Hi there, how are you doing? I hope you have had a really good couple of weeks. Mine have been pretty busy with some interesting things happening. I went to the brilliant Phoenix Pub in central London to see a top comedian perform a pretty intimate work in progress gig for starters. It was part of a mini comedy festival they had there. The place is a well known venue to see stand ups perform new material. They have a Monday night comedy club called The Old Rope. Which I believe is run by the excellent Tiff Stevenson and it always features a great line up of acts.

The man I went to see was Russell Howard. I have been following his career for many years since he appeared on one of my favourite television shows Mock The Week. He now of course has his own BBC series called Good News. Which always makes me laugh. I saw him on one of his previous tours in Yeovil about eight years ago and he was brilliant that night. This recent gig saw him already trying out some new stuff for the big nationwide tour that he is planning on doing next year. There is nothing like being organised.

He walked out super confident after being introduced by Tiff Stevenson, had a bit of a chat with the audience and then just sat on a stall in the middle of the stage and reeled off great gag after great gag. If this is just the early stages of this show by the time it is finished it is going to be amazing. He did have his notebook with him but he hardly used it. He already knew at least eighty percent of it, I would say. Which bearing in mind he did just over an hour and possibly a lot of these jokes will not even make the final cut. That is some pretty impressive work, whichever way you look at it.

He is a man in my opinion at the top of his powers. He was captivating, entertaining and supplying original very personal material that most crucially was very funny. And this was only a warm up gig. He was so assured and looked so at home sat up there. Then when he finished he told us he was just dashing off to another gig to do it all over again. A great hour of live comedy at a great venue.

I did of course watch the Brit Awards on television. I do not think I have missed one for at least fifteen years I reckon, possibly longer. I did actually go along to it once. Mind you that was about seven years ago now. It was the last one they held at Earls Court hosted by James Corden, Matthew Horne and Kylie Minogue. It was great to be there but nowadays with Twitter I think it is nearly equally as much fun watching it unfold from the comfort of your own home. This year’s show was presented by the super charged duo that are Ant & Dec. Which was another reason why I was not going to miss it.

This is how dedicated I am to enjoying it. I also watched the ITV2 Red Carpet Pre- Show and the ITV2 After Show Party. I wanted to soak up the whole of the night and not miss anything. I really enjoyed watching it. I am biased because I am a huge fan of theirs but I thought the Geordie Duo did an ace job fronting it. Keeping it light, making it fun but getting on with it and getting the acts on and the awards given out.

As you would expect there were some great live performances from Coldplay, Rihanna, Justin Bieber, James Bay, Jess Glynne, Adele and my personal favourites Little Mix. But I did feel a proper old school Brits unusual one off duet was missing like when Tom Jones performed with Robbie Williams, when Lady Gaga sang with the Pet Shop Boys or when Jarvis Cocker joined Michael Jackson on stage.

I thought all the winners were totally deserving of their accolades, especially the big winner on the night Adele, who walked away with four statues. It is always nice to see a fellow Spurs supporter doing so well. Her voice and the songs she writes are very unique. Plus as she always simply names her albums after her age when they are released. She never has to have any boring naming meetings. She tells the record company in seconds what it will be called. To be fair it has always been a winning formula for her from the start, that.

And there was of course the lovely tribute to David Bowie with the poignant words from Annie Lennox and Gary Oldman. Then that stunning cover of Life on Mars by Lordes accompanied by the great man’s own band. Which was out of this world. Ant and Dec have announced they are stepping down as the hosts, so whoever takes over next year has some big shoes to fill. It is fair to say it was not as wild and crazy as previous years. In fact the only person to swear was Adele. I enjoyed it and thought it was a fitting celebration of the music and artists we have enjoyed over the last twelve months.

So last Saturday then I got to do something I have been wanting to do for several years now. See Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway while sitting in the ITV Studios on London’s South Bank. I finally managed to get myself invited along and got given a cracking seat just a couple of people along from the best seats in the house. That big sofa where the people who went to the mystery sofa somewhere in the UK the previous week and got selected sit. I mean sadly they did not share any of their champagne with me but they did look to be enjoying themselves.

The warm up man for the show is the brilliant Andy Collins, who is lively and hilarious. I have seem him perform a few times in the pantomimes at the Waterside Theatre in Aylesbury. Which as that is where he lives makes lots of sense geographically. He is always wonderful in that, by the way. So on the night he comes out first and gets the audience laughing and cheering. Before explaining what will be happening. And then what we will need to do during various points throughout the evening.

Next they introduced us to the guest announcer who was Lee Mack. He then gets taken up to his booth ready for the start of the show. This week the introduction was a little different as the show started with a live performance from Bryan Adams of his latest song. While Ant and Dec were basically all over the place messing about behind the scenes and while the audience were up on our feet singing and dancing along.

Then the two hosts start the show as normal with a little piece to camera. From my point of view as I have a huge interest in presenting and television, it was fascinating watching them prepare for each bit and the little things they do just before they go live.

While they throw to a pre-recorded piece I have to stand up in my seat to let little Ant & Dec and the lovely Ashley Roberts get past, so they can chat to the people in the best seats in the house. Having seen the former Pussy Cat Doll so close. I am happy to confirm that she is tiny but totally stunning. She was great fun to, very relaxed and also happy to have a quick chat to the people around her.

The show just flies by so quickly from the great Coronation Deceit skit to set up the lying barmaid featuring several regulars from the huge ITV soap opera. And of course Ant in a dress for the second time in a week. We get to sing along with Bryan Adams on Summer of Sixty-Nine for sing-along-live which I have to say was a pretty cool moment. We witness Gino D’Acampo relive his I’m a celebrity get out of my ear. So we are watching him see it all for the first time while he is sat on stage with the Geordie’s. Some of their reactions are priceless.

Evelyn from the audience wins big on win the ads. And we get treated to the first episode of Who Shot Simon Cowell? Which already looks brilliant. Then to top it all off the extremely talented Little Mix looking sensational come on to perform a special Country and Western version of their huge hit Black Magic. To act as the soundtrack for the Cowboy saloon sketch, that was the end of the show, show. Brilliant fun, I loved every second of being there in person in the studio. I have to say the two lads and the whole crew, which are one of the best in the country work really hard. None of them gets much time to rest during the show. I bet they are all completely shattered by the time the final titles role.

At the end after the transmission has ended they thank all the guests and then Ant and Dec both say a few words of thanks to the whole audience for coming along and creating the atmosphere, which is really the heart beat of the show. Ant did say it was a bit of a tough week for them rehearsing and getting the show done, with the after effects of a slight Brits hangover. But you couldn’t tell, as they did a fantastic job as always. Brilliant fun, great night.

We are already half way through the latest series of BBC Radio 4 Extras topical news show Newsjack. Once again I have been writing some jokes for it. So far a few of them have made it in to the script and have been performed during the recording at the BBC Radio Theatre but none have made the cut as yet. But with hundreds of people supplying gags for it.

To be honest making it in to that stage is pretty satisfying and I have had material included in it before and hopefully I will again in the next couple of weeks. If I do manage it rest assured that I will probably mention it here. Nish Kumar and the team are doing an excellent job with it once again. I am really enjoying listening to it.

This week I went to the wonderful Noel Coward Theatre in London to see the brilliant Mrs Henderson Presents. They did make a film about the story around ten years ago now, which featured Dame Judi Dench and Will Young but predictably like many films I have never seen it.

Though I did know roughly what it was about I had no idea how it would actually be portrayed. It is a really interesting and clever piece. Which as well as looking at many different generations and the views they held and decisions they made in life. It also gives quite a decent account of England and London during the second world war.

It is basically about an old widower who decides to buy an old cinema, turn it in to a Theatre and then when it struggles to make money she decides to stage London’s first nude review show. Which takes a bit of creative thinking to get it past the in those days very strict sensors and law makers. So yes there is some nudity on stage but it is all very tastefully done, as it was at the time when it was happening for real.

The cast are amazing they all sing, dance and act brilliantly and it is actually a wonderful and in many ways heart warming story. As people are thrown together and form in a way their own little family. Some catchy poignant songs and a nice amount and humour as well. For me it was a perfect night out at the theatre. It is a very enjoyable show in which everyone really plays their part.

Still surprised if I am honest but certainly delighted with how well the football season is going for my team Tottenham Hostpur I really cannot think of a time when we were still in with a chance of winning the Premier League this close to May. It has been a tremendous effort by the manager, staff and the whole team and I am loving watching Spurs and being a supporter of theirs at the moment. I mean could we win it? Who knows? If so that would be a great achievement and one I would definitely be celebrating. Probably all summer. Fingers crossed, come on you Spurs.

I still may be a contestant on a brand new Quiz Show. If I am selected my appearance will be filmed in the next couple of weeks and I will let you know what I can about it when I am allowed to by the production company.

If you remember a while back now I said I went to a filming of “It’s Not Rocket Science”. Well the show I saw was on television last Tuesday. And the reason I ended up high fiving Romesh Ranganathan that night was because he scored that amazing penalty at the end. If you watched it, you will know what I mean.

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