Day 33. Half of what I say is meaningless. (2/2/19)

Long day, that.

It started with a hangover. The hangover started because of alcohol, obviously. The alcohol came about because I was leaving work, had actually left work, forever, the day before. Like I need an excuse for alcohol.

(Oh yeah, Soundtrack: The Beatles' 'White Album', specifically 'I'm So Tired' for no other reason that I really bloody am.)

Just got back in. Back in from a gig which followed a very long, very good day.

But first, the drinking.

There was a game of pool. A game of pool wherein I initially demonstrated exactly why I haven't played pool for a decade or two: my opponent, a now ex colleague who I was ceding three decades to, had wiped all but one of his balls from the table before I had hinted at the idea of potting a single one. This after my first stroke saw me using the yellow spot ball instead of the cue ball. To much hilarity that I didn't understand before this was pointed out. I blamed the lighting. Then something clicked and I went on a rampage. I was sinking shots I should never have sunk, pulling off angles that were impossible to me. From nowhere, with claims of 'you've just been hustled, lad' I somehow took the game to a black ball finish. Which I naturally lost. You can't have everything, can you? Where would you keep it?

So, the hangover. The hangover was a perfect start to a full day of auditions. The auditions were for June's production of The Comeback Special, casting two roles. Nine auditions for one role, six for the other. A day of whittling down to that weird alchemical moment of knowing you have the additions that complement the existing cast.

And we do.

The thing we need to talk about here though, isn't the auditions we're casting (as they won't know until tomorrow) but the fact that these fifteen talented people gave up a large slice of, and for some of them the majority of, their Saturday.

That people are interested enough to actually want to audition for your show is incredible. To watch them put so much into the process, to know that you have a room full of people who really want to take on the life of this character that you created, want to give your words life, is truly humbling.

The hangover wore off by noon. And then hit me like a bastard at four, when I really took the knock.

So, it's been a long day, a tiring day, a mentally exhausting one with tough decisions to make and tough decisions to communicate to good people who are good at their job.

It's been long, it's been tiring, it's been hard and uncomfortable. It's been brilliant.

I'm knackered, and happy to be so.

And I've got this in before midnight.

See you tomorrow.