck the biggest cord. Despite what some people might think about the youth of today. I do think the future looks like it is in very good hands.

As I always turn up for everything very early because I hate being late for anything. I arrived at the O2 before the NTA’s with more than enough time to have a look around the latest Elvis Presley Exhibition they have there. I went to a huge one all about his entire life, that was there a few years ago, which was amazing. This new one is quite a bit smaller and focuses solely on his touring days.

They have lots of his old stage and tour costumes on display, a few precious personal items and lots of footage of him on stage in various locations. They also have a recording of a press conference he did to promote one of his tours. Which is an interesting watch. If you are a fan of the man and have the time, it is worth a quick look round, I think. I certainly enjoyed it.

I was lucky enough to be able to go and watch an episode of the new series of Upstart Crow being filmed at the London Studios on the South Bank. It is a show I really like a lot. The subject matter is great. Ben Elton is an amazing writer. I really like how even in his history based comedies. He still manages to get social comment and a bit of politics in to them. He does it brilliantly with this programme, specially with Shakespeare’s always long and awful commutes between London and Stratford Upon Avon. It is also so clever how each episode is basically all about the writing of a different Shakespeare play. That in itself is genius.

Not only is the writing brilliant but the cast are all fantastic. It is a star studded line up to say the least, with a lot of comedy experience between them. Everyone is so good in it and play their parts so perfectly. But a special mention does have to go to David Mitchell, who is the only one who has to appear in pretty much every scene. So he by far has the most dialogue to learn. And thanks to the writing of Mr Elton. Some of his speeches are not only long and complicated but often tongue twisting challenges. He has to be one of the best comedy actors, we have at the moment. In fact he is just a very funny man. As he proved during short breaks between some of the scenes.

It was the first time I had been to a filming of a classic studio based sitcom with four different sets to move between and the actors playing out the whole scenes with about six cameras pointing at them to record all the dialogue and reaction in real time. It was such a funny night. This series I think could be even funnier that the previous two and I thought they were great.

I watched what will be the first episode. When this latest series is shown on the BBC in the Autumn. I had such a quality time laughing out loud with a group of very happy people. They record each scene all the way through twice. Then do any pick ups before they move on. There was a guest star on this one to. I do not want to give anything away but let us just say this person has previously worked with the writer.

Talking of which it was great to see Ben Elton there. He was on hand and on mic to introduce each of the cast to us, give us some background details about the characters and the plot. He did also point out the main idea is based on historical facts. Well from the six or so facts only, that we know to be true about the exceptional play write. He also told some jokes and brilliant stories in true Ben Elton style. He still has the same energy, he had when he appeared hosting Saturday Night Live.

When he introduced his old mate Harry Enfield, he did a Stavros impression. The cast seem to have a lot of fun making it. They were focused, professional and wanted to get the job done. But when the time allowed it, they were happy to mess about and add even more value to the recording. It was a fantastic evening. I cannot wait to see the whole series later this year.

I have mentioned Logan Murray a few times before. I attended one of his brilliant Comedy Courses a few years ago. Which means I have something in common with Josh Widdicome, Greg Davies and Rhod Gilbert to mention but a few. The latter mentioned Logan during an interview with Simon Mayo on Radio 2. Which led to the comedy guru himself Mr Murray being on the next day talking a bit about his course and the basic set up of it.

It was nice to hear him on and it brought back lots of great memories from my time in his company. I did my course as part of the Roving Comedy Night at the Tringe Festival. Which is just a fantastic experience. They are looking for people who would like to do it this year. I would urge anyone to give it a go. Follow this link for all the details. http://www.get-stuffed.biz/tringe/2018/06/roving-comedy-night/

I spent another hilarious night in the Phoenix Pub in London at The Old Rope Comedy Night. Which is a new material evening for the cream of comic talent to come along and try out new jokes. It is the run by Tiff Stevenson along with her parents, who manage the door. Which instantly gives the place such a friendly and inclusive feel to it. Tiff was away in New York this week. So the night was hosted by the brilliant Lou Sanders. I have seen her a few times before. She is very funny. She did a wonderful job of moving the fun along while keeping us entertained between the acts. It is fair to say we learnt a lot about her during the evening, some of which I can never unlearn.

It was another amazing line up. As it always is at this place. You get a rough list of comedians advertised before the gig but normally you get a few special guests just popping in unannounced. This time I saw Tom Ward who was ace. Jasper Cromwell- Jones, who I had not seen before but who is a character act based around a very posh adventurer. Which I feel we may see a lot more of.

Geoff Norcott was on next, who you might know from the excellent Mash Report. He has got a pretty definite style and was brilliant to. Then the last act in the first half was Lloyd Langford, who I really like. He had been out for lunch with fellow comedian Matt Forde. Which was meant to be just food but turned in to a bit of a session. So by the time he got on stage. He was around eight pints to the good. Mind you he held it together fine and was still very funny. Although I think he might have been slightly relieved when it was all over. Top work all round during part one.

Part two kicked off with the always great Tony Law. The man who headlined my first ever Stand Up gig. I got to spend the whole evening with him as we performed. He was once again great. He is another who has his own very distinctive style. Then it was Marlon Davis. It was great to see him back on stage after recovering from a very nasty car accident.

Then there was a surprise appearance from Simon Brodkin. Possibly better known as his alto ego Lee Nelson. I actually had met Simon before because I played a Press Officer at a football club in the pilot of The Lee Nelson Well Good Show. But I was cut from the show, when it was eventually shown. That is show business kids! He was doing some new material as himself and was also very funny.

Next up was the always fantastic Eleanor Tiernan. She was as ever brilliant. It is such and fun and funny night. Which is even more astounding when you remember that a lot of the gags are all brand new. The headline act for this visit was the excellent Hal Cruttenden. Who was on fantastic form. He was so good and assured. As you would expect from a man of his standing and experience. He rounded off the evening perfectly. If you are ever in London on a Monday night and not sure what to do. I would always say go to the Old Rope. You really cannot go wrong.

My team Tottenham Hotspur are very lucky to still be in the FA Cup after nearly getting knocked out by a valiant effort from Newport County. We could really do without another game with the Champions League about to restart. But I will happily take that replay all day long to still be in the competition.

I went to see the Manchester United match Wednesday. Which was a very pleasing night. I think scoring in the first eleven seconds did help us out a lot. But it was a great performance and a crucial win. Bring on the rest of the season!

This week I have launched my brand new podcast. This will be available weekly. It contains lots of stories from my past, thoughts on everyday situations that I and everyone else find themselves in. Plus a selection of interviews that I have done in the past with various interesting people.

If you sign up and register with i-tunes then you will get it delivered to your phone or tablet automatically when the latest episode is released. Why not get involved and give yourself a nice new treat for 2018. It will basically be like a radio show but without the music. Sign up here. https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-neil-quigley-radio-podcast/id1236437663?i=1000401179310&mt=2

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

Another Year Older But Still No Wiser

December 23, 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. During the last two weeks I have celebrated my forty-first birthday. It is fair to say that this year was a lot more low key than the massive party I threw myself last December. I think I have now reached the age where I will only be holding major events to mark these statistics every ten years now. But that as ever is subject to change.

I was working on my special day this year in London. Which meant I could not do the annual drinks down my local, which I normally do. Which was a shame as that is generally a last minute random gathering. That is lots of fun and a good excuse to see people who I have not seen for a while. Plus I can just walk home from the pub at the end of the night.

Although obviously you can’t not do nothing to mark this monumental occasion, so when I had finished work in London on my birthday. I went for a few drinks in one of my favourite bars, with a view in the capital. That is the Radio Roof Top Bar at the ME Hotel on the Strand. I have been there a few times before. I like it because although you can just walk in there off the street. It still does feel quite classy and exclusive.

They let you in and then you get the lift up to the bar. As I was walking out of the lift to go in to the bar itself a Will I Am look-a-like was just walking in. There is a resident DJ playing some pretty funky dance and house tunes, stunning views of London and most importantly it serves some very nice wine at reasonable prices.

It is often quite busy, so finding a table can be difficult unless you reserve one. Which I was not organised enough to do, so we ended up sitting at the bar. There were about three or four private parties going on scattered around the room. Which provided a lively, fun and vibrant atmosphere. Perfect for a celebration.

Although it was a little bit more sedate than the previous year. It was still a very enjoyable way of commemorating another year spent here on planet earth. Thanks for all the cards, birthday wishes and presents I received. I appreciate it. I am very grateful. When you get to my age most presents either consist of something you can wear or something you can drink.

Being born in December you do kind of have to share your celebrations with the birth of someone else later in the month. That most of the county also seem to celebrate. I have in the past been to Christmas events on my birthday. But I do try to distance myself from it a little bit and keep my birthday as the main focus.

I refuse to do anything for Christmas until after my birthday. I never do my present shopping until after it. But four days after is fine. Which was when I got all of this years’ Christmas shopping completed within just over two hours.

I employ the same plan every year. Where I either deal directly with the recipients or decide in advance exactly what I am getting everyone. I will then make a list. Which I take with me along with a pen. I then normally go to a shopping centre and do my entire shop in one single visit, crossing off the items from my list as I buy them. This plan is aided by the fact that my immediate family make lists of what they want. Then the rest of the family liaise with each other and we all buy from that list. That way we all get what we want but we just don’t know who it is coming from and which items we will or will not get until the day itself.

It works for us and it certainly works for me when it comes to the Christmas present shopping. I have now got it down to a fine art. There is something very pleasing about starting and finishing it all within a couple of hours. Even better I have now already got it all wrapped up ready for the big day, so with a few days to spare I am ready. I do always go a bit over the top with my wrapping. I put ribbons and bows on everything. I also use a lot of Sellotape, so people have to work hard to get into their gifts. It can sometimes take ages. Which I must confess amuses me and makes me think they are getting their moneys worth out of the situation.

Life just seems to be so busy nowadays. There is always something that needs doing or something you have booked to do ages ago. As a result of everyone’s lives being like this. It can actually be quite hard to organise meeting up with family and friends. The other week I did manage to catch up with some very good mates over dinner and a few drinks. After no word of a lie having to change the date and time of it at least once. And after some complicated three way negotiations. That I suspect would make the Brexit talks seem simple. But the important thing is we managed to get ourselves together at the same place and time. We of course had a brilliant night.

The thing with really good friends is you never run out of conversation, you normally have so much news to catch up on from each other. And finally because you know each other so well you can tease each other and have a right laugh at each others expense. The pubs we went to served decent drinks. The meal we had I thought was excellent. But we could have been anywhere doing anything. We would still of had as good a night. As the most important factor in these things is the people you are with. It flew by so quickly. Which is always a good sign that you are having fun. We all have stress and challenges in our lives. But I really do think a regular night out with your best mates should be prescribed on the NHS. How can that not be good for you? As a way of relaxing and losing yourself in laughter for a bit.

I am not a frequent visitor to the cinema. I am not good at sitting still for long periods of time. I probably average one trip there every two to three years. It has to be a film I really want to see to get me there. That movie came out ten days ago now. I am and always have been a massive Star Wars fan. Ever since I saw the first one as a kid.

I saw all three of the originals. I even had a whole box of Star Wars toys. Which I got when I was ten and sold at a car boot sale about six years ago. Just before they bought back the original cast. It is all in the timing. Among those toys was a replica of the Millennium Falcon. Which I used to play with a lot. I had Luke Skywalker in every outfit that he ever wore and several different versions of all the main characters.

Therefore I of course had to see the latest Star Wars film The Last Jedi as soon as I could after it was released. I had really enjoyed the last one. Which was bridging the old and new characters and the story together. It was called The Force Awakens. Or I guess you could subtitle it the Han Solo story. Funnily enough that was the last time prior to this latest trip that I had been to the cinema. The way it was made in the old traditional style and seeing all those characters I grew up with back together again made me feel like a child again. I had a big smile on my face throughout. So as you can imagine I was really looking forward to this latest offering. Specially as I knew from the tease at the end of the previous one. That we were going to see more from Luke Skywalker in this one.

I was way to excited about seeing this film for a man of my age. I booked the tickets about two weeks in advance to watch an afternoon showing. I was so keen to make the most of it that I splashed out an extra two pounds to secure a premium seat right in the middle of the screen. I thoroughly enjoyed it and thought that again it was all done lovingly in the style of the original trilogy with some nice one liners and bits of comedy. Like there were in those first three films.

But as well as this nod to the past this film still moves the story forward and gives us chance to learn more about the newer characters. For them to really establish themselves. I am never going to tire of seeing X-Wing Fighters and the Millennium Falcon fly through space. It features a powerful performance from the wonderful Carrie Fisher. It reminds us of what a brilliant actress she was.

The film is two and an half hours long but it kept my attention all the way through. Which is no mean feat at all bearing in mind how few movies I will sit and watch. I loved it! In a way it was like catching up with some old friends. Them still behaving like they used to. Doing what you would expect them to do. It still makes me feel like a child watching them.

I did watch and like the three prequels that were made in the middle. I did venture to the cinema to see them all. But personally I prefer the first three and these latest two. As they remind me more of the Star Wars that I first became engrossed in. I do like the new characters and their links with the past. I already cannot wait to see episode nine. When that is released.

I went along to the Old Rope Comedy Club Christmas gig at The Phoenix Pub, which is just off Regents Street in Central London. It is a new material night that takes place on a Monday. Nish Kumar was hosting and it featured performances from Eleanor Tiernan, Aisling Bea, Tiff Stevenson (whose comedy night it actually is) and a headline performance by James Acaster.

It was another top evening. Everyone was on good form. But for me Nish and James were the funniest. On Nish’s part because he really was treating it as his Office works do. And Mr Acaster is right on the top of his game at the moment with his everyday surrealism. You know it is a good night when your cheeks hurt from laughing. I will be back for more fun times there next year.

It has been another up and down couple of weeks for my team Tottenham. We have had some good wins and some deserved but annoying defeats. But that is football and in general life. You have to enjoy the good times and get through the bad times.

It was nice of the club to send me a birthday card signed by Mauricio Pochettino and the rest of the squad. That was a nice little touch. I still plan to get to as many games as I can at Wembley until the end of the season. Starting with West Ham United on the 4th January.

A very Happy Christmas. Have a brilliant festive season and I will speak to you in 2018. 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.

It’s Worth A Punt

April 29, 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. I trust you had a decent Easter. I enjoyed a nice traditional family Roast Dinner on Easter Sunday. Where my Mum also continued the tradition of giving me an egg.

You could argue I am far to old for this to still be happening. But I think historical heritage is very important and I love chocolate. This year it was a mint Matchmaker’s one, which was amazing. I demolished it in just under two days.

My local train operator is Chiltern Railways. In the last year they have opened up a new route, which means I can now get directly from my local station to Oxford by train. It is something that I had been meaning to try out for ages.

And I finally got round to doing it on Easter Monday. It is about a forty-five minute journey. The station in Oxford is only about a ten minute walk from the centre of the city. Which is ideal.

I was meeting a mate there for the afternoon. So after walking around admiring the architecture for a bit. As it was a dry and relatively nice day and because it was something that neither of us had done before. We decided to take a Punt ride around one of the picturesque waterways. There were a few different options available.

You could hire a Pedalo, Rowing boat or a Punt yourself. Or for a little bit more money. You could have a Punt ride for thirty minutes with a chauffeur provided. So as neither of us had ever punted before and because it was a Bank Holiday therefore a day of rest, we went with that last option.

They do seem really unsteady and unstable when you get in to sit down in the Punts. But once you are in the seat, which was actually cushioned. It actually felt very comfy. Our driver was a guy called Noah. Perfect name for his job and I presume he only takes passengers in two’s.

Anyway he was brilliant, giving us lots of information about all the places we were passing, tips on Punting and working on the river in general. In fact when we got to a quiet bit. He let me have a go at the Punting. I have to say it was a lot harder than he was making it look. And the poles were a bit heavier than I was expecting.

After a few successful pushes I quit while I was ahead and gave control back to the man who knew what he was doing. It was good fun having a go at powering and steering the vessel. But it was a lot more relaxing just sitting back and watching the world go by with Noah at the helm. It was all good fun and I really enjoyed the experience, so if you have never tried it, I would recommend doing so.

I think I will definitely take advantage of that train journey again in the future. There are some nice restaurants and bars in Oxford. Which I could visit, enjoy their full hospitality and then let the train take the strain on the way home.

A while ago now I took my Mum to the Pinewood Studios to see a couple of episodes of the quiz show Debatable being filmed. It was a nice afternoon watching Patrick Kielty in action. One of the shows we saw was shown on television last week. So if you saw the one that featured Jonathan Edwards, Rick Edwards and Ann Widdecombe, the more sharp eyed of you may have spotted the back of my head a few times. I must admit that they do not have the most flattering views of the audience on this programme.

While we are taking about quiz shows. Now it has actually been commissioned and is being shown on television. I can reveal that I was involved in one of the pilot shows for Don’t Ask Me, Ask Britain. Which was great fun to do. It is nice to see it got picked up by ITV. And being a massive Frank Skinner fan, it is brilliant to see him on it.

Last Monday I made a welcome return visit to the Old Rope Comedy night at the Phoenix Pub in London. I have mentioned it before and I think this was about the fifth or six time I have been there now but it never disappoints. It is a new material night for top comedians, to try out their latest jokes.

It is run and hosted by Tiff Stevenson with help from her dad who checks the tickets on the way in. The line up is always great and has recognisable comics on the bill every single week. I have seen some truly brilliant acts there. Some night’s it is like a whose who in the world of comedy in there.

It is just such a top night out. The comedians doing their thing on stage during this latest trip included the brilliant Sean Walsh, who was hilarious. Rich Hall popped along to try out some bits ready for an upcoming QI recording and did a comedy song on his guitar.

Plus I actually managed to see someone who I had heard great things about but never seen before in Paul McCaffrey. He was totally brilliant. I would really like to see his full show on the back of what I saw, he was very funny. I enjoyed his set even more as I could hear Sean Walsh laughing his head off behind me to. When I next get a free Monday night. I will be heading back there once again to get my comedy fix.

It was the London Marathon last weekend. I think every year most people will probably know at least one person who is taking part. So well done to my mate Lee Bryant who went through the pain barrier to complete his second and he now claims last appearance in the famous run. Anyone who takes part has my full admiration and if you finish it that is an amazing achievement.

It is one of those things that I have seriously thought about trying over the years but never followed it through. I do go running regularly and I do generally try to keep fit. But running twenty-six miles in one go, I fear could be too much for me. Of course I guess the older I get the harder it will actually be if I do ever find the motivation to apply and then the luck to actually secure a place. No immediate plans on that front but as ever with life I will not rule anything in nor will I rule it out.

Neil Quigley at Mix 96 Tour De Vale Bike Ride

I recently went to meet a friend of mine for a drink in the Wembley area. We went to a new bar which is just across from Wembley Stadium. In fact you get a fantastic view of the iconic venue through their window. It is a new craft beer pub with to be fair a huge selection of different locally brewed drinks. The music in there was pretty cool with The Rolling Stones, The Jam, Bon Jovi and Bruce Springsteen playing while we were there.

However it was not very busy. We were oddly the only two people in the place. So if you want a quiet drink in that area. That place would appear to be a safe option. If it is still there and open, which unless it gets a few more customers may not be the case.

Last weekend the two FA Cup Semi-Finals took place at Wembley Stadium. I am not going to lie I was gutted about the Tottenham result after they were beaten by Chelsea in the first game. I really felt we had a good chance of winning the cup this year. Worryingly we have now lost seven FA Cup Semi-Finals in a row, since we won the competition in 1991.Which is an unwanted new record. Plus with the strong possibility that it could be our home next season, our current record playing there is terrible. Which is not ideal to say the least.

In the match we did not quite seem our normal recent selves. We made a few mistakes and gave away a few bad goals but still battled back to two all at one point. Then even when Chelsea took the lead again I thought we could get a goal and take it in to extra time still. But once that rocket from Matic nestled right in the top corner of our net. It was game over sadly. It has been a great season but it still looks like we will once again miss out on any silverware. Which is a little bit disappointing. But hey upwards and on wards.

Britain’s Got Talent is back for another year. This is the first time in three years that I have not managed to get along and watch one of the audition shows. When I have done that in the past it tends to give me an idea of the level of talent on show for that series. This year I have no preconceptions, so it has been very interesting to see so far. Ant and Dec are brilliant as ever. They do really make the show, specially their interaction with some of the nutters and odd acts that the show still does seem attract.

I was also surprised that Simon Cowell has already pressed his Golden Buzzer. Being a dad has definitely caused him to mellow. He is just a big softy nowadays. Personally I think that a singer or a dance act will win it this year. But I have no idea which one at this stage.

Another television show that I have sat in the audience of a few times now has returned to our screens. Celebrity Juice is back on. It has to still be one of the maddest shows ever. They get brilliant guests on there and get them to do unbelievable things. That I am sure they would never have imagined they would do in a studio but once they are there and the cameras and rolling. They tend to just go along with it. It is just very silly fun most of the time.

The recording generally lasts around two hours. They do the opening first as you would expect. But then they just talk to each of the guests and have general conversations amongst themselves. Often these chats are then put in to different parts of the show in the edit. Once they are happy they have got enough fill in banter, they then play the games in the correct sequence. The last bit to be filmed is the buzzer round at the end and then the scores.

So just like you see on television the recording finishes with them all dancing around on stage. Last time I was there I had a seat right on the front row, so I had a great view of the action. In fact on his way on to the stage Keith Lemon left me hanging, as I went in for a high five with him. It is a fun night out at Elstree to watch the craziness. I am enjoying this latest series as ever, it is still bonkers fun.

I am still doing some work for the BBC. Which I am really enjoying. Sadly I was not in the building the other Friday when the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge made their surprise and brilliant appearance on Radio 1. I have watched the whole thing and they and all the presenters did a great job.

I have most recently been working on some more Radio 4 programmes including the flagship Six O’clock evening news.

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

Neil Quigley Presenter