Don’t Look Back

I thought you’d probably have had enough of scenes from the Panto (and broken washing machines) by now, so I’ve decided to show the “seedy underbelly” - so to speak - of this production.
This is the crossover at the back of the stage that enables us to move, unseen, from Stage Left to Stage Right. And it’s pretty much the same today as it was when I started thirty years ago. Unlike the stage - which is spacious, well lit and brightly painted - this is a scruffy, narrow passageway where lighting levels vary from pitch black to a few dim bulbs and where there are trip and snagging hazards aplenty. Not helped by various old flats being stored there, making an already narrow space even tighter.
However, this isn’t my first rodeo, and I’ve been able to avoid bumping into anything (so far!) this year.
It was a great show tonight, which was just what we needed after the mishaps of Wednesday and a rather “flat” audience last night. Lots of good reviews but it just felt like we weren’t really connecting. No such problems tonight and all the jokes landed well, including some new ones we chucked in because tonight’s performance was being filmed for posterity.
I get to deliver a lot of truly bad puns during the show and I tried a new one tonight, which received the biggest “groan” yet from the audience. It’s definitely staying in for the last two shows!
And, just so the good people of Blip don’t feel they’re missing out…

“Why are Egyptian Crocodiles the only animals who won’t acknowledge climate change and global warming?”
“Because they’re in denial”

I’ll get my coat…