Another day at the office

One of the perks about this job is it’s never the same, some days are better than others but as a whole it’s always interesting. Even when you perform to the same audience it’s never the same twice and it can be for several reasons, venue, weather, number attending ect.

I thought it would be interesting to tell you what happened on Sunday the 30^th of November 2016. Just to fill you in the night before me and the wife went shopping and after locking the door she mentioned it felt a little difficult, but we took no notice and went onward to the shops.

The next morning Vicki had gone to work and shortly after I got ready for my gig in Bridlington I have done this event before so had the day planned. Once ready I got my keys to open the door to realise the key had broken. That would explain why she had difficulty locking it the night before. So what am I going to do, we only had one key each and mine was knackered. My plan was this I would lug my Punch and Judy equipment out of the window. This consisted of a golf bag, box of puppets, amp, weights, chair and another box of essentials. You would think I was robbing the place climbing in and out through the window which is not instantly a natural thing for me to do, have you jumped out of a window, if so how many times?

All the equipment was in the car now what, should I leave the window open till I get back or waste more time driving to get the key off Vicki to lock the window then drive back to her work then go to my booking. In the end that’s what I did she looked at me confused as I shouted “KEY, GIVE ME YOUR KEY, NO TIME TO EXPLAIN, BACK IN 20 MINUTES” but by this point in our 10 year relationship she is used to my randomness.

Everything was good the gear is ready, the house is locked and Vicki has the key again. All I have to do now is get to Brid, luckily I always give myself extra time so I was still early for the event nothing can go wrong now……… well.

I arrived in the town centre it was very busy and there was no vehicle movement so two stewards had to help me lug the equipment which is tricky when there is a big crowd to get through and a long way to walk. Punch and Judy perform their first show of three and it went down well. Except half way through the first performance when the audience are getting into the flow I get a tap on my back, remember I am in a box so someone is now inside with me. It was one of the stewards saying “stop the show Father Christmas cannot get through.” I did as requested they are the ones that booked me so best to keep them happy and afterwards carried on with the show.

Turns out I had gathered an audience big enough to block the street meaning no one could get by even Santa. From in my box I tend to go into a little trance and am so focused on the manipulation, the equipment, audience management, the show and trying to get as many laughs as I can I was not aware of the size Punch had gathered. After my first performanc e I was told by the event to pack up because I was a hazard no one could get by when the show was on. So an early finish for Punch that day and it goes to show it’s never the same but hey it’s another day at the office for this Professor. Oh and I now have three spare keys lesson learnt.