Blog: The Tour Finale

< previous

next >

I was back out on The Road on Sunday, for the GRAND FINALE of this leg of the Data and Doctor Doom show at The Hen & Chickens in That London as part of the Camden Fringe. This is not the end of the show by any means - I've got a whole OTHER tour booked for later in the year and I'm on the lookout for more next year too - but it's definitely the end of THIS bit!

I'd been told that I'd need to have a TECH person for this one, and The Sliders On My Sound Desk agreed to take on the role, on condition of being provided with a high-visibility tabard bearing the words DOOM CREW front and back. Thus it was the two of us who rolled up at the venue just before noon for our tech rehearsal. I must admit I was a bit ANXIOUS about all this - doing THEATRE gigs involves a lot more Setting Things Up than you usually find in rooms above a pub - but everyone at the pub and venue were FLIPPING LOVELY, notably James who showed us round all of the gear. I felt significantly less anxious after all that!

A few hours later we were BACK with time to spare before SHOWTIME and were amazed to discover THE MYLANDS waiting for us, having come down unannounced from distant Peterborough. We had a natter with them, a delightful chat swapping stories with the theatre manager, and then soon it was time to head upstairs, where myself and The Lights On My Lighting Rig went into action like a finely honed TEAM to get everything ready.

The audience came in, my tech crew dimmed and then brought the lights back up like someone who had been working tech desks for years, and then I was ON for what turned out to be an ALMOST ENTIRELY COMPETENT performance of the show! There were a couple of wobbles - notably when I looked at my watch, thought "Oh, this is fine!" and them immediately thought "But hang on, I'm supposed to be OUT after an hour, not just finishing - PANIC!" - but otherwise there were surprisingly FEW errors and (for me) surprisingly MANY laughs! Cor, people were up for some chuckles, it was fab!

It was a highly enjoyable show to DO, and then even more so when the lights came expertly up and I realised there were LOADS of pals in the audience, including many what I hadn't seen for YEARS. There were hugs, there were beers and there was basically a FINE OLD TIME had by one and all. As I say, it was a brilliant way to bring this particular segment to an end. The only problem is it's made me want to do it loads more now!

posted 5/8/2025 by MJ Hibbett

< previous

next >