London Calling…

In London recently to visit my past. The milestones, places and venues which feature prominently in my unusual story called Eclipsed. I began in North London at the Hen and Chickens theatre – a 60 seater where I did my very first one-man show – quaking in my boots with nerves which I assured myself…

The truth, the whole truth…

In stand-up comedy, ripping off another comedian’s act is an enormous faux pas. It does go on but it usually signifies the death knell of the thief’s career but not in every case. A few comedians have alerted me to a very celebrated North American comedian and whether or not he has listened (and plundered)…

New York, New York…

A poignant week for me just gone with my youngest celebrating his 15th birthday. Blimey and who knew? Nothing particularly revelatory at how Paddy’s life has flashed by – which of course applies to my life also (and yours) and perhaps then time to reflect and take stock on all things in my life.

What do you know…

Given that Nikki is a photographer and responsible for some stunning reportage images of the various Holland boys over the years, including Tom and his mundane life – you might think it unwise that my favourite photograph of Tom’s childhood is not one of Nikki’s photographs – and is in fact a snap, taken by…

Small world…

Gigging this week and in order… Vienna, Budapest, Brighton and tonight, to top it all… no not Vegas, but Sevenoaks of course! And what a small world it is. After the gig in Budapest a man approaches me. He looks a little sheepish and anxious. He is good looking and in suspiciously good shape for…

Spiderman who?

A few things of note this week – principally though that I am now Spiderman’s dad. This is has definitely been the main thing for me. That my eldest son, Tom has become a Peter. Also, turns out that my phone is not broken after all. Who knew that the thing could ring so often…

The Fan and the Fox

All musicals have a core of dedicated fans – many of whom watch ‘their chosen’ show more than is normal, at least from an economic perspective. Billy Elliot has a legion of such devotees calling themselves the Billy Elliot Forum. Over the years of Tom doing the show, I encountered many such members and never felt…

Piece in the Mail in full

It is a good experience getting stuff published in newspapers. The Mail asked me to write a feature after seeing my earlier piece in The Independent. A good experience because it is the oxygen of publicity all epublishers need – or because it is just something new and exciting anyway? Probably a mixture of both. Anyway…