Dead Funny

November 11, 2016 Neil

Hi there, how are you doing? I hope you have had a really nice couple of week’s. Mine have been quite busy with some fun things going on. I have just upgraded my mobile phone. I do sometimes wonder how we ever used to cope without them now. My whole life appears to be on it.

As it contains my diary, my photos, my social media, my train times and also all my phone numbers. So with all my contacts and google constantly with me at all times. I do not need to ever remember anything ever again. I can search for the answer to anything, instantly. Which in many ways is terrifying.

I am a very good customer. In that as long as the company I am dealing with does not annoy me and cause me any hassle. I will probably just stay with them as it is easier than changing. Sometimes I do feel it is better the devil you know. So even though I could have almost certainly got myself a much better deal elsewhere. I simply stuck with the same lot again.

When I got the notification that I was due an upgrade. I went straight back to the Carphone Warehouse. I got my very first contract phone from them at least sixteen years ago. I still use the same service provider and have the same number. I am a very loyal customer. For the last couple of renewals. I have gone to the same branch and even seen the same person. Who to be honest is brilliant. I tell him what I need the phone to do. That I will not be paying for a new phone. And that ideally I want it to be a cheaper monthly payment than my previous deal was.

He then makes that happen every time, so far. So I have just got the next I-phone up from what I had previously with a bit more inclusive data. Mainly to cover the amount of time I spend messing about on Twitter. He set up my new phone for me. Which took a lot longer than it should have. Because some silly idiot could not remember his ID for Apple. In my defence I very rarely use it. I plan on repeating this exact performance in two years time. I am very much of the “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” school of thinking.

Just three days after I had got my brand new shiny phone. I had a bit of an incident with it. After which I discovered a feature that they appear to have included. Which the company who make them. Had not really made a big thing out of. But that I found to be a bit of a life saver. Now this will sound a little bit like an advert that you may have seen on the television. But I promise you, this did really happen to me.

I was on the phone to a friend of mine, while I was cooking my dinner. I was washing up as I was going along. So had a bowl of warm water in the sink. As I was trying to talk to my mate and also drain the water from the potatoes, I had just cooked. I managed to drop the phone in to said bowl of water. It was completely submerged for about a second or two. Before I whipped it straight out.

My pal was still on the phone and connected. So I explained what had happened and said I would call him back later. In a bit of a panic. I dried it with a towel and then put it straight in the airing cupboard. To try to dry it out a bit. As I must have heard somewhere that this was the thing to do in this situation.

Then I did what everyone does now. I googled to see if this particular phone just happened to be waterproof. To my surprise and delight the internet seemed to suggest this was the case. With reports of YouTube videos showing people dunking them for an hour and them still working straight after. So happily it has been fine since and it looks like I have got away with it. But just to be on the safe side. I will no longer chat on it when I am cooking in the future. I am far too reliant on my phone to risk that again.

I must admit I am not a fan of Halloween. I have never really got in to it, even as a kid. The whole ghosts and ghouls thing never interested me. And as for going round and asking strangers for sweets. That goes against everything I was taught as a kid. I have not got any children yet, so may be I cannot quite see the fun side of it and the excitement in it for them.

Parents spend the whole year telling their off spring to be careful due to some weird and wonderful folks in the community. Then one night of the year. They could inadvertently send them straight to their door. As you have already guessed I am not at all one for trick or treating. So to stop this being an issue. I simply go out every Halloween night.

Neil Quigley TV Radio & Live — Neil Quigley TV, Radio & Live

This year I went to the Vaudeville Theatre in London to see Dead Funny. The play is set around the time of the death’s of comedy legend’s Benny Hill and Frankie Howerd.

It is about the relationship’s of two late thirty-something couples. The stress and problems that can happen in life, as the year’s progress. The plot is centred around the “Dead Funny Society”. Which is a social group. Who meet up regularly to reminisce and celebrate the lives of great comics.

The play is very funny in its own right. But it also includes lots of nods to great comedic talents from the past. With many impressions and even some of their old classic routines repeated. Which just added to the enjoyment and nostalgia of it for me. The all star cast were all totally amazing. You have Katherine Parkinson, who was in the IT Crowd. Steve Pemberton from The League of Gentlemen and Benidorm. Ralf Little from Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps. Emily Berrington, who was in the second Inbetweeners film and Rufus Jones from W1A.

They were all brilliant. And all get to do impressions of the some of the top comics of all time. I never thought I would write this but Ralf Little does a perfect impression of Max Miller and Emily Berrington is somehow a more than passable Ernie Wise at one point.

I would definitely recommend this show if you like your classic comedy. May be you are heading towards your forties. Or you just enjoy a damn good laugh from your visit to the theatre. Just one word of warning. It does feature a bit of nudity, so it is not for the faint-hearted.

I had cracking front row seats and thoroughly enjoyed it. It is a lovely friendly theatre to. It is worth getting to your seat a little bit early as before the curtain goes up they have screens showing lots of classic clips of the comedy geniuses in action. Which really puts you in the mood for the performance.

A few weeks ago I was sat in the BBC Radio Theatre watching the American comedian Rich Hall record one of his US Election Breakdown show’s for Radio 4. If you did not catch any of them. They were set in a pretend American Radio Talk Station with Rich as the show’s host assisted by his English co-host Nick Doody. They would take pretend callers played by Mike Wilmot, Lewis Macleod and Debra Stephenson. Raising various comedic points all about the American Election campaign.

It was the first time that I had seen Rich Hall in action live and he was brilliant. So sharp and very dry. It was a fun show to see made. And at the time of course hugely topical. We now of course know the outcome of the said election. I think there is a chance of extracting plenty more comedy from this in the future though. With the way it has panned out. So may be this programme will return at some point. Or run all through the next four year term, possibly.

I was at Wembley to see Tottenham Hotspur’s second home Champions League game of the season there. This time I took my dad and one of my best friends with me. The evening did not start too well. When the train we were going to get to the stadium was cancelled at the last minute.

So we then had to wait thirty minutes for the next one. Which as it had two train’s worth of people on it was absolutely rammed. We still got there in good time. But may be I should have seen that as a sign of how the night might go.

It was again a great atmosphere inside the ground. And I was excited that my dad and mate were going to see top level club European football for the first time. I managed to get some decent seats again. In the front row behind one of the goals. During the warm up one of the official warm up balls had been left just in front of me. I must confess for a moment I did have my eyes on it. But the Spurs staff retrieved it in the end.

The game itself was not great. We didn’t take our chances and gave away a fairly soft goal. Two things you can really not afford to do at that level. But despite the result it was another good night out at the home of football. As long as we win the next one away in Monaco. We can still qualify for the next stage.

As ever working where I do currently there is always the chance of meeting or at least catching a glimpse and some interesting and exciting people. I was quite pleased to pass one of my radio heroes in the office the other week. As Danny Baker walked past on the way to do his BBC Five Live Show. He had his hat pulled down and was looking at the floor. Which made me suspect he was not interested in a chat at that point.

The Today programmes Nick Robinson is someone I often spot. And I can now add to that list Colin Murray who currently is presenting Fighting Talk on a Saturday morning.

On the way to BBC New Broadcasting House

I was also working on a show the other week. Where one of the guests was a former NASA Astronaut Mike Massimino. This man has actually been in to space several times on the iconic Space Shuttle’s. He has space walked and he has fixed the Hubble Telescope. He was on to talk about his new book “Spaceman: An Astronaut’s Unlikely Journey to Unlock the Secrets of the Universe”.

He said something during the interview that made me think. He has looked down on the earth from above. While out in the vast nothingness of space. And his view was we are all little individual space travellers who are constantly moving through the galaxy on our little planet. Just a tiny speck of the whole universe. I took from that enjoy life, push boundaries and try as many different new and exciting things as you can.

I had a general routine dentist check up appointment the other week. And they foolishly let me pick the time that I attended. So you will probably not be to surprised to find out. That I opted for two-thirty in the afternoon. Simply for comedy value. So when people found out I was going to the dentist and suggested the standard joke time. I could say. Yes, that is right. It is the little things in life that amuse me the most.

Have fun and we will catch up again in a couple of weeks. Cheers Neil.

Sunny for Old Rope

October 28, 2016 Neil

Hi there, how are you doing? I hope you have had a really good couple of week’s. Mine have been busy with lots of fun things going on. A few Friday’s ago I went to the Harold Pinter Theatre in London to see Sunny Afternoon.

It is a musical telling the story of the band The Kinks featuring all of their big hit songs including of course the title of the play. It was a really great show. The cast were excellent. All extremely talented actors, singers and even musician’s. As all of the songs were performed completely live on the stage.I must admit that although I was familiar with the band and their music. I was not completely aware of their story. I knew a few bits and pieces about their history. And I was aware that the relationship between the two brothers in the group was at best awkward.

Basically the group started as a party function band. Just as backing for another singer. But he was being outshone by the lead and rhythm guitarists. So he became their manager and Dave and Ray Davies were sent forward to front the group. At that point becoming The Kinks.

Ray Davies was the main songwriter and singer. While Dave Davies was the brilliant lead guitarist. Who ended up playing all those iconic rifts to their huge tunes. Dave was younger and wilder. Ray was older but more introverted.Which led to some moments on stage when they were literally fighting each other to be centre stage. Which is brilliantly portrayed during this performance.

It was a fantastic show, with plenty of real life emotion and pathos to it. A very compelling story with just a constant string of amazing songs coming up one after another. The finale was great and featured a brilliant version of one of the band’s biggest hit’s. The whole cast looked like they were really enjoying themselves. It is always the sign of a good show. When you leave in a great mood with a couple of the songs stuck in your head in my opinion.

I was back in the Criterion Theatre a few days later to watch a show that I had been meaning to see for a while now. The other year I went and saw the hilarious “The Play That Goes Wrong”. Which was written and performed by the brilliant Mischief Theatre Company.Well they have another play on in London at the minute called “The Comedy About A Bank Robbery”. Which is what I went to see.

It was exactly the same cast that I saw perform in their first play. So they had all moved across to take the leading roles in this latest production. And once again they were all fantastic. They are all so talented. The title does sum up the play very nicely. It does exactly what it says on the tin. It is just a good old fashioned fun production. Including great word play, innuendo, farce and slapstick. All within a brilliantly woven and clever plot. Which will make you laugh out loud. Plus there are actually a couple of unexpected twists in the tale to.

It is simply another quality and entertaining show from this very clever and close knit theatre company. They have found a style and niche that seems to work for them. And they are tremendous at executing it. The timing of some of the set pieces just has to be seen to be believed. I would recommend seeing either of their two shows. If you want a good old belly laugh from your night out at the theatre.

They have a third play as well. Which they perform around the festive period called “Peter Pan Goes Wrong” which is on between now and January. It is something I plan to see. A version of it has already been filmed and it will be on the BBC over the Christmas period. I would suggest you keep a look out for it and watch it if you get the chance. If it is half as good as their other two plays I have already seen, it will be excellent. Such a friendly group as well. I did get to speak to one of the cast very briefly after and they love what they do and really enjoy doing it.

I have spent the last two Monday evening’s laughing my head off at a brilliant comedy night in London. That I had been meaning to experience for the last year. So I was delighted to finally get the chance to check it out. It is held every Monday night at The Phoenix Pub. Which is just off Regent Street, right in the heart of the West End.It is run by the very funny Tiff Stevenson and the night is called Old Rope Comedy. She hosts it every week and it is a new material night for both upcoming and very established comedians to try out new jokes.

There is actually a rope hanging from the centre of the stage. And if a comedian does a joke that they have done before. They are meant to hold it. As a symbol for money for old rope. Hence where the night gets its name from. This is to encourage them to try out new stuff only. And so the audience will know when they do existing material. It is a very well run, established and respected night. So therefore does attract some well known performers each week.

On my first visit I saw Sarah Kendall and Tony Law perform. Both of whom have their own show’s on Radio 4. I actually gigged with Tony Law myself when I made my stand up comedy debut at the Roving Comedy Night of the Tringe Festival. He was the headline act for my show and was excellent on stage and giving advice between gigs.He has once again re-invented himself with a completely new look and image and was hilarious during his set. It was Sarah Kendall who headlined. And did a run through of her soon to be recorded latest radio show. Which was based on her last Edinbrugh Fringe Festival Show.

All the comedians on the night were brilliant including an eighty odd year old female comic, who was quality. The atmosphere in the place was perfect for comedy. A nice, polite expectant audience. Who were just there to have a good time and a few laughs on a Monday Night. On my second visit the comedians performing included the excellent Aisling Bea, Brian Gittins and someone to certainly keep an eye out for called Lou Sanders. Who is also very funny. Do go along if you ever get the chance. It is a great fun night out.

I am still happy with the way things are going for Tottenham Hostpur currently. Although we have been drawing a few too many games recently. We do still remain unbeaten in the Premier League. We are in fifth place one point off the top spot. Things have been a lot worse than that this stage of the season in the past.

We are still in with a chance of qualifying for the next stage of the Champions League to. Although we are suffering a bit from a lack of goals currently. So it will be good to have Harry Kane back in the team soon, I hope.

Another team I like to keep an eye on is Wycombe Wanderers. I used to go and watch them play regularly as a child. And for a season or two I was the owner of a season ticket there. I kind of grew up watching the Martin O’Neil era unfold. Mind you the first Wycombe game I saw at their old ground Loakes Park. Was them playing Tottenham Hotspur in a testimonial for their then goal keeper Gary Lester. Which is why I really went along for the first time to see them.

I actually played for the Wycombe Wanderers Lions under sixteen’s for just over half a season. And I did have a trial for their youth team but I did not get in. Instead I played for the Aylesbury United Youth Team. With my first game for them actually being a goalless draw against the Wycombe Youth team at Beaconsfield FC’s pitch. So I do have some kind of an affinity with the club, I guess. So last Saturday I went to Adams Park with my Dad to see the Blues face Barnet. A game that I saw many times as a kid. When both teams were still in the Vauxhall Conference, as it was back then.

It had been a few years since I had been to see them in action. So I have to admit I was not that familiar with a lot of the players. They have currently got a goalkeeper on loan from Chelsea. He is their fourth choice keeper behind Courtois, Begovic and Eduardo. He looked like a very good player.

You could tell he was a class above this level. He is a long way from the Premier League team’s starting eleven. But he has a contract with them. Which is rumoured to be worth about thirteen thousand pounds a week. Nice work if you can get it.

The game itself was pretty terrible to be honest. Both teams struggled to play much football. Wycombe had an own goal ruled out after the referee had blown for a foul while a cross was flying in to Barnet’s penalty area. And two defensive lapses led to the away team’s two nil victory.

Plus points from the afternoon included spending quality time with my dad. The sausage and bacon roll that we had from the burger van outside. And seeing the beast that is Adebayo Akinfenwa in action. My dad and mum are season ticket holders and have to endure this experience every week. Joking aside, all the best to Wycombe Wanderers for the rest of the season, They are a nice family friendly football club.

It has been another dramatic two weeks in Strictly Come Dancing. Naga Munchetty and Lesley Joseph have both left the competition. They both went a bit early I think, as they still had a bit more to give for me. That also meant we lost their partners Pasha and Anton. Which is a shame as Anton does bring a lot of fun and cheekiness to proceedings. Laura Whitmore could not dance the other week as she had injured her ankle. Brendan Cole missed last week’s show with a lung infection. Leaving his partner Anastasia to dance with Tameka’s former partner Gorka.

Rumours about Brendan’s health got totally out of hand. When the Sunday Star actually ran a story claiming that he had died. Which came as quite a shock to the dancer. When he read it while resting at home. I am still loving the show though. It is just great all round entertainment. Tess Daily and Claudia Winkleman are doing a great job on the two main shows. And Zoe Ball is brilliant on the nightly spin off show “It Takes Two”. Such great fun. I would love one of those professional dancers to teach me to dance.

The latest Derren Brown live show “Miracle”. Which I saw in The Palace Theatre in London on its opening night was shown on Channel 4 recently. As I have said before I am a massive fan of his work. I thoroughly enjoyed watching it again. I could see him do that show over a thousand times and still not have a clue how he does it.

He is like a real life Jedi. It is all just so clever and mesmerising. His performances are also so well structured with a set start, middle and end. With the final act and trick always just pulling the whole show together and completing the story of the night.

Have fun and we will catch up again in a couple of weeks. Cheers Neil.

Racing Away

October 15, 2016 Neil

Hi there, how are you doing? I hope you have had a really nice couple of week’s. Mine have been quite busy with some fun things going on. A couple of Saturday’s ago. I went to Ascot for an afternoon of racing with one of my best mate’s.

He turned forty earlier in the year and me going to the races with him was part of my present. Always treat people to something you enjoy doing yourself, as a gift. That is my tip. Now we randomly selected a date that we would both be able to make. And would you believe it just so happened to be their Beer Festival meeting. I mean what are the chances of that?

We got to the course around midday and collected our race cards, our beer tokens and our festival pint glasses. They had over two hundred and eighty different beers to try there. So if we were to get round them all. We certainly had our work cut out.

I do have a couple of favourite local brewery’s. And as luck would have it. They all turned out to be there. These are the Rebellion Brewery in Marlow, XT Brewery in Long Crendon and The Windsor & Eaton Brewery. Which I am sure you can work out for yourself, where they are based.

So to be honest we stuck to these brands during the afternoon. Just sampling a few of their different ales. I hasten to add. It was a fun afternoon. Ascot is a great course with a fantastic grand stand from which to enjoy the races. But as it is a venue that is often visited by Royalty. I guess that you would not expect anything less. It was nice just enjoying a few drinks and trying to win some of the beer money back on the races.

Although it is fair to say we were not very successful on that front. We both had horses pipped at the post. That would have got us a win each. And the only success we had was my friend got a second place for a horse that he had backed each way. I do enjoy an afternoon at the races but I have still never met a poor bookmaker.

We grabbed some food while we were there. To keep our energy levels up of course. I did like the combinations of some of the food and drink outlets they have there. For example we enjoyed a lovely real Cumberland sausage hot dog from the Champagne and Grill Bar. Where you could buy a bottle of Bollinger with an accompanying hot dog or burger. And to my surprise many people were.

Another great afternoon out. Most people get dressed up to go to the races. So it has the feel of being at a giant wedding. With the added bonus of some horses to shout for. Always a great day out win or lose. Although let us be honest, it is better if you do have a few winners.

I am really enjoying this series of Strictly Come Dancing. Once again there are some really good and entertaining couples. And I always like seeing the close relationships that develop between the professional dancers and their celebrity partners.

I would still not like to pick a winner yet at this stage of the proceedings. I think there has to be a few of them in contention. Personally I have not got a favourite yet. So I am actually a little bit sad when I see any of them leave. But that is the deal. And the way the show has to work.

I did feel really sorry for the first one’s to go Melvin Odoom and his partner Janette Manrara. I think he is just the sort of character you want around the place. Upbeat smiley, fun and to be fair to him not the worse dancer there by a long way. Also it is a shame to see a fantastic dancer like Janette go so early. But again that is the nature of the beast.

It was unfortunate to, in the way it happened with Anastacia being unable to take part in the dance off due to injury. I really like her and with what she has been through she is truly an amazing person. But it just seems almost wrong that by not dancing she went through. I appreciate they are the rules and they have to be in place for matters like this.

And ultimately it was the public who decided who went. So basically anyone who was not happy with the outcome. Unless they voted for Melvin cannot complain. If they thought he should still be in the competition. They should have voted for him.

Although he has done a bit of television presenting. He is best known for being on the Kiss FM Breakfast Show. Which is a big national station and has some very impressive listening figures. But I think the audience that listens to him on the radio would not necessarily be the kind of people, who may watch the show. And even if they did. I imagine they would probably not vote.

Which possibly led to him going so early on. Even though there are less accomplished dancers than him still in the competition. Or to look at it another way. It is just a fun Saturday night entertainment show. They know what they sign up to and being voted out is all part of it.

The next celebrity to go was Tameka Empson. Who was was sent home by the judges after a dance off with Laura Whitmore. Again to be fair I thought both of them were very unlucky to be in the bottom two. There were worse performances and neither of them really deserved to leave the competition at this point.

But the best dancers are not always the most entertaining. It goes out on a Saturday Night. So why shouldn’t we enjoy some silliness and appreciate the people who are trying their best but just ultimately making us laugh.

Yes it is a dancing competition but part of the reason it has lasted so long. Is that the celebrities involved are not dancers. It was a shame to see Will Young leave the show for personal reasons. I thought he was progressing along very nicely with his partner Karen Clifton.

I wonder who will go this week. Or if indeed anyone does after this shock departure. I have no idea what they will decide to do. But I suspect they will carry on as normal and as ever one couple will be out on Sunday.

Last Tuesday evening I managed to get myself a place in the audience for The One Show on BBC One. It is their mid evening magazine style show that is on Monday to Friday at just before seven. It just so happens to be filmed at the same place where I work. But it was the first time that I had been in their studio.

The guests on the show I saw were Jasper Carrott and Alistair McGowan. I have been a massive fan of Jasper Carrott for pretty much as long as I can remember. My dad was a fan and used to watch his shows. So I think he may well have been the first comedian I ever saw.

We met up in the Media Cafe in New Broadcasting House to check in. Then about fifteen minutes before the show was due to go on air. We were taken in to the studio. Already sitting on the famous green sofas were Matt Baker and Alex Jones. There were just ten of us.

And they were nice and friendly making a point of say hello and welcoming us when we arrived. The floor manager Paul was brilliant as well. Telling us all what we needed to do and having a laugh with us. He also works on Strictly Come Dancing. So is a busy man at the moment.

They then bought the two guests Jasper and Alistair in. The actual show itself goes very quickly and there are screens up so you can watch all the films that they feature. As the studio is small you are actually very close to the action, so get a great view of what is going on.

I for example could see the two presenters auto cue. And I was pretty much looking straight at Jasper Carrott for the whole programme. It was a great experience. And one I may well try to repeat in the future. Then after the show had ended Matt and Alex came over for a quick chat and so the whole audience could have a big group photo with them.

I am still delighted with the way the Premier League season is going currently. Tottenham Hotspur sitting in second place. Still unbeaten in the league having defeated the leaders Manchester City in the process. Ruining their one hundred percent winning start. As I said previously I cannot remember a better time to be a Spurs fan than now.

And at the moment we are still missing Harry Kane. Imagine what could happen when he is back. I am aware that there is a long way to go. But whatever happens I intend to fully enjoy this season. And hopefully get along to a few games. Specially as this is our last season at White Hart Lane.

Last weekend I was out and about in London. As I often am nowadays. I was enjoying a nice walk around the South Bank. Stopping off for a relaxing cup of tea on my travels. It was getting to around two o’clock. When I realised I had not had any lunch. So after weighting up the pros and cons of a pub lunch or food on the go. I opted for the latter. And went to the nearby Borough Market.

If you have never been. Imagine a market jam packed with every type of food you can think of and lots of people. It is always so busy down there. All the stalls are amazing. After walking around the whole place first.

I settled for a home made Chicken Burger. Which was exquisite. The quality of the meat was exceptional. And way better than you would find in any fast food restaurant. I really must remember to eat there more often. When I am in that area.

In the last couple of week’s I have been working on some new and interesting BBC radio shows. The other week I had the pleasure of working with the extremely talented news reader Tom Sandars. On a World Service News Bulletin.

He is a regular on many of the BBC’s stations including Radio Two. In fact you may have heard people trying to make his toes tap. When Sara Cox is covering the Breakfast Show for Chris Evans. Not only is he brilliant at his job. But he is a really nice person to.

I also walked straight past the radio legend that is Simon Mayo in the office the other day. I was desperate to chat to him about Tottenham’s season so far. But as I do not actually know him. I just settled for a knowing nod and a smile, as he went by.

My final recent BBC celebrity spot was the brilliant Huw Edwards in the staff canteen. Enjoying some food before the big evening news show’s.

I am looking forward to seeing Sunny Afternoon at the theatre in London. It is another one of those shows. Where you already know the songs are ace before you go. It is based around all the music of The Kinks.

I believe it is kind of the story of how the band were formed as well. A bit like the English version of The Jersey Boys. I will let you know what I thought about it next time we speak.

Have fun and we will catch up again in a couple of weeks. Cheers Neil.

Back To The Future

September 30, 2016 Neil

Hi there, how are you doing? I hope you have had a really good couple of week’s. Mine have been busy with lots of fun things going on. Two weeks ago now I headed up to Northwich to see one of my oldest friend’s for the weekend. We first met when we started first school together. When we were five.

Now as far as he was concerned I was just randomly coming up to see him. To have a fun night out at a local comedy club with him and his wife. It was good timing as it was his birthday the Wednesday after. But what was actually happening was I was visiting him to go to his surprise 40th Birthday Party on the Saturday night.

I travelled up on the Friday afternoon. I had a bit of a nightmare journey. As it was the day after all those big storms. There were lots of problems on various rail routes. Meaning all my trains were delayed. So a three hour journey took me over five hours. My mate picked me up from the station. We went back to his. Where his wife had my dinner waiting for me.

After popping down to the local off licence and getting some wine. We settled in for a few drinks and a chat. So far so good. He had no idea what was happening the next day. As we discussed plans for our “comedy club” visit and general timings for the day.

On the actual day of the party. His wife’s parents were collecting their two children to look after them. While we all went out later. His wife needed to secretly join them all at the hall for a bit in the afternoon. To set everything up for the party. So she needed someone to take him down the pub for an hour or so. Of course I was the perfect man for this job.

I even made it look like the trip to the local pub’s beer garden was all his idea. Although I did overplay my role slightly. In that as it was so lovely and sunny in the garden. We actually spent around three hours there and had four pints in the end. It was great chatting about the past and the present with him. And he still had no idea about the plans for that night, so job done.

While we were sitting in the pub beer garden. I did something that I had probably not done for more than thirty years, I reckon. The borders were a bit overgrown and we were at a table right near the edge. So when I learned back slightly I caught my elbow on some nettles and stung myself, which I am pretty sure I have not done since I was a child.

Straight away I was trying to look for a dock leaf. But to be totally honest having not had to do this for some time. I could not remember what they looked like. I did pick up some random leaf and rub it on it. Which seemed to help. And on the plus side it didn’t hurt as much as it used to. Or may be I have got a little bit tougher over the years.

When we eventually returned from the pub with a takeaway as a peace offering. His wife had just started watching Back To The Future. I had not seen it for years. But as I was watching it. It all started coming back to me. Though I did realise there were bits of it that I had forgotten or had remembered differently.

For example I used to have a classic pair of white Nike trainers with a blue tick. That I called my Back To The Future trainers. I now know I was wrong. Marty’s trainers are white with a red tick. Still a very watchable and decent film. And in many ways it was pretty apt for the celebrations ahead for that evening.

So we had nearly pulled this off. We just had to get him to the venue now. Luckily the hall where the “comedy club” was being held was within walking distance of their house. We got him outside it. His wife had gone to the trouble of having some flyers made for the “comedy club”, so these were on the doors and windows as we walked in.

Just before we walked in. He decided he wanted to go to the toilet. So I went there with him. Making some jokes about not wanting to go when the comedians were on in case they picked on me. Then finally we walked through the doors to the room. And with the big cheer and the chorus of happy birthday. He realised what the night was really all about.

It was a great night. The look on his face when he realised what was going on was a picture. His dad lives in Spain but had secretly flown in specially so he was there to welcome him with all the other guests. Towards the end of the evening I even graced the dance floor with the birthday boy. Good news I can still remember all the big party dance moves from my disco days in my early twenty’s. Well done to his wife and family for organising such an ace surprise party for him. Happy 40th Birthday mate!

I went out for a few leaving drinks for somebody who was moving departments within the BBC the other week. Although unfortunately by the time I arrived the person in question had already left due to a family emergency. But I still stayed for a drink with the rest of the group.

It actually took place in the BBC Club. Which is a bar for BBC Staff. That serves drinks and food. It is a pretty cool and relaxed place to unwind in after a hard day’s work. It was only the second time I had been in there. That said now I am working so near it. I could possibly find myself venturing in there a bit more often.

Finally managed to get round to having a cup of tea and a catch up with Nathan Cooper recently. I used to work with him at Mix 96. Well I have been there in several different spells over the years. I kept going away and then coming back.

Nathan is a very busy man. As well as presenting the Morning Show on Mix 96. He also commentates on Oxford Utd for BBC Radio Oxford. And is actually the stadium announcer at the Kassam Stadium to. It was a good laugh, having a natter about all things radio, football and personal with a good mate. He was as ever on top form.

Strictly Come Dancing is well and truly back for the new series. I watched the first two show’s last week. As we got to see all the contestants and their dance partner’s perform for the first time. They gave them a free pass, in that no one could get voted off the show on the first weekend. I must admit I did feel the judges were a bit harsh with their comments. Let them just enjoy the relief of getting the first one out the way. I mean do score them low if you need to. Though that said there were some high marks for week one. But there is no need to be so picky yet. Sure when the public are voting then criticise away.

Generally the standard this year seems to be so high. They all looked quite good on the floor. Obviously as the competition goes on we will need to see improvement from everybody. I really like Laura Whitmore. She looks the part and has the charisma. Even though I am not convinced she is that good a dancer yet. But she is very entertaining. As is Judge Rinder to be fair. He is certainly throwing himself in to it. I have a sneaky feeling Will Young and Louise Redknapp could be the one’s to watch this year for me. Danny Mac started brilliantly but the public like to see improvement. He might just be too good already.

Doing Strictly Come Dancing is such an amazing opportunity, I think. I mean you get to be taught how to do several different styles of dance’s by some of the best dancers in the country and beyond. You get to wear marvellous outfits. You perform in front of an euphoric audience every week.

Not least because over five million people applied for audience tickets this year. So if you do get hold of one, you really do want to make the most of it. Also if you do really well in the show. It may open up new career avenues or you could get to go on their UK wide tour. Which all sounds like a great laugh.

I went out for a few drinks with my cousin’s husband to celebrate their new arrival to the family last Saturday night. We went out in Thame. As usual I was early. So I got to the pub first before everyone else. So I went straight up to the bar to get myself a drink. I am a fan of real ale nowadays and this pub had quite a selection. So I was standing next to these two gentleman at the bar. While I was deciding which one to have.

Now I have no idea who they thought I was. But there had been a food and drink festival in Thame that day. So they started talking to me about that. Which I had not been to. At that point the bar man comes to serve me. So I order a pint of XT which is brewed by a local brewery. As I do this one of the blokes says well that is quite the endorsement. So I am not sure if he thought I was a professional Chef or a beer expert. But I am pretty sure I was not who he thought I was.

I am very happy with how the football season has started so far for my team Tottenham Hotspur. We are second in the Premier League. We are still yet to lose a game in the league. And we have made our best start to a campaign for fifty-one years.

Not only that but we are getting all our young and very talented players signed up on long term contracts. I honestly cannot remember a time when being a Spurs fan has been this good. All this and we are still playing entertaining and attacking football. Long may it continue, is what I say.

The current series of Newsjack is still running on Radio 4 Extra. I am still writing jokes for it. It is recorded every week at the BBC Radio Theatre at Broadcasting House. I have had material performed on it in the past. Which is really a thrill.

Some of the stuff has actually made it on to the show and other bits have been performed in front of the audience but not quite made the final edit of the programme. It is a very competitive business. And the jokes have to be satirical, topical and funny. Plus it depends on which main stories they concentrate on. So there are a lot of different variables that can effect if you are successful or not every week.

I am going to Ascot to enjoy the horse racing this afternoon with a good friend of mine. As part of his fortieth birthday present. I do really enjoy an afternoon at the races. I am hoping for a few winners.

But it is also their annual beer festival. So as I see it everyone will come out a winner from this situation. I will let you know how I got on next time we speak.

Have fun and we will catch up again in a couple of weeks. Cheers Neil.

Watch and Listen

September 16, 2016 Neil

Hi there, how are you doing? I hope you have had a really good couple of week’s. Mine have been pretty busy with a lots of fun things going on. In the way things work in the world of television.

Programmes are often recorded quite a while before they actually appear on screen. So in the last fortnight some of the show’s I watched being filmed in the studio ages ago have finally been shown on TV.

Neil Quigley with The Beatles — Neil Quigley

The first of these was the first episode of the new series of Mr & Mrs hosted by Phillip Schofield. He is one of my presenting hero’s. He is just so good. He is like a machine. During the whole recording he did not stumble over any words or make any mistakes. He was word perfect all the way through.

I am a big Strictly Come Dancing fan. So I was very happy that I got to see Kevin and Karen Clifton there. And of course pleased that they won the show.It is really clever how in the edit they fit the programme together. As on the night the conversations between the questions and answers go on an awful lot longer. In fact we got to find out way more about Kevin and Karen’s relationship in the studio than was shown on television.

The other thing that I find amusing as a difference between what you see in the studio and then on screen at home. Is what the sets look like. In the studio they can look like cardboard and very basic but on the television with the right lighting. They usually look very professional and showbizzy.

The second show that I was at and that was on recently was a new programme on the TV Channel Dave called Go 8 Bit. Which is presented by the ace Dara O’Briain. It is a computer gaming comedy panel show. I am not a massive fan of computer games but I was invited along. And they did give me a bottle of beer on arrival. So it was more than worth going.

It was actually good fun. They played some really old and retro games including one that I used to play on my very first computer. Which was a ZX Spectrum 128.

The show is an extension of an Edinburgh Festival Comedy Show that Steve McNeil and Sam Pamphilon did. They are the team captains on this show. The guests on the one I saw were the comedian Susan Calman and former England Goal Keeper David James. They were both very competitive, which made for a very amusing evening. Dara O’Briain was brilliant and very funny, as always as the host.

The audience get to vote on which team they think will win each game. So they show the audience while this process is happening. Therefore the more eagle-eyed viewers who saw the show. Might well have seen me briefly appear a couple of times.

Staying with television. I mentioned last time that a friend of mine was in the latest series of People Just Do Nothing. Well the second episode that he appeared in has been released online and shown on BBC 2. If you saw it he played Darren the new short lived mate of one of the comedy shows main characters.

I might be a little bit biased but I thought he was brilliant in it. Still find it fun and entertaining seeing people I know on the television. And I have to be honest it is probably not something I would have watched had he not been in it.

Last week I was in London for one of the hottest days of the year. So I took advantage firstly by having a few drinks in the sunshine on the South Bank by the river. Which was lovely.

I then managed to catch up with someone I know who works at the Globe Theatre. It was really good to see him. And it reminded me that I really do need to get round to seeing a Shakespeare play performed there at some point.

The main reason for my visit to the capital was to see the musical American Idiot at the Arts Theatre. It is a musical featuring the music of Green Day. It was a big success on Broadway in America and won two Tony Awards and in 2010 it won a Grammy for Best Musical Show Album. If you are a fan of the American Band. You can’t go wrong as you will obviously love and recognise all the songs in it.

It is a very fast moving and snappy production. It does not feature much additional dialogue outside of the song lyrics. But it is very clever as from just what you see the actors doing. You can follow the story without the requirement for a spoken narrative.

Singer Newton Faulkner stars in it. And his voice can more than handle the rock stuff and sounds amazing during the slightly softer ballads. I am not sure if it is because he does have to spend a part of the show just in his pants. But he has certainly got himself in to pretty good shape for the role.

The whole cast are great. It is a real high energy show. They also have a band on stage with the guitarists in view. So you can see them rocking out, during the songs. Which adds to the spectacle and the atmosphere. It is quite a dark show, tackling several difficult issues. But it is all very well done. They received a well deserved standing ovation at the end of it.

Last week my team Tottenham Hotspur began their first Champions League campaign for six years at Wembley Stadium. The club are in the process of building a new ground next door to their current home White Hart Lane. A stand has already been knocked down to help with that work.

Which is why the European matches have been moved to the national stadium. Which holds ninety thousand people. Spurs’ home currently holds around thirty six thousand. Therefore the chance to get together with so many of our fans to see the team in action was to good to turn down, I thought.

So I managed to get hold of a ticket on the morning of the game. I met up with some good friends of mine on the train to travel in with. We had a good chat and few drinks before the game. And then we made our way in to the Stadium.

I have been there many times to see games and I worked there for around three years. So it is a place I know well. But the atmosphere before kick off with around eighty-five thousand Tottenham fans chanting at the top of their voices was brilliant. And like nothing I had experienced there before.

Unfortunately the game itself did not turn out exactly how I hoped. We conceded two bad goals in the first half. And although we pulled one back right at the end of the first half. Despite having a good go at Monaco in the second half. We never really created any clear cut chances. And we were unable to get the breakthrough we needed.

I could not fault the effort from the team, though. They were working hard and trying their best. The support from the fans was top class from start to finish. They really got behind the team. It was a brilliant experience to be a part of it.

Overall it was an enjoyable night out with the exception of the result. I guess a potential problem of playing home games at Wembley Stadium is that the team that you are playing may raise their game. As it is such an impressive and legendary venue to perform at.

But that is something Spurs are I think going to have to overcome. Specially, as it looks like they could be playing there for a whole season. While the new stadium is completed. If I can I do certainly plan to attend more of the Champions League games this season. If nothing else I would quite like to see them win there for a change. As the last two times I have seen them lose 2-1.

The Beatles are still arguably the best band there has ever been. They really put English bands on the map all over the world. They wrote their own top songs and wrote songs for many other artists in the sixties. They were all such accomplished musicians to.

And although they took the music seriously. They did not seem to take themselves to seriously. Which made it seem like they were great fun and just having a brilliant time. Plus particularly John it would seem had a great sense of humour. For example his famous off the cuff line about Ringo being “not even the best drummer in The Beatles.”

They worked so hard to get where they did. You have to admire their work ethic and determination. When they were working in Hamburg. They were working seven days a week for five hours a night.

During that time you could argue they possibly turned themselves in to the best and tightest covers band in the world. I mean you can’t say they did not earn their stripes.

This week a brand new film about the band has been released. The documentary Eight Days a Week has been directed and produced by Ron Howard and does have the full backing of The Beatles. With Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr involved in its promotion and attending the premiere in the West End of London.

It uses a lot of old and famous footage that has been digitally remastered so it looks and sounds great apparently. It also features some behind the scenes stuff the group and fans shot during the period of their career the film covers. I am really looking forward to seeing it.

The topical comedy radio news show Newsjack is back again on Radio 4 Extra. It was very nice to be contacted by the producers of it before it started asking me to keep sending in jokes for it. Which I have been doing. The standard on this current series has been very high. It is hosted by Nish Kumar. Along with some new up and coming comedy talents.

If you have never heard it. It is well worth a listen. If you like satirical comedy about current events. As and when I get any of my material featured on it. Rest assured I will let you know. And more than likely give you a chance to listen to it on here.

Whilst working with the BBC recently I have been involved in the production of some of the World Service news programmes. Which are brilliant to be involved with. They are informative, current and fun. As things during the live show can be constantly changing.

I was also lucky enough to be part of an interview with Lemn Sissay. Who is a writer and a broadcaster and a MBE no less. He writes the most fantastic poetry. He is also Chancellor of the University Of Manchester. He is an inspiring and fascinating person to talk and listen to. So that was an interesting hour I spent in his company.

It is also a great place to just spot interesting or recognisable people. For example in the last few months Mark Kermode has let me in to a lift ahead of him. I have seen the One Show’s Alex Jones in the canteen a couple of times.

I bumped in to Chris Eubank in a corridor. Not literally obviously or I would of not came out of that favourably. And I have also spotted the legend that is John Humphrey around and spied Simon Mayo through a studio window. You really never know who you might see next.

Have fun and we will catch up again in a couple of weeks. Cheers Neil.

Neil Quigley Presenter