So on Saturday morning, after a lovely few days being a bit spoilt in a country house retreat, I settled in front of the TV, just like I know you all did, and watched my face appear on the televisual screen. It was alright I think.

It’s very interesting watching myself back, I think I look younger on screen and not as skinny as I am in real life. Filming the show was great fun, Dick & Dom are lovely lads, the production team are a delight and the kids in the audience made it all the more exciting. I particularly love how Dom, as a magician himself, is probably one of the best participants for a trick ever, holding stuff in the right place for the cameras, looking amazed, all that stuff, well done him.

I’m pretty sure the trick came across okay. It wasn’t the trick I wanted to do, but hopefully was still impressive, amazing and simple to follow. If you missed it you can see it here.

The other thing I’ve been busy doing recently is confirming stuff for this years Edinburgh Fringe. This scares me a lot. I’ve got a rough show idea, and now need to really get to work in writing it, making tricks, designing props, all that sort of stuff. I need to have photos taken, a designer on board and artwork for adverts done within a month, so I need to get my pretty face on and have lots of meetings. Edinburgh is a joy when it begins but stresses and worries me for months before, what if the show is no good, what if it’s not funny, what if it’s not amazing. So many worries and so little to do about them other than work my ass off writing and make the show as good as it can be. Especially as it’ll be a slight departure from the normal style of things I do. Not a huge departure, but I’m going to attempt to add more layers and a narrative to it. Good luck everyone. Oh and if that’s not enough I’ve the big London version of Mind Over Patter in May to prepare for and to try remember as I’ll have had 7 months off doing the full show before I do it again in the Udderbelly.

Why do I do these things to myself? Oh because I love it. Yeh, I forgot about that.

Chris x

P.S. In case you haven’t noticed it my wonderful web designer Linzy has made some cool I Love Cox logos for this website if you add it to your favourites, or for even cooler cox action add it to your homescreen on your iphone. Rock & Roll… or at the least, Cox & Roll

Hello,

It’s me. Typing this out for you to read and enjoy in the comfort of your own place where you’re reading this. Are you having an enjoyable time? I do hope so.

I’ve had two lovely gigs recently, storming it at a 500 odd seater sell out in Bury St Edmunds then headlining Magic Night in Soho. I’ve been thinking about what I’m doing differently to make the gigs go so well, and you know what it it is? I’m pretty sure it’s just about being much more relaxed and confident within myself and letting the magic flow. Forgetting about what I’m going to do, and just doing it, letting it naturally appear and dealing with stuff as and when I get to it. This could quickly turn into a long look at myself as a performer, the role of a magician or comedian, all that stuff but in essence it seems to boil down to this. The more relaxed you are, the more confident you are, the better you are and therefore the more YOU you are and the more the audience will enjoy it. So finding yourself isn’t just some hippy bull-shit, it’s vital, both as a performer and a real life person.

Who we are at our core can forever change, and who we are changes dependent on who we are around, what we are doing or what we are saying. Are we many people, are we just one, or are we simply many different versions of ourselves? If you’re a performer being yourself or at least a characterised version of yourself then you have to think about what it is about you that people like and work out how to take that and heighten it on stage. At the same time you have to find the things that’ll turn an audience off, and hide them, all while remembering that not everyone is going to like you. One of the toughest things I had to learn is that not everyone will like me, no matter how hard I try, and I am very comfortable with that now. If everyone liked everything you did, then what you’re doing is probably a bit too bland.

I put so much effort into shows I want everyone to like them, we all want everyone to think good things about us, it’s human nature, but we simply can’t, life isn’t that easy, and if it were, it’d be boring. I am in the weird position where I can sometimes see what people say about me and think about me (at least me on stage) through reviews, twitter and the like, and it’s a very dangerous place to be. Life is better with mystery. Not knowing what others are thinking or saying about you, that lack of knowledge in theory will make you strive to be a better person, performer, entertainer or duck (depending on your species.) I suppose we should always try to please as many people as possible, always try to entertain them, but always stay true to yourself, whoever yourself decides to be that day.

So there’s a rambling load of words which probably make more sense.. but hey, at least I’m blogging again as so many of you (two of you) have asked for.

Don’t forget I’ll be popping up on your screens on Dick & Dom’s Funny Business next Saturday the 26th Feb. I’ll write a bit about filming that later this week for you, and also I’ll be announcing my big London show sometime in the next 7 days. Big whoop.

Chris x