Smiffblog.
UAE
The end of summer and the sun is flowing across the concrete campus of the University of East Anglia where I was a student from 1973-77. It’s late September and I really am back at school – to take part in the celebrations for the University’s 50th birthday. There are loads of activities […]
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PC Syd Smith, London, 1951 – From my dad’s memoir
PC Syd Smith, London, 1951 In the meantime, life went on. The Festival of Britain took place. One or two events concerned with my job stand out in my mind. I was on night duty and walking on Waterloo Bridge at 2am in the morning. I noticed a young lady looking over the parapet. She […]
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Edinburgh 2013
As I write I am in London in my warm garden. As you read I am in Edinburgh in a cold flat. Soon I will pack my bags, forgetting, as is traditional, to stuff in any socks at all. The Fringe is beckoning me back into its bony arms and I have been having my […]
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Glasto
Apart from a marathon compering session, I did 2 solo performances at Glastonbury last week, both of which were utterly different from any other gig I have ever done. I arrive at the first in the backstage bar of one of the bigger arenas to find a band rocking away and dancing going on. Oh […]
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The Sun (*)
The sun (*) A savage review is much more entertaining for the reader than an admiring one; the little misanthrope in each of us relishes the rubbishing of someone else. But however much I enjoy it in others, I find it hard to be a rude critic myself. Even after some bum-murderingly boring play I […]
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Happyness
“Happiness….”, sang John Lennon in 1968, “is a warm gun.” But what Lennon didn’t know was that, in fact, Happyness is a new comedy festival that takes place in Inverness over the May bank holiday. I have just returned from its golden shores and am brushing the heather from my hair as I type (Auld […]
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6 ways to stave off misery
6 ways to stave off misery Do you ever feel utterly miserable? If you answer ‘no’ to this question then you are either lying, or you are a children’s TV presenter. Feeling down is a part of life as surely as is breathing or finding Piers Morgan a pompous, smarmy idiot. But worry not, sad […]
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ARTHUR SMITH SINGS LEONARD COHEN (VOLUME TOO) AT EDINBURGH FRINGE
ARTHUR SMITH SINGS LEONARD COHEN (VOLUME TOO) AT EDINBURGH FRINGE PLEASANCE CABARET BAR : 3-18 AUGUST 2013 “Smith’s comic timing is always a wonder to behold” The Times (2011) “You are being arrested for breach of the peace and possession of a megaphone” Lothian Police (2001) Just as Degas felt compelled to return […]
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Mrs T
Friday, November 23rd 1990 – as the Funeral March strikes up I mope slowly to the dimly-lit centre stage of the Hackney Empire and declare, in sepulchral tones, that I have come to bury all the Mrs Thatcher jokes – jokes that no longer serve any purpose following her resignation the previous day. Then I […]
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In Memoriam Pete
It’s true he could be mean but he was funny and charismatic. I liked Pete. And so I set off to his memorial service in Brighton. Arriving at Clapham Junction station I see a sign with those 2 dismal words, Bus Replacement. ‘Bus Replacement to Burgess Hill.’ Burgess Hill? That’s 30 fucking miles […]
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