"Harry, my cat died"

It's Milly's birthday next Monday, so for a birthday treat I decided to take her to see the show "Harry, My Cat Died" in Manchester. Milly is a huge One Direction fan and the show is primarily concerned with 1D's fans' obsessive behaviour, so I was rather hoping she'd see the funny side! I invited the Minx, too, of course, and also Milly's sister Hannah, who is studying in Manchester.

As the day approached, I had two pieces of lovely news. The first that Milly's eldest sister, Charlie, would be home from Edinburgh that weekend, so she could come with us and then, on the day, it transpired that the support act was my friend David Callaghan, whom Dom and I saw at the Comedy Store earlier this year.

One way or another we managed to get everyone suitably coordinated to be in the same place at the same times and we even had time for a meal before heading across to the venue, which turned out to be a rather small room above a pub and we were all crammed onto small stools.

The first support was a girl who told us she was a first year drama student. To be honest, she wasn't great but it takes a lot of courage to do stand up and everyone seemed to be willing her on. David, on the other hand, was just great. I think I small room is more difficult in some ways but he was relaxed and confident and at one point had my girls literally crying with laughter.

The main event wasn't that good to be honest; it never quite seemed to get off the ground. David had assured me beforehand that it was a good show so maybe we just picked a bad evening. Milly is tremendously emotionally bright and I think maybe she sensed my concern because she leant over and whispered "I'm not having a bad time, dad." Lovely girl.

And here she is with her sisters, after the gig. Not a great shot but I only had one chance: the girls aren't always willing subjects!