mothers day and richard herring - christ on a bike - the second coming

Eventually got to Stockton yesterday for Mother's Day at the in laws. Had to wait ages for the FPO to get ready (even though she had been in all morning while l was at work), then had to go to Tesco's for flowers and booze. We had curry on the go all day (not for the first or last time), which was pretty good to pick at while drinking bottles of booze with the father in law (the one who does not want tales of ice pops being repeated). The FPO was trying to interest me in her sisters bambino, but once the crying started (from the baby, not me), l got out of it.

Left about 6.45pm to head to Darlington, then straight into Inside Out Comedy Club, at what used to be known as Perrys. Had two spare tickets which the club took to resell, then time for a quick ale and into the club itself. It was the first time l had been in there since it became a comedy club, and it was a pretty good venue for seeing a comic, as it only had about 100 or so people in, and everyone is reasonably close to the stage. Worked out that it is a pretty good living playing to that kind of audience, as you are still taking about £1,000 a night, plus whatever merchandise you can sell afterwards. Obviously there are overheads, and the club/promoter etc will get some dosh, but it's still better money than most bands get.

Anyhows, Richard Herring was really good. Not a laugh out loud all the way through kind of comedy show, but amusing and interesting. It was about an hour and a half altogether (there was a short interval for more ale) and really well written. He also did a good bit when he reeled off the first page of the New Testament (who begat who), which he said took him four days to learn.

I did have a quick heckle when he asked near the end if anyone thought he was Christ, where l shouted "You're not the Messiah, just a silly boy", which of course is from Monty Python's Life of Brian, but slightly incorrect, as they say "naughty boy", not "silly". This of course was picked up by Richard Herring, and he put me down for not shouting the proper quote. When speaking to him afterwards, l started to fox him by saying l did not know there was a quote and what film was he on about, but the God fearing FPO could not keep quiet, so told him l did know. Foiled again!

At least he signed my programme 'To Jamie, the real Messiah!', so it turned out alright in the end (although he probably thinks l'm a fucking idiot). Another uneventful night ticked off.

toodle pip