Why I’d rather be an A.L. than an Alexei
It has been one of those massively busy weeks where all the different threads of my life have made some kind of demand or plea of urgency. Day job has been manic, and the editing side of my life has given me plenty to do as well, but having achieved what I set out to achieve I have looked at my ‘to do’ list and realised there is actually a lot still left at an ‘almost sorted’ stage, that I have somehow ended up de-prioritizing, so I have made it my mission to finish more stuff. I’m actually writing this blog on the train! Yeah, get me, utilizing my time...
On the creative side, I have finished the story for the Shoes, Ships and Cadavers: Tales from North Lononshire anthology, and the little biog to go with it, an article for an online comedy magazine, which I hope they consider publishing, and I’ve been trying to write some comedy material as well. I realise I am going to have to step up with this, I’ve been squeezing in perhaps one set change per every other gig, which means I have been writing in the same vein for a while. I’m going to step up with the MC work too, so my funnies need to be daisy fresh. Tried some of the new stuff at our Rugby gig on Thursday, which all worked okay.
I did want to try to do some ‘women’ jokes about periods, seeing as I seem to have got into a bit of an altercation on the Chortle forums about whether or not women only do jokes about periods, chocolate and vibrators... but when it came to it, I just couldn’t. Felt a bit ‘icky’. So I talked about bank holiday telly and the mock-moral outrage of The Sun instead.
But about the story I’m getting published... I think I can safely tell you now that it is being read by Alan Moore, who is going to write the introduction. I know! I’m thrilled and nervous all at once... My story is about the Northamptonshire witch trials of 1612. I followed Elizabeth Gaskell’s lead with the title, calling it “Arthur the Witch”, but it’s not like that story at all. I hope that sounds nice and intriguing... There will be two editions: a paperback, priced at £9.99, and a very limited edition hardback, complete with dust jacket, priced at £15.99. Check out Newcon Press for more details!
It was in writing my biog though, that I realised just how much I seem to be juggling, though I have to say it only seems that way, particularly if you consider how long it has taken me to get all the poetry, writing, and comedy threads up and running in my life. Some people - my mom, basically - have said I do too much. But then, to my mom, bothering to take the train to go shopping in Birmingham is probably ‘too much’ as well. I just can’t help it. I have to ‘do’ stuff. And maybe I’ll miss X-Factor, or a couple of nights down the pub, but I’m enjoying myself, so there.
So, am I a comedian who also writes, a poet with comedic leanings, a dabbling geek (sounds like some kind of aquatic fowl)?
When we were at the Edinburgh book festival a couple of weeks ago, I pointed out a poster of an author to N - a photo of A.L. Kennedy. That’s who I want to be like, I said. A.L. Kennedy - she’s brilliant. Everything she turns her hand to is solid gold. A Booker-nominated author, and a bloody good comedian to boot... never mind Stephen Fry, A.L. Kennedy is my new role model for industrious creativity.
And then I had a little chuckle to myself because I remembered Alexei Sayle and what he’d said a while ago on Radio 4, talking to Mark Lawson. He said something about how he’d never be nominated for the Booker prize, because he’s a comedian off the telly, and people think of him as a comedian. And yet there is A.L. Kennedy, racking up the nominations and prizes. But that seems to be off Alexei Sayle’s radar, and to be honest, him going on the radio and saying this, and then repeating it in interviews in The Guardian just make him seem a bit, well, bitter. Besides, I’ve read Mister Roberts and I’ve read stuff that has been nominated for the Booker, like Clare Morrall’s M Astonishing Splashes of Colour, and to be honest, I don’t think Sayle’s writing approaches the benchmark that has been established.
So, Sayle could say it’s something he needs to work on himself, or he could just say it’s not fair.
I’m going to turn that mirror round now and say what I see.
The Funny Women semi-finals list has been drawn up now, and though I don’t know most of the acts chosen, there are a few there who I know to be bloody brilliant. It really is their time for the spotlight to shine on them - they’ve put the effort in and it shows.
I still have my Sekrit Project in mind, and if I’m going to get where I want to get, then it’s going to be hard slog ahead... but it will be worth it.
For the next couple of years, just watch this space. I’m going to follow the example of my new role model, and get cracking with the old work ethic.
On the creative side, I have finished the story for the Shoes, Ships and Cadavers: Tales from North Lononshire anthology, and the little biog to go with it, an article for an online comedy magazine, which I hope they consider publishing, and I’ve been trying to write some comedy material as well. I realise I am going to have to step up with this, I’ve been squeezing in perhaps one set change per every other gig, which means I have been writing in the same vein for a while. I’m going to step up with the MC work too, so my funnies need to be daisy fresh. Tried some of the new stuff at our Rugby gig on Thursday, which all worked okay.
I did want to try to do some ‘women’ jokes about periods, seeing as I seem to have got into a bit of an altercation on the Chortle forums about whether or not women only do jokes about periods, chocolate and vibrators... but when it came to it, I just couldn’t. Felt a bit ‘icky’. So I talked about bank holiday telly and the mock-moral outrage of The Sun instead.
But about the story I’m getting published... I think I can safely tell you now that it is being read by Alan Moore, who is going to write the introduction. I know! I’m thrilled and nervous all at once... My story is about the Northamptonshire witch trials of 1612. I followed Elizabeth Gaskell’s lead with the title, calling it “Arthur the Witch”, but it’s not like that story at all. I hope that sounds nice and intriguing... There will be two editions: a paperback, priced at £9.99, and a very limited edition hardback, complete with dust jacket, priced at £15.99. Check out Newcon Press for more details!
It was in writing my biog though, that I realised just how much I seem to be juggling, though I have to say it only seems that way, particularly if you consider how long it has taken me to get all the poetry, writing, and comedy threads up and running in my life. Some people - my mom, basically - have said I do too much. But then, to my mom, bothering to take the train to go shopping in Birmingham is probably ‘too much’ as well. I just can’t help it. I have to ‘do’ stuff. And maybe I’ll miss X-Factor, or a couple of nights down the pub, but I’m enjoying myself, so there.
So, am I a comedian who also writes, a poet with comedic leanings, a dabbling geek (sounds like some kind of aquatic fowl)?
When we were at the Edinburgh book festival a couple of weeks ago, I pointed out a poster of an author to N - a photo of A.L. Kennedy. That’s who I want to be like, I said. A.L. Kennedy - she’s brilliant. Everything she turns her hand to is solid gold. A Booker-nominated author, and a bloody good comedian to boot... never mind Stephen Fry, A.L. Kennedy is my new role model for industrious creativity.
And then I had a little chuckle to myself because I remembered Alexei Sayle and what he’d said a while ago on Radio 4, talking to Mark Lawson. He said something about how he’d never be nominated for the Booker prize, because he’s a comedian off the telly, and people think of him as a comedian. And yet there is A.L. Kennedy, racking up the nominations and prizes. But that seems to be off Alexei Sayle’s radar, and to be honest, him going on the radio and saying this, and then repeating it in interviews in The Guardian just make him seem a bit, well, bitter. Besides, I’ve read Mister Roberts and I’ve read stuff that has been nominated for the Booker, like Clare Morrall’s M Astonishing Splashes of Colour, and to be honest, I don’t think Sayle’s writing approaches the benchmark that has been established.
So, Sayle could say it’s something he needs to work on himself, or he could just say it’s not fair.
I’m going to turn that mirror round now and say what I see.
The Funny Women semi-finals list has been drawn up now, and though I don’t know most of the acts chosen, there are a few there who I know to be bloody brilliant. It really is their time for the spotlight to shine on them - they’ve put the effort in and it shows.
I still have my Sekrit Project in mind, and if I’m going to get where I want to get, then it’s going to be hard slog ahead... but it will be worth it.
For the next couple of years, just watch this space. I’m going to follow the example of my new role model, and get cracking with the old work ethic.