Most Northerly Gig

On Friday night, I did my most northerly gig in the UK's mostn northerly venue - Haroldswick Hall in Unst.

I had originally intended going to see Steve Earle at the Clickimin Centre in Lerwick.  However, when I got the chance to do some stand-up at the Baltasound Junior High School staff 'do', I jumped at the chance.  Turned out Steve Earle was cancelled anway. He got stuck in Inverness due to fog.  Will get a refund on my tickets anyway.

For those that don't know, Unst is the most northerly island in Shetland and involves 2 ferry crossings to get there.  After the first ferry, driving through the island of Yell, I was reduced to a crawl for much of the way due to freezing fog.  Thought I was going to reach the next ferry in time.  Did though and coming over the hill, before dropping down into Baltasound it all looked very ethereal.  A cloak of low lying fog hung over the houses, penetrated by a yellow glow from street lights.

I'd lived in and taught at the school there for 6 and a half years, so it was a bit like coming home. On to the bus laid on and got a great welcome.  The same when I got into the hall.

After the emal, did a fifteen minute spot - most people hadn't known I was coming up - never mind doing stand-up!

Unst is a great wee community, but now their small secondary school is being threatened with closure.  It's a great wee school, and an important hub for the whole community.  The Unst folk are resilient and I know they will not take this lying down.  I hope there's many more do's I can get to.

Want to see more about the school, then check out their web-site:  http://www.baltasound.shetland.sch.uk/

Also check out Sandy Nelson's blog on the right-hand side for snippets about Unst life.

A Quick Update

At Peerie Bryan's request, a quick update to show that I'm still alive:

Since January, done gigs at Garrison Theatre in Lerwick, a coupla times at the Stand in Edinburgh and Glasgow (alongwith Daniel Sloss who you might have seen recently on Paul O'Grady Show, Gavin Webster, Kevin Bridges - who was on Michael McIntyre's Roadshow), the Beehive in Edinburgh, the Clickimin in Lerwick (with Michael Redmond).

Saw Michael McIntyre perform at the Stand in Edinburgh and U2 and Elbow at Wembley Stadium (along with 90,000 other people).

Visited the Lake District and Cambridge for the first time.

Spent the Easter holidays on a beautiful island in Croatia.

Also got some upcoming gigs: Beehive Inn, Edinburgh (12th October); Snafu, Aberdeen (13th October); Bacchus, Glasgow (15th October).

I'll try and expand on some of the above later.

Stand Up Helly Aa

Our Up Helly Aa Fire Fest is fast approaching - and our next Shetland gig. The Lerwick UHA's the biggest but there's several smaller ones throughout the isles. I took part in one in Unst 3 years ago & have the pics to prove it. These may be posted later but are awaiting classification by the British Board of Censors. Definitely not for the squeamish!!!

Back to Reality

Well, it's back to work again after our jaunt away sooth. Down in Glasgow, I managed to get to do a 5-minute spot at a comedy club there. Quite daunting to be in a room full of comedians - but a good experience. Thanks Alan - & everybody for their support. Mind you there was free champers and mince pies as well.


Went to the Stand Comedy Club the next night - in the audience this time. A very entertaining evening. Particularly enjoyed Sean Grant. But had to leave before the end as we'd to catch an early morning flight.


In Cyprus, on Christmas Day, we drove up into the mountains as we'd heard that it had been snowing up there. After playing in the snow, it was back down to sea level to go paddling in the Med!



When it snows up in the Troodos Mountains, Cypriots go up to gather snow and then race back down with it to their villages and homes. The next day, we came upon this fellow not far from where we were staying. A wee Greek Cypriot village, we were in shirt sleeves and shorts, folk were having coffee outside - then there he was just sitting there in the village square!!

Breaking News

This is from our local news website at:

http://www.shetland-news.co.uk/news_12_2008/Isles%20engineers%20to%20rescue%20Santa.htm

Isles engineers to rescue Santa

20 December, 2008

The Shetland News has learned that a local firm has been contracted to fly two engineers to the North Pole to fix Santa Claus' sledge.

The trip north is expected to take some days due to a very poor weather forecast and the likelihood of ferry cancellations, as the pair need to connect with a special charter flight from Aberdeen.

Reports suggest Santa has been trying to do his bit to help the global economy by increasing production levels this year.

However the sheer weight of presents has proved too much for his specially designed sledge, and urgent welding is required to fix the problem.

A spokesman for Santa Claus said that the reputation of Shetland’s engineers and craftsmen was well known outside the islands, and he wanted the best men available to do the work to ensure he could meet his annual deadline this year.

Attempts to contact the engineers in Lerwick yesterday proved fruitless. Every workshop contacted by Shetland News said they had been vowed to the strictest secrecy and wondered how the story had got out.