Scotland in a day. Plus other stuff.

Part 1 - Coach to Scotland - Saturday night 

This week all got a bit out of hand to be honest. Off the back of doing the Blaydon Races festival last year (hee hee, the street costume in that post is hilarious!) I was booked again by Chris Cross this time to travel up to Scotland to do my show. The initial idea was to travel up to Edinburgh on Tuesday with Gary and help him rig the Edinburgh Meadows Festival which I've been meaning to check out for ages, then maybe busk in Edinburgh on the way back. 

Cue the combination of my Sister moving house this week (with the bulk of the stuff being done yesterday - Friday) and Hazel and I being asked to perform in Newport on Sunday meaning I'm on an overnight coach now and another tomorrow night. Woo.

I did get a bit of time in Cardiff to relax after Troyfest, which was lovely. Then I did a double-header of weddings. Good weddings. Really good weddings of some of my favourite people. These weddings involved pool parties, 65mph winds, 13 people in my caravan at once, chandeliers and a drive from Devon to Lancaster.

I also played live music on my own for the first time in a long time. I mean, I've been tinkering about for a year or so now at home and played a couple of times in Porter's (which you should all go to. It's awesome) but this was a proper set of music that I'd chosen (partly) and I had a timeslot and stuff. It went well. I'm looking forward to doing more.

Photo by Simon Pinder

That week made me feel lucky to be alive. For all of the stupid things I do and all of the effort I put into living life to the full, it really does only ever come down to the people you surround yourself with and the past few years have been full of weddings. Weddings, and their various guises, appear to have taken the place of parties in being the way I get to remember how cool my friends are. In that sense, they're a follow-on from the partying bit - you build the relationships at the parties then you get invited to the weddings. More often than not I get to be a part of the wedding coming together in one way or another, and that's awesome too. They're like the festivals of middle age - people put on their best, show their best and put loads of effort into making awesome memories. I love them.

Did stilts for the football at Wembley again last week. Always a good laugh doing these but it feels very corporate and the fans all kicking the shit out of each other cutting the gig short didn't help. Still, here's a pic:

I managed a few days in Covent Garden this week too, and actually had a much better time than the last few London escapades overall. My friend Paul popped in to take some pictures on Thursday - here's one:

Part 2 - Coach back down.

I'm not gonna lie, I'm tired. Tired enough that I really did nearly just punch the guy behind me. I asked him politely to stop talking loudly on his mobile phone at half past midnight so that I could sleep and he decided to wag his finger in my face and threaten to, and I quote, "fuck my arse" when we got to Newcastle. Lovely. Fortunately, the bit of me that knows people like that will make their own bed in life rather than the bit of me that wants to put them in it by force won out so I (after a few choice words) sat down again and turned up my headphones. 

But I had a lovely gig. A really lovely gig. Myself and a guy called Sideshow Stevie (whom I know from Edinburgh a couple of years back) were booked to do some shows at a food festival up near Aberdeen. Stevie was good enough to drive up there and back from Edinburgh which was a bit of a blessing - not sure how else I'd have actually got there. We also hooked up with a performer called Nathan whom I know from being one member of the live circus music act Slamboree. Keep an eye out for them at festivals, it's one hell of a show and he's one hell of a hat juggler.

Anyway, I got to do 2 lovely shows, hang out with Stevie and his awesome kid, saw a castle, had a giant and elaborate ice-cream and even time for a coke (I've been off the alcohol to all intents and purposes since New Year) in the City Cafe for memory's sake. I really do need to get my arse back to Edinburgh. What a city. Even for an hour. And I genuinely feel like I made a new good friend today. A lovely feeling.

Part 3 - Newport

If I was the sentimental type, I'd see this as coming full circle. The Big Splash Festival here is a gig Hazel and I have been doing since we started out. They fill the theatre foyer and field over the river with stuff. Including us. We do juggling and clowning and a small circle show. It's lovely to get back into the old routines with Hazel and explore that relationship when we've both been off doing other stuff and if I'm honest, I think it's still better overall than anything I've done solo since. We always have a blast and the audiences are lovely too. We're booked by a lovely chap called James of Citrus Arts who are doing very exciting things all the time. If you see one advertised, go to it.

This week coming sees me heading back to Cardiff to do a casting for a movie and a clearout of our new storage unit. Myself and 3 friends have happened upon a disused coach house that's full of crap. We all need storage and all we have to do is empty it. Result. On Friday it'll be time to go back to London for a stag party and to finally pick up my new motorbike (hence the storage). 

Yup, that's right. I'm now the proud owner of this:

My good friend Custard is making sure everything's tickety boo with it and fitting some new tyres n stuff then it's all mine. Cue getting around the country much more easily and having a lot of fun.

So yeah, stuff. More to come. 

Saudi stop 3 - Dharan and home

The plane home. Last stop of the tour done and dusted. I'm looking forward to getting back and no mistake. Mostly this is a nice feeling. I have a trip to Dubai this month to look forward to, birthday celebrations on my return and a whole summer of what I hope will be a much more successful new chapter to tenting.

In addition to that though, there's something about the middle east that makes me miss normality a lot. I mean, I'm by no means the world's best-travelled person but even Brazil (which is the other least-European place I've visited) didn't have the same effect. I don't think that this was because I was out there travelling rather than working either, it's that the Arab nations have a certain inefficiency to them that makes even the most normal things seem impossible. Little things like a complete lack of adequate public transport meaning every journey involves a fight with a scammy cab driver or getting on a train involves moving seats because the person booking the seats didn't have the forsight to put all the females or families together like in a restaurant. In case you didn't know, this is one of the the Muslim rules that exist not only as a preference, but as the law of the land. It extends to dress and behaviour to the point that you can be arrested for the many ways of being un-islamic. Which is odd considering that, for example, when EVERY SHOP in a busy mall has to close 3 times a day for prayer time (which is of course normally between shows when hungry performers kinda want the food court to be open...) most of the locals are sat on benches playing with ipads just waiting for them to open again. You really do get the feeling that the vast majority of the population is crying out to be allowed to do something more fun than hang around in a plastic mall all day.

Anyway, mini-rant over...

The last stop was in a town called Dharan which we got to by train. That was a laugh actually, something a bit different from yet another flight. The place itself was pretty uninteresting really, as was Dammam, the nearest city. In Jeddah and, to a lesser extent, Riyadh, we managed to scratch around and find something to do in the time off, not so here. We did travel for an hour to a private artificial beach which was pretty but underwhelming. It was muddy in the water and we kept getting told off for being noisy when it was apparently fine for groups of Arab lads to make loads of noise. We did show willing and get a cab up to Dammam one day but we found that most of the stuff on the map that was interesting had been knocked down. Apparently this was the place where oil was first found in the 30s and it got very rich very quick. Of course, the oil trade has slowed a lot since then and the place is a bit of a ghost town. A bit like an apocolyptic Brighton. The standard mall is there but its older and smaller, obviously one of the first examples of the adoption of that as a lifestyle choice by the country.




The best thing by far that happened was my Birthday. I'd turned 30 on the Monday and, although I'd mentioned it to a few people over the past couple of weeks, I wasn't gonna make a big deal out of it. I knew that there were celebrations to look forward to when I got home and when you don't know a bunch of people that well, it's unfair really to expect them to make a big fuss out of something like that. I was genuinely surprised then when, thinking that I was being taken to do a meet and greet in the Mall, I got there to find the cast waiting in a restaurant. There had been a lot of clever mis-direction during the day and I was very touched by the effort. Awesome. Thanks again to anyone reading who was involved, you know who you are and what part you played.

The show itself went well again, it stayed in my memory and (apart from one monumentally stupid fuck up on the last day) I remembered everything and got it done. As I said before, it's been a real eye opener in terms of skillset so whether I end up doing more skins work remains to be seen but it's been an amazing experience and I still think it's healthy that I keep pushing myself and putting myself to the bottom of the pile sometimes with new things. The guys on this job are younger, better trained and more experienced than me and situations like this keep me humble and grounded. Plus I can learn from them and get a picture of different ways that the industry works in a broader sense. It's extremely varied when it comes down to it and the best way to stay in it and make a living for me is to have range in what I can do and understand. Contacts are, obviously, good too.

So yeah, that's about it. This week is catching up with phonecalls and other associated admin whilst preparing for Dubai in a couple of weeks. I went to a party in Cardiff that saw me stroll through the door at 2pm Sunday so the dry spell is well and truly broken. I'd like to say that I've taken a bit of time to chill out but the admin mountain is calling rather loudly. No change there then ;)

Here are the customary selection of pictures. As usual, head over to FB for the full album.

Ax

This was in the train station. Made me chuckle.

This actually WAS the train station. Eat your heart out, Southeastern.

My Birthday cake. This is the only picture I have from the meal. What a wanker.

The hotel was nice...

This was how I spent my day off

Saudi stop 2 - Riyadh

So, am sat backstage here in Riyadh where we are just about to do our last show on this stop. The previous one really was one of those remind-me-why-I-do-this shows. Throngs of grinning and waving children at the edge of the stage. There's a finale where we all come out and dance around and throw some giant balloons out into the crowd. It's amazing. The show has felt better here, it's more in my brainbox now and I *think* I've lifted my game and am putting more of the right kind of energy into it. I'm slowly realising that this is as much about efficiency of movement and making correct shapes at the right time rather than just hell-for-leather energy. It's almost as if people can train for years to learn this stuff...huh? ;) I'm certainly giving it my all and developing some stamina so now it's in my memory I can focus on making everything as big as possible.

The venue is different. Funnily enough we're at a racetrack miles outside the city. Followers of the blog from this time last year will know why, in fact, that is amusing. Still having a huge chuckle with the rest of the cast which, when you're doing 12 hour days, is essential. We are getting plenty of time off too, which is good. Recovery time is much needed and it has afforded us plenty of time to see the city. Here, that has meant looking at some cool buildings (immediately a winner in my book) plus a look at the national museum located here. The coolest building here is the Kingdom Tower complete with skybridge and there is also another one above a (shock) mall near the hotel.

The museum was very cool too, lots of stuff about the early Bedouin peoples in the region who were pretty bloody advanced  for the period. Especially in terms of literacy and associated things. Bit of a shame when it descends into a slightly less scientific approach to information. Basically when the religious side of things starts to come into play. Bit like Peru, really, people used to worship stars and weather but then decided to ditch that in favor of an idol and start kicking the shit out of each other. Bah. Even that in itself is a bit strange to see in institutions that in our part of the world we simply trust to give unbiased scientific information. Anyway.... The building itself is quite new and it's pretty comprehensive over the history of the nation. I love stuff like that. Looking at old stuff in glass cabinets is brilliant. We also went to see a place known locally as "chop chop square" - guess what happens there. Bit creepy, not gonna lie.

There was some really good shopping here too and myself and two of the other guys had a brilliant day wandering around looking at all of the various made-in-China-and-India souvenirs. Some of which are actually a little close-to-the-mark in terms of racial stereotyping I thought but they're hilarious none the same and the vendors seem to be getting away with it so more power to them. I bought some cuddling salt and pepper shakers in the shape of an Arabic man and woman. You'll have to come visit me in Cardiff to see them :p The hotel here has been pretty sweet, lots of wood panelling and a nice gym. We've kinda missed the local aspect we had in Jeddah but it's been great overall. Duran next, who knows what that will bring? Tomorrow, we travel across the country by train which I'm looking forward to. It's less hectic than the whole airport scenario and you get to see stuff out of the window.

Here be relevant images - see the facebook album for more:

Cool building Number 1

Soft furnishings on a generator. Brilliant.

View from the Skybridge. Straight down.

Bit wierd....no?

View from the Skybridge - down and out

The Kingdom Tower. I love a good building, me.

Good lads, all of 'em :)

Talented buggers, too....

Museum gardens

A REAL LIFE, ACTUAL METEORITE!!!!!

No shit, Sherlock..

Is it wrong that I wanted to find a ladder and turn this around 90 degrees? ;)

Saudi stop 1 - Jeddah

So, Jeddah is done and I'm now in Rhiyad. It's been an interesting week, to say the least. 

Boundaries have definitely been pushed in what I thought I could do and 

what I thought I was capable of and I've seen some cool things and

met somc great people.

The show itself is hard but rewarding. The costume is hot and the head is 

uncomfortable, bulky and weighs, well, about as much as a giant fibreglass 

cat head would weigh. Fortunately I'm getting further into each show before 

I start to feel sick from the physical exertion. There's no slowing, its 

all done to a backing track so you have to be on the little cross in time 

to get to the next one or else it looks wrong and based on the video I've taken 

for reference, "wrong" means "really shit". My memory has had a workout 

too, as I said in the last blog. I've basically got the steps in there now 

which is good so now it's time to focus on the director's request to really 

get the movements big and strong - everything in the costume looks smaller 

so steps have to be bigger and arms stretched. There's a real knack and 

skill to skins (see glossary) work and I'm only scratching the surface 

really. Some of the guys are awesome. In the way that you only understand 

how difficult something is when you try it.

Overall though, its incredibly enjoyable. Its a new experience and the 

people l'm here with are wall-to-wall brilliant. It's more than enough of a 

laugh when we're relaxing to make up for the tough days. The show seems to 

be going down really well, we're the stage show which is part of a larger event 

for kids with games, stalls, etc. Huge event and by all accounts a fairly 

rare thing and a big deal. I've had a blast just walking around and 

enjoying how grateful they are, even getting mobbed in the Smurf costume 

yesterday couldn't dampen it. Seriously, it was metal. Made doing 

walkabouts or photo shoots in the UK look like nothing. It's good though I 

suppose, one of the reasons I love this industry is being part of the thing 

that makes people happy and giving smiles that wide by just posing for a 

photo to me is a wonderful thing.

The last day in Jeddah saw us at a fancy private beach where I got to SCUBA for the 

first time since getting my certification in Turkey last spring. Red Sea. 

Tropical. Coral. Massive fish. Awesome. Jeddah itself is a pretty cool city. We 

managed to find some good local places to eat and have a shisha which is better

than the constant mall-based existence that this part of the world can bring.

So now, a bit more rest and then another crazy few days of shows here in Riyadh. 

I'll hopefully manage a post from each city. Anyway, some pics. See Facebook 

album here for more :-) 

Ax