Much debate and discussion about Brexit – variously described as a disaster or an opportunity depending on perspective and with purported experts lining up on both sides, so what chance the ordinary punter of making any sense of the damn thing? An area that interests me is culture and how varied the people of Europe…
I have never been woke or trendy. I don’t even remember being down with the kids, when I was a kid and so last week, I felt very current and modern when I was required to wear a dress for a commercial casting. Comics of a certain age who happen to be pale, male and…
Not easy making a living in the arts. Certainly, the odds are firmly stacked against with millions taking aim and so few hitting the target let alone the bullseye. We are familiar with statistics about how many actors are unemployed. Variously 90-95%. And I can attest to the reality that most authors can only dream…
My life is a simple one, in a professional sense of the word, anyway. I make people laugh in return for money. An unusual transaction and not an essential one, like being a surgeon – but there is a demand for laughs and since I have jokes and stories… But this does not mean my…
The way that live comedy has developed – gigs are on-line nowadays for comics to fight over in public – putting their name down and hoping – and often for gigs which pay less than they did 20 years ago… My favourite alert of late was – “Ipswich – on-stage 8.50. 20 minutes. £80. Ideally,…
Bit of a landmark for team Holland today with my twins, Sam and Harry marking 20 years on planet earth. This is Motorola and Ericsson to the anyone who remembers my old stand-up routine. “Nokia (Tom) – he’s hands free now… obviously.” I remember doing that routine so clearly at The Comedy Store and elsewhere…
Dinner last evening with one of my oldest comedy mates. Not a funny man like me? This sounds terribly arrogant and also rude? But what I mean is, he is not a comedian. He is a sound man and in more ways than one. As well as a sound engineer, Graham is in charge of…
This week on BBC R4’s The Today Programme, was a lovely tribute to Seamus Heaney – with the presenters speaking in hushed and suitably referential tones about the great writer. And it struck me how fortunate I am to have met the revered poet. (The Hay Literature festival, back in the day when my books…
I am reminded of a passage in my book, Eclipsed when back in the day, Eddie Izzard came to watch me at a comedy club in London with a view to taking me under his wing. Maybe the audience knew somehow because they granted me an encore (rare for a club) and after the gig,…
On twitter recently, I noticed some unusual activity on my account. Lots of comments that made little sense to me and then some abuse which further piqued my attention. Have I tweeted something insensitive? I didn’t think so. And yet, it seems I am in the middle of my first twitter storm. More squall than…
