The first night was terrific: the show went well and the audience were delightful: warm and very enthusiastic. All 1066 of them (the capacity of the Hastings theatre… See what they did?) sprung to their feet and were brilliant throughout, despite me confusing my own crew by getting a couple of bits round the wrong way. Tonight’s show was much fun, marred only by a couple of props that decided to do their own thing or fall apart.

Spent yesterday afternoon in the delightful Cafe des Artes, a gorgeous art gallery and cafe in Hastings which turned out to be run as part of a major Autistic trust. Some of the staff are autistic, and clearly the job is designed to be of great assistance to them, as part of a planned programme designed by the trust. I got talking to one of the women who runs it: a lovely lady called Lisa who used to be a magician’s assistant at the circus in a female magic act. There are very few magiciennes nowadays, and even fewer during her circus years. So she’s a magician’s-assistant-turned-careworker. An excellent lady.

I did a tiny on-film thing for their latest awareness project, which I’m sure will be on YouTube at some point. And clearly the programme works well: I spoke after the show to a delightful chap called Anthony who had a job at the cafe as part of living and working with with his own autism. Quite fascinating, and lovely to come across the project.

Today was spent visiting some great friends who live in an ex-church in Folkestone. After months of working exceptionally hard, it was amazing to sit in the sun, with wonderful people, play with their toddler Scarlett and eat a splendid lunch. Brilliantly, she made chocolate crucifixes for pudding. Get that.

A really lovely start to the tour. The wonderful weather helps as we weave around the coastline. Thank you Hastings, you’ve kicked us off royally and forgiven a few minor glitches.
Bournemouth next.
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