Nearing the end of a 2 day sabbatical, & I've not done much but sleep. I feel so lethargic some days when I'm at home, but when I'm out & about, the energy seems to return. Adrenelin working it's wonders to perform I guess.
I've tried to get my PM's up to date, sent a few new ones out, & have answered 6 today - & got 11 back......It's easy once I'm on top of them, I reply to them all immediately, but once I get behind, I'm buggered.
Tom reminded me that The Daddy was tonight (I was 30 seconds too late, poo) & that the weekly blonde Biggie is on, so I've Registered for that.
Spoke to Compo twice, he's done his final Studio Rehearsal as a
Sky Poker Analyst today, & he debuts in a few weeks. He'll be spectacularly good, he's the ultimate Pro in a Studio, & his enthusiasm for the game, & most importantly, social skills - the show is big on interactivity - guarantee he'll be a viewer puller. Tolstoy indeed.....
Right, I WILL get this Diary up to date, & I wanna get the
dtd weekend on paper, but first, last Thursday & Friday.
I did the Sky Show both nights, & having played cash at Luton on the Wednesday, made the Luton Days Inn my base for the 3 day trip.
I had a meet with the Sky Suits at 3pm Thursday, & that went swimmingly, I've been given a new & additional role there, & I'm chuffed to bits. It's subject to Contract, of course, so let's wait until it's all signed & sealed before celebrating. Suffice to say it's something I think I can do well, (yes, I know, that narrows it down....) & I thoroughly enjoy. The extra money is nice, too, though that's a low priority, I "work" because I enjoy doing it, not solely for money. I keep getting lucky with these various jobs, someone in the Great Upstairs must like me. It's an extra 30 or 40 days work a year, but with Poker Week currently dormant, (temporarily, we hope) that's OK, & I shall be doing less other stuff, as part of the contract, so it'll net out about level in terms of how much work I do.
The Thursday Show was the new 1,000 cap jobbie, in response to the "problem" that the 650 cap nightly Open sells out almost every night. With the "1,000 runner Cap" nights, we start an hour earlier, & that throws all the routine out. Normally it's research at 6pm, shower & shave at 7pm, make-up at 7.30, wardrobe at 7.45, mike up & sound at 7.55, studio technical rehearsal 8pm, 10 minute break at 8.45, Studio at 8.55, & we are up & running at 9.
Bringing it forward an hour seemed to get me all of a tizz, not through lack of time - I'd been there since 3pm - but it just threw me out a bit. They have "Runners" whose responsibility it is to ensure the Guests & Talent (Talent!) are where they should be, when they should be, & don't need for anything - Guest Bios, Running Order, drinks, snacks, etc.
Young Anneka & Emma have the patience of saints with me, & I adore them both. They are early twenties, I guess, & starting their TV career in the traditional way, at the bottom, as Runners. The Producer was Sarah, she's early or mid-twenties I guess - they are alll so young! - and a mad Spurs Fan.
On the 1,000 runner nights, the Studio - all of us, Guests, Talent, Camera peeps (4 of therm), Floor Manager, & most of the Gallery Techies, including Producer, Director, Sound Crew etc, - get a 30 minute break at 10pm, & "The Club" is shown. It's not unreasonable in a 4 hour Live Show to give everyone a breather, especially the Techie peeps, but it messes with my head, & my adrenelin flow, & I'd rather do the 4 hours straight through. It's not really possible to relax in that 30 min break, because I'm always conscious that we need to rev ourselves up again shortly. Very soon, Make-Up are back for a touch-up, & Wardrobe like to make sure the clothes are still just so, & we are back on again.
We finished bang on midnight, & I toyed with the idea of going to Luton for the Cash, but I was just too tired, & I'd run bad the previous week before pulling some back the night before, do I decided to give best & get an early night, & I was dead to the world in my Hotel by 2am.
Friday it was back down to Sky for Primo, the monthly Signature Tournie, which I did with DP Fitzgerald. This is another 4 hour jobbie, but it starts at the usual time, & we ran straight through until it ended, at about 1am. I'd brokered
Lucy Rokach as the Pro Guest, & she was spectacular, & I think the world of her as a person, so I was well chuffed to have her on. Her train ran late, though, so she never arrived until 7pm, but we got some great interviews with her for later use.
We had her "up front" for two spells, Analysing, & she told me afterwards she cannot fathom how I talk for 3 hours non-stop, but she's old, see?
And I've had lots of practice at blathering.
I drove straight home after - it takes half an hour to de-robe & get the make-up off - so it was 1.30am when I left, & I was home by 4am, resisting the urge to divert via Luton or
dtd. I was really looking forward to the
dtd Biggie on Saturday, & I was not to be disappointed.
Author