January is typically a quiet month for entertainers. However I’ve been pretty hectic this month mostly in the office taking bookings for the rest of the year. I even took a booking for a Christmas party already in winchester ! I guess the good word is spreading. I’ve been quite fortunate this month as I’ve had shows most weekends but the weekdays have certainly been quiet, more time to work on the show.

Had a crazy panic on Saturday. Began packing my car for the days show when shock horror, I realised I had left my favourite magic prop at the pervious show. A frantic google search for the number of the venue ensued. Grrrr why do old people leave such long voicemail greetings? And why don’t we say answering machine instead of voicemail? It turned out the prop wasn’t in the hall but was found balanced against a wall outside. It had been there a week! I must have balanced it against my car to pack in last and, well…forgot! So I took the 80 mile round trip to retrieve it and was gladly reunited with it. Best of all it was in perfect condition, albeit a bit muddy.

With the spare time I’ve had I’ve been working on some new tricks for the show. This is a lengthy process as I have to refine the performance, select the best music (if any) to go with it, script some funny banter lines to go with it and of course practice practice practice. Currently I’m working on swallowing a beer bottle. That’s not a sentence you will hear many people say. I’ve been working hard on my ventriloquism skills. I’m almost there now. I can do the hardest part of talking without moving your lips (just about). Now I just need to develop a voice for the character. Looking at investing in a beautiful puppet. The eyes move and the ears go up, it’s very impressive. I haven’t broken the news to Bonkers the monkey yet.

I spent some time googling expensive kids parties to see what was out there. I found that Elton John splashed out 70 grand on his childs first party. Gosh! Heres the link to the story