Christmas Creatives Conundrum

Hello there

A very happy new week to you, that is unsullied by the ramblings of Reboot.

In case you missed it, we are having a little hiatus over the holidays as I’m shattered with doing two mega-edits a week, Rob has just finished Upstart Crow in the West End, and Jon is moving house.  We are going to do a one-off over the holidays, and then restart at some point early in the New Year, but that’s why it’s not dropping into your inbox today (not like that).

It does rather nicely link up with something I wished to speak with you about, so I shall take that opportunity in this here post.  That is, the Christmas Creative’s Conundrum.  I am absolutely certain this isn’t something that affects just me, so let’s chat about it.

So, two things to set the scene, both related to Rob & Jon.

Firstly, as I’ve recently alluded to, myself and Jon have been making headway behind-the-scenes, with the Rocky Robot cartoon series whilst Rob has been swanning about being a West-End-Wendy. In a nutshell, and I’ll almost certainly tell much more at some point in the coming weeks, the headline is that we have found a production home for it. We had been talking with another company for a few months, but they turned out to be bad eggs.  We feel like we are in safe hands now, but – as I say – I’ll tell you more about that another time. The point in relation to this post though, is that it’s a very frustrating time to be ‘starting’ it.  Many telly people have already finished for the year, and we know that our meeting this coming Friday will definitely be the last one till 2023. Which doesn’t suit me at all when I’ve got my tail up (not like that).

Secondly, something we have spoken about on Reboot I’m sure, was that in the olden days, when we had finished an August Fringe run, Rob would always immediately go on holiday.  It used to properly do my head in, because my reckoning was that immediately after the fringe is when you follow up on the contacts and interest you’ve (hopefully) made during your Edinburgh run.  Being unavailable - at the very least - means it’s a couple of weeks before you can even have the chat, and in a worst case scenario means that somebody else who hasn’t gone on holiday gets industry attention ahead of you.  Please don’t read this as me having a go at Rob – it was, of course, twenty odd years ago, but I’m just telling you I have a history of wanting to “get going” on stuff.

Which is how I feel most every Christmas.

Now, let’s get all the Grinch stuff on the record.  Most of the time I’m not into Christmas, but sometimes I really am.  In recent years, it’s been a nice thing to have going on, and I’ve sometimes got ahead on work so I can switch off.  This year, that is not the case.  This year there is no reference to Christmas anywhere in my house. No tree, nothing.  In fact, my house has joined in on this, because the string of lights that goes right the way around my back garden all year round has packed in.  I mean, it’s really upset me, but I am choosing to believe it is my house standing in solidarity with my Christmas ban.

It's not just a general Bah Humbug.  There are certainly personal reasons I am refusing to join in, aligned with professional reasons.  I’ve spent a lot of this year tipped up by various events and people and have only recently managed to get a handle on some of that.  In a sense, the time that coincidentally correlates with the Christmas period is a time that I would be properly putting the hours in.  It really does feel that I want to make up for lost time now. Most people’s minds are simply, and understandably, elsewhere though.  I know I’m going to be climbing the walls about Rocky Robot for a few weeks and wanting to be sending emails etc (I shan’t – I’m not a maniac), and I know I’ll get other work to a point of me wanting to get it sent to people but they’ll all be round a tree.  Working through Christmas is really difficult – not because it’s so isolating, but because there’s nobody available.

I’m not stamping my feet and saying “Right, Christmas is cancelled for everyone – let’s get on with stuff”, I’m just talking about the inherent frustrations when you aren’t at the party yourself. I mean, the other part of this is that - even if there was nowt going on with Rocky Robot and other projects behind-the-scenes - it’s rather difficult for me to take a week off for Christmas because of my attitude to Patreon.  A week off in any month would, and I know you’d say I am silly, feel as though you were short changed.  That you were paying the same but getting a quarter less for it, you know?

I’m not pining for a week off either, for reasons already stated.  I’m a bit creatively charged now and know how difficult it is to get that back if you ignore it.  As I say, it’s been a year of things really distracting me from work, so being in a work-head mood is nice.  It wasn’t always the case.  When I used to do stand up, there were fewer more relieving feelings than the last gig before Christmas.  Walking out of a -invariably car crash – gig on Christmas Eve or Christmas Eve Eve, knowing that you were now off till New Year’s Eve was amazing.  Normally with a pocket full of money that it was hard not to view as compensation for dealing with rowdy drunk idiots.  Naturally, because it’s me, there was always something that happened to make it more of a chore.  Off the top of my head I remember getting back to the car at a gig in Wigan and my tires had been slashed (absolutely certain it was the security guards at the “gig” who had been really aggressive over Saints/Wigan rugby stuff all night ), and another time I was getting the train back from an awful Birmingham Christmas gig where somebody got stabbed as I waited to depart at New Street.  To make matters worse, it was rammed with Madness fans as they’d just done a gig in the centre of Birmingham, so they were well giddy and loud, and the train got delayed by two hours whilst I sat in a corner just desperately wanting to go home. It’s the hope that kills yer, eh?

Anyway, my quandary beyond all this, is I’m not really in the mood for doing Christmas things on Patreon.  I know I’ve previously written Christmas ghost stories, and had Rocky do Christmas speeches and all that sort of brilliant content, but if I did that this year, it would be even more cynical than usual.  I’m also aware how I feel presently when people talk to me about Christmas.  A little bit melancholic and a little bit frustrated. I refuse to believe I am the only one that has this going on for them.  In fact, I’m confident there’ll be folk amongst you that have it going on too.  I think, people who are doing Christmas won’t be fed up at the stuff on here not being Christmas themed, but the people who aren’t doing Christmas, for whatever reason, might be if I did. Does that make sense?

It is not a reaction to Christmas as a thing.  I’m not insinuating that people are daft to try and have a nice Christmas.  If you want to do that, you absolutely should, and I sincerely wish you nothing but the best presents and the company of those you would choose to be with. If you’re on your tod with every mention of Christmas grating on you, then I’d like to not add to that.

In addition to all the work-related stuff, I do tend to get a bit retrospective about the year on Patreon at this time.  However, 2022 has been – unarguably – the worst year of my existence.  Just grim and horrific on so many levels, where my primary emotional support structure has oddly been here.  Which I’m tremendously grateful for but you’ve surely had enough pouting from me as I’ve battled through this. The absolute last thing I want to do is “look back” at it as content.  I don’t even want to write it down.

Now, in the Reboot one-off, assuming we get round to doing it, I can’t stop them two banging on about Christmas, and I’m sure they will.  They’re both “family” people as we know.  I can represent though.  Also, Kate and I discussed doing a Loopholes Patreon-Exclusive special as well, which might have the same issue, but we haven’t worked that out yet and it’s equally likely we will just carry on the regular eps with no mention of holidays.

What I would like to do, as sort of a half-way house, is a few posts about just general stuff.  Things like the Fairground posts.  I really liked doing the post recently about the Star Wars exhibit for example, and the “Calmer” post where I wrote about Boston Legal.  Although, sidebar, I did get tripped up by Boston Legal as I forgot about an ongoing cancer storyline, so that’s on pause presently, replaced - in a like-for-like - manner by watching loads of the old ITV wrestling on Youtube.  Which is something else I’d like to write a piece about.

Basically, as I’m in an enforced situation where certain work things have to take pause, I’m going to just write and make stuff that is more leisurely.  It might be even more indulgent than usual, and there might be more art etc than usual, and unconnected written pieces.  I’m sure I’ll do a story (I still haven’t finished the Diablo one I was well into), but it won’t be a Christmas story. A bit like when I refused to talk about lockdown or the pandemic when all that was going on.  A sanctuary from the crowds, if you will.

I’m honestly not being a Scrooge Grinch thing.  I have no issues with Christmas as a thing, it’s just not coming to visit me this year.  I do sincerely hope you have a nice one if it’s visiting you though, and I shall endeavour to make my alternate content as entertaining as I can regardless.  Plus you’re getting all them ParaPod downloads, and the ongoing Loopholes and Cabin Fever episodes, so you’re all good there.

Oh, and if you’re wondering how I got on in the Scouts rugby league tournament….

I captained us to the win and scored two tries.

Go me. Some of those boys actually didn't touch the ball or make a solitary tackle in the whole tournament. 

Have a wonderful start to the week thank you

Much non-denominational love as always

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