Tag Archives: Waxy O’Connors

Happy Birthday To Me

December 18, 2021 Neil

It was my birthday the other Friday the tenth of December. As you get older in life some people tend not to celebrate birthdays that much and even try to ignore and forget them. I am very much of the philosophy that each one should be suitably marked. Achieving another year on the planet is no small feat so you really should reward yourself for your effort I feel. I only tend to have a party on what I consider landmark birthdays and as my next one of those is not for a few years yet this time I enjoyed a weekend in London.

I think as far as I can remember since I have been an adult at least, I have taken control and planned exactly what I was doing for my special day, be that a party, a weekend away or just a night out. This time however it was slightly different. My girlfriend Lynda is a good organiser of things and she told me around six months ago that she had booked us both something to do on the evening of my birthday in London and that I should keep it free. A couple of months later she admitted that she had also arranged another surprise for me on the Saturday evening.

With two events planned over two nights it made sense to stay in London for the whole weekend. Together we booked a very nice hotel to stay in for a couple of nights. That took a lot of thought as we were trying to get the location right, which she was attempting to suggest without giving the game away about what we were doing of course. We settled on The Great Scotland Yard Hotel just off Whitehall. I managed to organise to work from London on the Friday and after I had finished I walked across town to meet Lynda who had already checked into the hotel. As soon as you went in and met the staff you could instantly tell that it was a well run establishment.

I collected my key from reception and then went to the room to see Lynda. At this point I still had no idea what we were doing but I knew we had to leave in about ten minutes, so I had a quick cup of tea and opened some cards before it was time to quickly get changed and head out. She obviously had to lead the way as I did not know where we were going. Then all of a sudden we were standing in the queue at The Garrick Theatre waiting to go in and see The Drifters Girl. It stars the brilliant Beverly Knight and as you have probably guessed it is the story of the Drifters. I gigged with the group on my birthday in 2007. Just to clarify I was not singing it was a dinner and dance at a huge venue in Yeovil. I was the DJ and they were the Cabaret. They were great and it was amazing to watch them from the side of the stage.

I am a fan of their music. They have released some great and very memorable songs. We had good seats near the front of the stalls and Lynda had the foresight to pre-order some drinks so it was not long before I was enjoying a red wine. I ordered us some interval drinks to because well it was my birthday. The show was fantastic, the whole cast were wonderful and most of them had to play multiple roles, that they did perfectly and very cleverly. Beverly Knight was excellent she has such a sensational voice and her American accent was perfect. It is a very slick and well put together show. By the encore we were all on our feet singing and dancing along to the songs. Lynda had done very well with the first surprise, I thoroughly enjoyed it!

After the show we went across the road to the Cork & Bottle Wine Bar in Leicester Square. It is a little downstairs place where we decided to go for a bit more wine and some late night food. They had a few gluten free options and I ended up with a carrot and peanut curry with rice, which was very nice. We stayed in there until closing time and then made our way back to the hotel. The bar there was already closed and that may not have been a bad thing as we had a full day ahead of us the next day, so it steered us to bed. Due to me being at work it had been quite a long yet enjoyable day. Plus it was my birthday weekend so there was another surprise waiting for me on the Saturday evening.

We had breakfast included in our stay so made sure we got up to enjoy that. As you would expect from the quality of the hotel we were in it was very nice. I had the omelette which was great. Not wanting to waste the day we got organised and went for a walk along the South Bank. There just happened to be a small Christmas Market there, it would have been rude not to have a Mulled Wine while we were there so we did. We then decided we needed some more food so we went to Prezzo as they do a very good gluten free menu. I had some garlic bread and pasta as I was aware we had an afternoon and evening of drinking lined up so thought it best to line the stomach properly. After lunch we returned to the hotel to relax and get changed before the evening entertainment.

The toilet in the room was a bit more advanced shall we say than anything I had ever experienced. I do not want to be too graphic but when you have done what you need to do there is a control panel that offers jets of water followed by a drier option. Therefore it is a good way of reducing paper use in this situation. I had never tried anything like that before but now having experienced it for myself I really want one. It makes everything simpler and yet more exciting. We got dressed up and went to enjoy a drink in the classy hotel bar. We had two things planned for the evening one that I knew about and my second birthday surprise present from Lynda. The first place we were going to was a cocktail bar that she had wanted to go to for a while. That we actually managed to book at table at for this night the last time we were out in London together.

It is a place called Cahoots in Soho. We walked there in the rain which was not ideal but on arrival they showed us to the table we had booked in the underground section. It is designed like a tube station and you sit in little carriage compartments. It is all very nicely done and is set in the 1940’s just after the end of the war. They have a comprehensive list of cocktails many of which are unique to the place. It is very dimly lit and the menu is in a newspaper. My eyesight is not great so I was finding it hard to read it for a laugh Lynda passed me the candle on the table, which I took and titled slightly. I had not realised it was full of wax and managed to drip it all over my black trousers which made them look shall we say a bit suspicious in a certain light, until I managed to fix them a little in the toilet.

The drinks have all sorts of different names while I was there I had a Vera Lynn, a Judy Garland and a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts. The first one came in a glass that was a replica of the singers head. The drinks were great and not normally what I would have ordered ingredients wise but sometimes it is good to try some new things and push the boundaries. Lynda had three cocktails as well including their own version of an Old Fashioned that she really liked and as she is a bit of a connoisseur of that drink that is high praise indeed. I still did not know where we were off to next, although I did know it included us eating at some point. It was back towards the hotel, was all I knew so Lynda led the way once again and we found ourselves in The Strand outside one of the big impressive hotels there.

She had booked us into a very nice restaurant called Indigo. The reason she was taking me there was it only serves gluten and dairy free food. Therefore for the first time since I have been diagnosed as a coeliac I could go in to somewhere that not only could I choose anything off the menu to eat but also somewhere that there would be absolutely no chance of cross contamination. It was such a cool and classy place that had a nice and relaxed vibe to it. I instantly loved it in there and that was before I had seen the wine list or even the menu. It was such a lovely and sweet place for her to book so I could relax, choose whatever I wanted to and enjoy my food.

We of course ordered some wine first which for the record was very good. They then brought us a gluten free roll with diary free bacon sprinkles butter. That combination was sensational and already a great start to the meal. Next up I had the belly pork starter which was fantastic. Not only was the food great but it was like Master Chef “style” presentation to. Lynda had the crab for her starter. My main course was Halibut with crushed potatoes and crab sauce, which again was melt in your mouth good. She had the fish and very chunky chips. Then for pudding I had the most amazing chocolate mousse I think I have ever tasted it was just ridiculous. There was one more surprise when they came out with a piece of chocolate cake with happy birthday written on it and a candle for me to blow out, which I thought was a really nice touch.

I had a wonderful time there and will definitely be going back there again. It is a fine dining place and of course their prices reflect that but I would say the food was worth every penny. If you are coeliac or gluten or dairy free I would recommend you go there as a special treat for a big occasion. If you have no dietary requirements I would still go the food and whole experience you have there is brilliant. It was honestly the perfect place for me to eat out for my birthday. It may well become my go to place when I want to mark a special occasion or just fancy eating at possibly one of the safest places I know for my medical condition.

We then went back to the hotel with full and content stomachs and had a couple more drinks in the bar including some Champagne to toast the occasion. We went to go to bed at a reasonable time but when we got to our room none of our key cards would work. I went to the reception and a security guard came back with me to use the master key but that still did not open it. He then had to radio down for another member of the team who came and stuck a screwdriver in a certain area before producing a conventional key and managing to get us into the room. In the end it took us half an hour longer to get in the room than it should of. Modern technology is great when it works and very annoying when it does not.

On the Sunday we got up and had breakfast. I had the omelette again well if it is not broke do not fix it. We then checked out leaving our bags being looked after by the hotel to spend the afternoon mooching around. We had a look around the Christmas Market in Trafalgar Square, before having a stroll around Convent Garden where the better tree of those two places is located. We then went to have a drink in my favourite pub in London Waxy O’Connor’s just off Leicester Square. I have been going there for years, normally I would have a pint of Guinness but now I am gluten free that is no longer an option so I just had to make do with a pint of cider. I was pleased that I could introduce Lynda to the place for the first time though.

Then as we had obviously not eaten enough food during the weekend we went for a late dinner at another gluten free friendly place Cote Brasserie. I still managed to put away their Toulouse Confit and Crème Caramel for pudding washed down by a glass of red wine. We then decided to go for a walk down The Mall and back through St James Park before having one final drink then calling a close to the weekend. I had a brilliant time and was delighted with both of my birthday surprises. That does really put the pressure on me now though as it is Lynda’s big day in March and it is only fair that I organise something as impressive and clever as what she did, wish me luck!

There is literally never a dull moment with my football team Tottenham Hotspur. A Covid outbreak among the players and the coaching staff led to a couple of our games being postponed. This may mean as we refused to play in effect we could be removed from the Europa Conference. I am totally fine with that as I have said before despite the fact we were in it I could never really see the point of it. We lost a few Premier League games but that was agreed and other clubs have been granted that right earlier in the season anyway for the same reason. It is a shame though as we were just starting to get in to a rhythm and put a few wins together. But the health of the players and their families is more important than anything else of course. I look forward to seeing what happens when we return to action. Come of you Spurs!

Christmas Day is only a week away. I have nearly finished all my present shopping which is pretty good for me. I am just going to have a quiet day with my parents on the actual day. Then on Boxing Day I am planning to go and see Tottenham play Crystal Palace before disappearing for a few days to a hotel with Lynda to relax and build ourselves up for New Year’s Eve. It should be fun we are staying at a bit of a quirky hotel. which I will tell you more about next time we speak. Whatever you are doing have a great Christmas, eat, drink and be merry!

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

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

Flash Bang Wallop

April 2, 2016 Neil

Hi there, how are you doing? I hope you have had a really good couple of week’s. Mine have been quite busy with a few fun things going on. Last time we spoke. I was telling you about the brilliant St Patrick’s Day I spent in Waxy O’Connor’s in London. Well it actually got even better a few days later.

On the day I was putting a few photos up of me enjoying myself at the pub on my Twitter page and of course was tagging the venue in to. So I was both surprised and delighted to receive a tweet from my favourite Irish drinking establishment in the Capital. Telling me that I had won a special goody bag in their St Patrick’s Day competition.

I will be totally honest with you. I had no idea I had actually entered a competition or that they were even running one. It was only when I looked back through their Twitter. That I discovered they were encouraging people to send them pictures of the day. For the chance to grab a prize pack. They were really nice people to deal with. They are a really great team in there. It was agreed that I would go in and collect my prize from them the Saturday after the big day itself.

It was not until I walked in to the place at the arranged time. That I realised Ireland were playing Scotland in the Six Nations Rugby. So needless to say it was totally packed. I treated myself to a Guinness and made my way to the main bar to speak to Caitlin and Sean, the management team. When I found them. They were fantastic. Despite the bar being absolutely heaving with people. They still went and got the goods and gave them to me straight away. Firstly of course pausing for a quick photograph to mark this great moment.

The goody bag contained a bottle of Jameson Whiskey with some branded metal measures and tumblers. A Guinness hat, and some comedy shamrock green sun glasses. Plus my favourite part. Two of the Waxy O’Connor rugby shirts that the staff wear. One in black and the other in green. Now I have secretly wanted one of these for years.

And I now own a couple of them. It is great to have some cool mementos from my favourite London Pub. I am thinking of may be wearing one of the shirts next time I go there. Then just quickly hopping behind their bar. Pretending that I am a member of staff and pouring myself a nice pint of the black stuff.

I have since found out that Shane Lynch from Boyzone was also in there on the day to. I did not see him on St Patrick’s Day but I have met him before. Many years ago I helped host a live music event in Great Missenden with Richard Carr. I think that may have been the one and only time we worked together on stage as a double act. It was after Shane had left Boyzone the first time round. He was performing with a band called Redhill. I got to meet him and have a quick chat with him just before the gig. He was lovely, friendly and very relaxed.

The only other things I remember about this event are. It was staged managed by the same man who had been doing that same job for Steps last tour. And the other presenter working with us was from the ITV Children’s show Diggit. All I can remember is that she was female but I can’t remember her name. It was a good fun evening though. To be fair any time when I have a microphone in my hand and I am on a stage. That is always good evening.

The other weekend my former boss from when I was working at Ivel fm in Yeovil, Steve Carpenter. Was up from deepest darkest Somerset to do a DJ set at a very high class event at the Hilton Park Lane in London. So I went along there to see him for a nice chat and a bit of a catch up. Before he was required to entertain the invited guests. It was all very showbiz, as you would imagine. First we grabbed a nice cup of tea in the performers green room area with the band and dancers. Who were also on the bill.

There were plenty of feathers and sparkle around backstage, mostly supplied by the dancers. We then nipped down to the Traders Bar at the hotel for a quick drink before showtime. It was brilliant to see him. It was nice to reminisce about old times and talk about the future and upcoming plans. I did have lots of fun and memorable moments, while I was working in the West Country. Then he headed off to do his thing behind the decks and I headed off home.

Neil Quigley with Steve Carpenter in Yeovil

While I was there before the guests arrived I managed to have a quick look in the room and hear the sound check. It all sounded and looked great. He has performed all other the world and is a class act.

I remember once Steve and I headlined a big gig in a field in Yeovil. After a fun disco concert night with live performances from Odyssey, The Real Thing and Gwen Dickey. Not a bad little show line up to close in front of thousands of people. Another brilliant night, just messing about and having fun on stage!

I mentioned previously about my friend’s series of Radio Plays called The Andy Holmes Angle. There are six in total and I feature in two of them. The first of which was released a few weeks ago. And the second one this week. I have quite a big part in the previous story. But in this latest one I have a little cameo role. Playing a radio presenter, ironically. So therefore hopefully not testing my acting ability too much.

The latest episode is called “Video Killed The Radio Star”. Which weirdly and I promise you this is totally true. Used to be my mobile phone ring tone for many years. If you would like to listen to it and see if you can spot my very brief appearance as a guest star. Here is the link to it. Just click on it to play it. Video Killed The Radio Star

I am not going to lie I am still very excited about the end of the football season. I can’t see Leicester City slipping up currently. They look like they have just forgotten how to lose. But with Tottenham Hotspur in second anything could still happen. So I might still see my team win the league for the first time in my lifetime. Which would be pretty cool, to say the least.

It was also nice to see the Spurs players helping England to beat Germany in Berlin. I know it was only a friendly, still a win is a win. And personally I enjoyed seeing my team’s stars shining for the National team.

I am even starting to dream of potential Euro 2016 success. What is that famous quote about the England Team? Oh yes that is it. “It is the hope that kills you”. Then we went and lost to Holland at Wembley a few days later of course. So point proven there. I guess!

I had a nice and relaxing Easter Bank Holiday Weekend. I just watched the England game on television on the Saturday. Then I had a nice family roast dinner with my parents on the Sunday. Here is the really impressive bit then. I only had one Easter Egg. It was an Orange Matchmaker one and I have to say it tasted amazing. I even managed to avoid having any hot cross buns to.

As Easter breaks go it was a relatively healthy one for a change. It was an hour shorter this year. As the clocks went forward in the early hours of last Sunday morning. I hope you remembered and were not late for any appointments or for work as a result of these changes. The best thing about being tired due to a lack of sleep from the lost hour. Is that it does mean the evening’s will be staying lighter later. Which is always a bonus I think. More day to work with.

So today it is the last in the current series of Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway. When they will be doing the whole show live from a cruise ship in Barcelona full of competition winners. I mean what can possibly go wrong.

I think it has once again been a great run. As the programme is so popular and entertaining. It is getting harder for them to come up with new fun stuff that has not already been done before. And like all productions of course some things work better than others.

But it never fails to make me laugh out loud. With the two Geordie’s the perfect ringmasters at the centre of the circus. I really enjoyed being there in the audience for show three. It was interesting to see behind the scenes. Seeing what it is like in the studio. As opposed to what you see when you are sat at home watching.

The atmosphere there is brilliant. The audience are kind of the heartbeat of the show. That the two presenters and the guests all feed off. And the eagle eyed people amongst you will also know that it did give me a little bit of Saturday night prime time screen time. Including a few shots of me dancing to Little Mix’s Black Magic.

Next week sees the return of Britain’s Got Talent to Saturday night’s for the auditions stage. Which does mean we will still get our weekend fix of Ant & Dec. I went and saw one of the London recordings.

Brace yourself then for the normal selection of terrible acts and amazing performers. Plus those random and unbelievable moments when the judges put someone through seemingly just for a laugh. Or possibly because they can see something that I am pretty sure that the rest of the country will not be able to see.

It is good fun entertainment. So just remember none of the performers are there against their will. Some of them will already know they are awful but are doing it for a laugh or just to get on television.

Stick with it and remember normally for the final they will find at least five really good acts. That all said, I think I did see at least two or three acts at my audition alone. That I would expect to see in the last show. And who could actually win it.

Tomorrow I am going to the NEC in Birmingham for the Gadget Show Live. I have never been before, so I do not really fully know what to expect. I imagine that there will be lots of stands with some amazing new bits of as yet unreleased top technology on. Hopefully that I can test and try out for myself. I have never been someone who is at the forefront of new gadgets and technology.

I even resisted getting a mobile phone for ages at first. And I was one of the last of my mates to get one. I do not own a tablet of any kind. And I would rather read old school paper books than use a new electrical device for them. But who knows I could well find a new passion for flash new tools after a couple of hours wandering around, trying the goods and talking to the makers. I will let you know how it was and what life changing items I purchased while I was there. In the next instalment on here.

Neil Quigley TV Radio & Live — Neil Quigley TV, Radio & Live

I am very excited to be heading up to Liverpool next weekend. For the Aintree Grand National Horse Racing meeting. This will be the third time that I have been there for the event. It is brilliant, the atmosphere is top quality and everyone dresses up and makes a real effort. So needless to say my best suit has already been dry cleaned and is ready for action.

Our big day at the races tends to be Ladies Day. Which is on the Friday. This is the day I will actually be at Aintree. It is a quality day from the start to the finish. And it is fair to say the whole of Liverpool is rocking once the days racing is over.

My mate lives near the course. And when I see him during non Grand National times. We always have a drive down the famous Melling Road. The one that the famous National course crosses over. It will be a lively and exciting three days. That is for sure. Last year I had the National winner in a sweepstake. I am hoping to repeat this feat once again this time round. Fingers crossed.

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

Viva Las London

March 28, 2015 Neil

Hi there, how are you doing? I hope you have had a good couple of weeks. Mine have been nice and busy, with quite a few fun things going on. I have made no secret of my total appreciation for Ant & Dec. And the great job they do on our televisions. I was watching Saturday Night Takeaway on ITV player a couple of Sunday’s ago and was surprised to see Wembley Stadium featured on the show.

You know how they always use different locations to display the audiences faces for when they randomly select one to play “Win the Ads”. Well they were using the giant screens at the front of the stadium to do this. Now I was working in the Wembley area on that Saturday evening. I did wonder why the central Arch was fully lit and bright red in colour, as I was waiting at the train station to go home. Then obviously when I caught up with the programme the day after, I realised why. If I had known in advance I would have gone there and tried to get myself in the shot. May be that is why nobody told me.

Well I can confirm I did use my surname and my minimal Irish roots to justify going to London to celebrate St Patrick’s Day in style this year. I went to my favourite pub in the capital. Which just so happens to be the Irish Bar in Rupert Street off Leicester Square called Waxy O’Connors. I have long maintained that they serve the best Guinness in London.

And I certainly enjoyed having a few pints of the black stuff in there on this special occasion. It was as you would expect packed full of lots of very happy people, who were dressed mostly in green. There was traditional Irish music being played by a live band. The atmosphere was great, everybody was just there to have a good time, a few drinks and a bit of a sing-song. I really enjoyed it. It was a great way to spend the day.

Waxy O'Connors St Patrick's Day — Waxy O’Connors St Patrick’s Day

While I was in London celebrating I managed to also catch up with a couple of friends, who I used to work with. Including one who just happened to have randomly been up in London for a few days from his home in Cornwall. It just shows you the power of social media. I put on Twitter my plan’s for the day ahead. I then saw that he said he was coming to London, so we exchanged messages. Then a few hours later we were meeting up in a pub for a couple of drinks.

His name is Scott Temple. I used to work with him at Ivel Fm in Somerset. So it was great to see him and have a good catch up. Which did of course include a bit of reminiscing, as well as a more general conversation about radio. He is currently working at Pirate Fm in Redruth. So all things considered the day worked out perfectly. I think I might do a very similar thing next year on March 17th.

I went to see the Book Of Mormon last Wednesday. It was a musical I have been wanting to see for a while and I had heard some brilliant things about it. So I was excited to finally get to see it. I have to confess that prior to going along I did not do any further research on it at all. So I had no idea about the plot, the cast or what to expect at all. It is currently showing at The Prince of Wales Theatre. Which is one I do like and one that it easy to find, as it is right in the middle between Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square. I had a decent seat near the front of the balcony. Which I settled in to just before curtain up, with absolutely no idea of what to expect.

From the opening number, which was an upbeat real show setting song. That was brilliantly written and cleverly performed, I was transfixed. It does warn on the tickets that it contains explicit language and I would agree it is not for the faint hearted. But you need to remember that it is written by the people behind South Park. So you should already realise that no subject is taboo. And that they will be happy to use the full colourful range of the English language that is available to them. As they confirm beyond no reasonable doubt about ten minutes into the performance.

It is so hard to do a funny musical with songs that are catchy, that contain great lyrics and that make you laugh out loud. But the team behind this production manage that with ease. The cast many of whom have come with the show from Broadway are all brilliant. Aside from the main plot itself. There are so many small sub plots and lots of random and sometimes surreal visual jokes. That you really have to concentrate on what is happening on stage or you might miss something.

It is a totally brilliant show, thoroughly entertaining, extremely funny. And you might find that it can actually start some big serious conversations about life and your views on it. If you are not easily offended, are open minded and fancy a laugh. I would go and see it while you can, as it closes in London fairly soon.

I finally got round to going for a meal at my local Indian Restaurant last week. It has only been open for about ten years. May be I have been somehow subconsciously avoiding the place. As the building it is in used to be a library when I was a young child. So I think the last time I had previously been in there was when I got a book out when I was about five. Anyway the reason I went along really was because my mate Alvin was there doing his Elvis Show.

It was an all in fixed price for a set menu meal with the entertainment included. Firstly I have to say the food was fantastic. A great big selection of starters to share. Followed by a huge selection of main courses to pick from with rice and naan bread included. So for that alone I will be definitely be going back there. The staff were really friendly and helpful to. So it was a nice all round dining experience.

I have seen Alvin perform many times in the eighteen odd years I have known him. In anything from small venues to big West End Theatres and he always puts on a great show. With the same energy and enthusiasm. Which is the mark of a great performer. My mum is a big Elvis Presley fan so he once made an appearance at one of her birthday parties for me. He was brilliant and brought the house down. As ever on this night in the Indian he was great to.

He is a massive fan of the man he portrays and has studied every detail of the performances his idol used to give on stage. And brilliantly recreates them. Alvin is also a very good comedian, so he mixes his great vocal portrayal of the King with lots of jokes and lots of humour. If you know anything about Elvis. You will know that he himself had a great sense of humour. He liked to laugh, be a bit cheeky and have some fun while on stage performing with the audience. Which is something Alvin replicates in his shows. So we had a funny night, enjoying classic songs, effortlessly sung by a mate, who was rocking a very stylish Elvis Presley white jump suit.

My comedy teacher has just released the third version of his book “Get Started In Stand Up Comedy (Make Em Laugh). That man is Logan Murray. As well as being an author on the subject. Logan also runs lots of Stand Up Comedy Courses at various locations throughout the year. I was lucky enough to attend one of his eight week courses in Tring a couple of years ago. When I became part of the brilliant Roving Comedy Night as part of the Tringe Festival. This was when I finally got my first taste of doing some stand up comedy. After thinking about giving a try for about the previous five years. Logan is a hugely experienced comedian and a brilliant teacher.

It was quite intensive in that the sessions were three hours long. But the time flew by as it felt like we were just messing about and having a laugh the whole time. Doing many improv and joke writing exercises. While trying to release our inner child. Then after seven weeks of basically pratting about each of the group had produced five minutes of original material to perform four times in four pubs in Tring on the Roving Comedy Night. Not only is he a great teacher, funny, interesting and engaging. He is so encouraging and is happy to give up his own time for you to go through your routine and to give you some one to one coaching in the lead up to your first big performance.

If you have ever wanted to try stand up comedy. My advice would be just go out there and give it a go. You will never know if you are any good or not until you try. I would recommend having a look a the book first or even better if you can why not do one of the courses. Even if you do not become the next big thing and if the gig at the end of it is the only one you ever do. It would still be worth it for the great experience. And you will still learn things that will help you with your everyday life. Doing the course does give you a great insight into comedy and it will certainly give you a good giggle, which I personally think is very important in life. Make jokes not war.

I did manage a celebrity spot, while I was in London recently. Well I did thanks to a little bit of assistance anyway. It was while me and my sister were walking through the ticket barrier at Marylebone Station. As we were going through I saw a women with blond hair heading towards me. I thought I recognised her. I was convinced I knew her or had at least met her before somewhere. So I gave her a very nice polite smile as she walked past. Then moments later my sister turned to me and said did you see Jo Joyner just then?

Now I have to confess I do not really watch Soap Opera’s. So I did not realise it was the actress who played Tanya Branning in Eastenders. Now as I said she did look familiar, but I have never met her previously. So I now just hope she did not think my smiling at her was too weird. I was only being friendly to someone I thought I already knew.

April is already looking like it is going to be a really fun month. It is of course Easter Weekend next weekend. So that means you can legitimately have chocolate for breakfast right? And who doesn’t enjoy a nice Hot Cross Bun or two? I am going up to Liverpool for the Grand National weekend, which I am looking forward to. It will be absolutely buzzing up there for that event.

Then at the end of the month I have been offered the chance to go along and see an episode of Celebrity Juice being filmed at the Elstree Studios. I am a big fan of the show. It normally gets some very good guests on it. It is crazy enough on television, so I am expecting it to be total carnage in the studio and lots of fun of course.

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

Neil Quigley Presenter