For anyone who was waiting for Fireside Chat number 13 (ooooooh), I’ve been away from the computer all day. I was driven up to PBJ Engineering to film a demonstration of a new kind of circuit breaker. It’s my first commercial job and filming took a lot longer than anticipated. Perhaps I should stick to filming Magic tricks.
Tomorrow is my first Jubilee show, but I promise to get to work on the Practical stuff after that. Until then, here’s a slideshow of pics:
It was today that I made my monthly trip over to Shropshire and Gadlas Villa, home of Jeremy and Cheryl le Poidevin, A.K.A. Practical Magic. I rolled in at around 10 to 12, just in time for lunch. Jeremy tells me they had record sales in April and May and it certainly seems that way, judging by how busy they always are whenever I’m there. It seems we can barely start a conversation without the phone ringing and interrupting us as people place their orders. I’m always impressed by how quickly these are dealt with.
I took loads of pictures and we filmed a new fireside chat and some more demos, but I’ll have to upload those tomorrow. It’s nearly 1.30 am and I’m very tired…
…and Tamar just pointed out that I haven’t given her a proper cuddle yet since I got home.
So I’ll finish this tomorrow…
I have been a martyr to my back over the last few days – my sleep has been really disturbed and consequently I’ve been sleeping in even later than usual, which explains why I missed the bin lorry this morning. It was the black bin this time – the one that hasn’t been emptied for four weeks and now needs to wait another two. There is barely any space left – I’ve climbed in it and stamped it down twice already. It smells. There are life forms growing inside it that have started to develop language and use rudimentary tools. It’s grim, really grim.
I have no excuse this time for not putting it out the night before – unlike it’s cousin the red recycling bin, who’s collection day seems to be a moveable feast a bit like Easter, I’m well aware that the black one goes every other Monday. I have even in the past, resorted to scrawling ‘PUT BIN OUT’ in dry erase marker on every shiny surface in the house and still forgotten. My own incompetence amazes me sometimes.
We didn’t do a lot today – after sitting up late last night updating the BARMY BELLA site and then lying in till nearly midday, we went off to the Handmade Burger Company for lunch (although, as my son Harry pointed out – aren’t ALL burgers handmade?), then we bought sun loungers and sat in the garden.
And people say professional entertainers don’t work hard for a living!
That’s it for today – Tomorrow I’ll be spending the day at Practical Magic in Shropshire, so maybe I’ll treat my readers (all 3 of you) to a photographic and video tour of their premises and some sneak previews of upcoming goodies.
These burgers are HANDMADE, apparently
I won’t be blogging tonight as I have had a very busy day with shows and then spent all evening /night updating Tamar’s website – she wanted to include a guide to local halls and it was quite a lot of work.
My day started badly when I couldn’t find my phone, so I went onto iCloud to locate it. The wonders of modern technology! A few seconds of scanning and the computer reported back that my phone was on a trading estate in Rotherham. Tame and I went out for a meal and to the cinema up that way last night, so I presumed it had fallen out of my pocket and someone had picked it up and made off with it. It was with a heavy heart that I performed a remote wipe on the phone and then with an even heavier heart that I found the bloody thing in the kitchen, now completely bricked and useless because I’d just wiped it! I had no time to sort it out, so I was without my phone all day!
Things did get better when I arrived at Daniel’s party – Dan is 14 and lives in Maltby. I’ve done his parties before and I think he knows my act almost as well as I do. It was nice to see him and his friends again.
Then it was off to Barnsley for a very big party – 80 kids!! Henry (the birthday boy) and his friends were all little angels though and the venue was very high class! I did make the mistake of twisting 80 dog balloons and then allowing one of the kids to have a sword. Oops! Of course, after that EVERYONE wanted a sword and I was scared of being left with 80 balloon poodles that no one wanted. You’d think after nearly 30 years doing this job I’d know better.
So as I say – no blog today, I’m far too tired!
Henry’s cake
This is James, from Dan’s party
Sheffield United just lost 7-8 to Huddersfield on Penalties. This must be the first and only football match I have ever taken an interest in and that’s because I had the promise of a really nice gig if they won.
Apparently if they won, they would be ‘going up’. Where they would be going up to is a mystery to me, but it is all incredibly important to a large number of people. Quite why, I have no idea.
I was told that should they win, I would be entertaining at a huge celebration for the players and their families – it sounded like an amazing gig, so I followed the game with interest. Apparently after 90 of the most boring minutes ever with no goals, they decided to run around for another 30 minutes and then gave up and had a quick fire round where they competed to see how many times they could kick the ball past the men in the goals. All riveting stuff, followed by crushing disappointment – which for once, I was a part of.
Why do people bother?
Wow, the weather has been amazingly hot lately! I finish each show looking like Meatloaf in concert back in the 70s. I’m going to have to carry a couple of changes of clothes with me if this carries on. I had a friend who used to say he took extra shirts with him, packed in ice. I’m not sure if this was really true, but it sure sounds like a nice idea on days like this.
The kids meet Jambo Bananas.
My wonderful wife to be Tamar, a.k.a. Barmy Bella, Children’s Entertainer has changed my life in many, many ways – perhaps the most surprising of all though is that I have lately started doing full two hour children’s party packages. The latest of these was today, for a charming little girl called Hollie. I managed to snap a couple of pictures during the show, although most of the boys seemed very camera shy for some reason. The boys were very shy throughout the party actually – it took a great deal of encouragement to get any to come out for my ‘Princess in a Pickle’ bit and I ended up using a little girl called Tia as my contestant for ‘Watch the Water’, which is a role I always give to a boy.
They were a really fun crowd though.
Just back from performing at a family night at Dalton and Listerdale School in Wickersley. Two 45 minute shows with an interval – great, great crowd. Silly Billy will be pleased to know that I performed his new ‘Princess in a Pickle’ headless silk trick and the kids loved it!
Thanks everyone for a great night!
Don’t you just hate it when you’ve turned down enquiry after enquiry for a popular date and then your original show emails and cancels at the last minute? I’m sure they have a legitimate reason, but it’s still a bit of a disappointment.
At least they’d paid a deposit.
So if anyone is looking for an entertainer for June 2nd in the late afternoon / early evening , I have an opening!
Take care folks!
Hi everyone, what an incredibly sunny day we’ve had! I’ve lived the life of a troglodyte for the past week or so – sitting hunched over the iMac or Macbook, slaving away on Dreamweaver like a man possessed, so it was nice to set foot outside the door for a change!
I was rudely awoken at the crack of 11.30am by the dustbin lorry, coming to collect the recycling. This prompted the usual mad panic. You see, I have no idea what day the rubbish gets collected. Other people seem to know and leave their’s out, but I always have to go through this performance of running downstairs with my trousers half on, throwing a coat over my bare chest and then dragging the bin through the alleyway and round to the front of the house with my shoes only half on before the bin men turn off the end of the road. It’s all a bit like some bizarre round of ‘It’s a Knockout’ and I swear that I can hear Stuart Hall laughing like a loon as I go through this wacky ritual every fortnight. Luckily I made it this week – good job as I missed it last time and the thing was overflowing.
Oops – got sidetracked!
So Tamar and I decided to head to the Peak District and have a pub lunch and a bit of a wander. Our first stop was ‘The Millstone’ in Hathersage, where I had my heart set on ordering their famous meat and potato pie.
The Millstone, Hathersage
It had been a long time and I wasn’t sure it would be as good as I remembered, but it was quite amazing.
The crushing disappointment was that the place no longer has Henderson’s Relish on the tables! sacrilege! For anyone not familiar with Hendersons, it’s a condiment made in Sheffield. It’s best described as being ‘almost but not quite totally unlike Worcester Sauce’, to paraphrase the late Douglas Adams.
Lack of Hendersons aside, the meal was great, then it was off for a gander at Little John’s Grave – don’t ever say Kimmo doesn’t know how to show a girl a good time!
I thought it would be nice to have a trip to Castleton – they have some gorgeous countryside and a cave called ‘The Devil’s Arse’. Tamar likes pretty villages and I like rude words, so it was the perfect choice.
Ok – time for a cheese toastie with Henderson’s Relish! mmmmmmm
Kimmo.co.uk
Don't read this... 