I made it into work... probably only just on time. As might be expected with a combination of a vague mind in the office and a time delay between then and the time of writing (I'm writing this about 6 weeks after the fact), I have no idea exactly what happened on this particular Thursday. I do recall getting a telephone call in the middle of the day asking me whether I'd be prepared to do a gig in Leigh that evening. It was a paid gig - paid at a level where I could afford to do it an not make/lose too much on the petrol.

I have a rule. I will not turn down a gig that I can actually do. I'd turn down something which would do me harm (either financially or mentally) or which I was not available for, but otherwise, I can't afford to say no. It's not necessarily the career aspects of doing gigs in the right places, it's more the necessity to ply my trade in front of lots of different audiences to learn what I need to learn and to gain enough experience to relax into it.

So, I left the office and drove to a bistro in Leigh. They have a regular comedy night. The crowd was very small, but I gave them 20 minutes or more of my shit and they seemed to enjoy themselves. The MC, also the owner and the person who booked me, was a musician himself. He introduced the acts with a song, which the audience seemed to know how to sing along to. He inserted the name of the act into the song and I was slightly scared by this and also saw the potential for doing something with it. I hadn't been certain whether I should go on first or second - the first act also wielding a guitar. However, he'd said he'd go on first and I didn't want to demand a position on the bill; I should be able to go on whenever and make it work for me. The fact that I wasn't on first gave me a chance to see how this gig worked. It was a nice crowd and the song thing was a good touch. I checked with the MC about what key he was playing in. I couldn't let the opportunity go to waste. He played me onto the stage in the middle section and I bounded on and picked up the song on the guitar and turned it into a self-deprecating rant about the fact that my career had led me to a weird half-empty bistro in Leigh. Something like that can go either way - it went in my favour. Phew.

The audience were nice and I had a good time with them. I don't regret doing that gig. Some gigs you do regret. Leigh will remain a happy (albeit weird) memory for me.

Home, bed, more Avenue Q for good measure. I was getting quite tired, but it had been a good week for me, so I'd earned my exhaustion.