Simon Munnery column - SkinnyFest
I don't like tennis, I have no interest in it and watching it gives me gout, but I still become overwhelmed by the desire to do so.
| 14 Aug 2006
Summertime and the living is hard; it's too hot to breathe and I'm feeling tired – it's hot outside but I'm stuck in this cell, typing these words and wiping my brow. To prepare or not to prepare? That is the question. A series of set pieces or an improvised ramble? I know which I'd prefer to do – the ramble; that involves less effort now - and when it works is fantastic. But when it doesn't… ah, there's the rub – when the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune conspire to prevent me saying anything amusing for a whole hour; when winging it fails and I fall like Icarus into a sea of self-loathing, my feathers burned off by the glare of indifferent eyes. That's awful, that is. Doesn't happen very often though. Do come. Seats still available.
It's a bit like exams this period of the year, preparing for the big push north – whatever tasks I set myself to prepare my show, I find myself unable to do them because I am overwhelmed by the desire to watch tennis instead. I don't actually watch any tennis; I don't like it, I have no interest in it and watching it gives me gout, but I still become overwhelmed by the desire to do so.
Moan moan moan. Wahey! They say you only play the Edinburgh fringe 20 times in your career; once on the way up, 19 on the way down. Ian McPherson said something like that once, only better. What have I to say for myself? God is a DJ: He doesn't do requests. That's my new joke; it's been a good year. I've got anecdotes and poems aplenty and a brand spanking new 30-minute set piece in which I play Sherlock Holmes, Dr Watson and Mrs Hudson their housekeeper, simply by changing hats. It's easier than changing voices, I find. I could do that. Or I could just make stuff up. I dunno.
[Simon Munnery]
It's a bit like exams this period of the year, preparing for the big push north – whatever tasks I set myself to prepare my show, I find myself unable to do them because I am overwhelmed by the desire to watch tennis instead. I don't actually watch any tennis; I don't like it, I have no interest in it and watching it gives me gout, but I still become overwhelmed by the desire to do so.
Moan moan moan. Wahey! They say you only play the Edinburgh fringe 20 times in your career; once on the way up, 19 on the way down. Ian McPherson said something like that once, only better. What have I to say for myself? God is a DJ: He doesn't do requests. That's my new joke; it's been a good year. I've got anecdotes and poems aplenty and a brand spanking new 30-minute set piece in which I play Sherlock Holmes, Dr Watson and Mrs Hudson their housekeeper, simply by changing hats. It's easier than changing voices, I find. I could do that. Or I could just make stuff up. I dunno.
[Simon Munnery]