Sat in our Swansea hotel, on the morning of this tour’s first show. Last night we had a tech run of the show, and all was good, save a couple of issues relating to the few bits we’ve tinkered with. Today we’ll get them ironed out before the performance.

Our crew are all very excited to be back on the road. It’s been seven months or so since we closed in the West End with this show, but once we’re all hanging about in the very familiar backstage area of a theatre, that gap closes rapidly. We have a new member of the group – Jonas – whom we all like very much indeed. And we’re missing Andy, last year’s tech genius, who isn’t with us this time. This year we also have the pleasure of a driver and huge lorry to haul our set and props from venue to venue, which takes much of the strain off our team. On previous years, Simon (our stage manager), Coops, Jennie and Iain have had to arrive in the morning, unload the set from the vans, build the show, set up the lighting and sound, then in the case of a one-nighter, dismantle the whole thing and then heave it all into tiny vans afterwards before driving it to the next venue for early morning. It’s gruelling. This year has very few one-night shows, and the job of unloading, loading and driving is left to a nice man with a big truck. Get in. And get out.

We are a tight-knit family. Coops, of course, is my much-treasured PA the rest of the year, and Jennie and Iain have the more delicate jobs of being my make-up and co-writer friends respectively when we’re not on the road. Touring with such close friends is a huge treat. And we all adore Simon, our touring stage manager, who feels like the grown-up of the group.

There is also, of course, the immense pleasure of performing the show. Each of the four shows has had its own flavour, and have felt different to do. Enigma and Evening of Wonders have been particular pleasures, but I think the current one just takes the lead for me. It’s enormous fun to do. For those that wonder how repeating the same two hours night after night can possibly be so enjoyable, I see your point. But as a performer, if I may appear so revolting, my job is to try to re-create it rather than repeat it: the difference being that I must be sure to remain ‘present’ and ‘in’ it and so on, from moment to moment, so that I am always interested in and engaged with what I’m doing. On a few occasions I have found myself distracted and realised that I have switched to auto-pilot, which is a terrible thing: the equivalent of reading pages of a book without taking anything in. It can also lead to problems: if you are simply saying script without feeling it, it’s all too easy to miss out a chunk or worse, repeat yourself. So each night it feels fresh and fun for me, and the idea is that this affects the way that the show communicates to the audience.

Also, I get to enjoy several months – five this time! – without the constant frustrations of television imposing. My yearly television output takes eight months to conceive, write, film and edit, with all those elements overlapping each other. Budgets are understandably never high enough, and ideas are constantly having to be compromised, or new ones found before horrendous deadlines. The initial joy that comes from finding the ‘hook’ of the show is too often drained by these unavoidable concerns as the months roll on. With the touring, however, we have only the pressure to write and rehearse the show in time, and then ten days or so of of letting it settle in and making any major changes. After that, there is only the pleasure of finding, night after night, little improvements to include for the next show. No demands are made, no pressures added: all the work is done.

There is still much to do: in the days I am finishing a book on which I have been working piecemeal for some time, and on my days off there is TV writing and filming to be done. But having the afternoons free to quietly book edit (or noisily, sat in some cafe) is the one of the greatest pleasures I can think of, and somehow the tour experience – despite it being physically tiring and relentless – feels like enough of a holiday to refresh me enough for the other bits of work.

It’s also always fun to say hello to some of you after the show who are kind enough to wait around in often hugely unfavourable conditions. Forgive me in advance when time permits only a very rushed greeting or, on very rare occasions, no hello at all, but I shall always do my best. Above all, thank you for coming, booking tickets, giving them as gifts, dressing up, travelling some distance to see the show, or doing any one of a number of very flattering things on my account.

Right. Must see what this place does for lunch, and get on top of a few lines for tonight. Eek!

x

Just been chatting with the very talented producer/director Nigel Walk, who filmed the astonishing crystal cave sequence at the start of the new landmark BBC series ‘How Earth Made Us‘. They could only film in 20 minute bursts due to the lethal levels of heat – it was a hugely difficult thing to film. Have a look, it’s an incredible, beautiful environment.

Here’s a rather good animation offering an easy (ish) way to conceive of string theory. And some rather good gadgets to browse elsewhere in the site, which I have to confess is how I came across this.

Well, get in and welcome to 2010. I trust all your 2009’s have left room for improvement and you’ll all be moving onwards and upwards. Christmas was rather lovely over at mine: we got to host two of them, and for the first time had a real Christmas tree. (All those years previously I’d been encouraged to merely visualise one, or sometimes a picture might be cut out of a magazine and adhered with glue-sticks to the wallpaper. Now I see what all the fuss was about). The anniversary of the birth of Jesu coincided with the nine months of decorating finally finishing in our apartment, so right there were two reasons to celebrate.

I received many lovely gifts, including a glorious wand remote from my brother and a fantastic Sonos system from my ever-generous self. I have to say, the chaps at SimplySonos are the most thorough and helpful team I have ever come across. It’s an incredibly simple and effective wireless through-house music system, but living amongst a million London wifi networks all competing to cause conflicts and give me different types of head-cancer, it took a bit of tweaking to get it right. The team were shockingly eager and thorough – thank you, chaps.

2010 of course will bring the Enigma Tour once again. Longer than normal, but more relaxed (it’s all several nights in each venue which makes a real difference) it’s looking to be a real treat – for me at least. I luuurrrve it. I shall be spending much of this month reminding myself of the words before setting off at the start of Feb. No London run this year, of course, though you’ll see from the Tour 2010 page that we’ll be in Wimbledon for a week or so.

I’m also working on a book, as I have mentioned here and there. Many of you have been asking what sort of book it is. I’d say it’s part-autobiographical whimsy. There you go, I hope that answers that one. I am to deliver it in April, I believe, so I shall be editing during the tour most likely. Expect the book out some time around October, cleverly ready for the Christmas market.

Three documentaries will find their ways to your screens in the Spring. In them I am spending a week or so with people making some sort of paranormal claim. It has been quite fascinating, and at times genuinely challenging. I’ve hugely enjoyed making them and hope to make more.

Further TV work should happen after the tour, but when such things will air, I know not. This current month is given over to finalising some ideas that we can film then: we re-commence on Wednesday, which is exciting. The Enigma show will be filmed too during the tour, so hopefully that will go out (or ‘TX’ as they say in the ‘industry’ (as they say in the business)) at some point too.

I have not made any resolutions. Attending my New Year’s Eve party was a hugely talented free-runner friend called, I kid you not, Chase Armitage, whose unholy levels of motivation and energy leave me feeling hopeless in comparison when it comes to setting goals. So I am not anticipating resolving or achieving anything in particular this year. If anything is achieved by accident, I shall let you know right here.

The forever-promised new website should be up soon. It has had to change in scope and nature so many times along the way that it has constantly eluded us. Now we think we have it, and shall pounce on it and hold its arms and legs down.

I have not painted since September 2008 when I was assembling paintings for the delivery of the Portraits book: the studio is now clear following the conclusion of the decorating, but I am unlikely to get a chance to paint before the tour, which means it’ll be getting on for 2 years without painting. That’s not good. The art history memory-palace project also took a back seat when filming and holidays came up, but I shall return to that this month.

Righty-ho, that might be all. Hope the returns to work have not been too painful, and the weening off chocs and crisps a triumphant success.

Ta-ta,

x

Rather tired and dreamy and overstuffed after a long and lovely day of great food, company and wine. And the JJ Abrams Star Trek on the home cinema. I hope you’ve all had a lovely one. For those not following me on Twitter – I have been away filming a documentary and then on holiday, so apologies for my recent poor turnout on the blog.

I do hope you’ve enjoyed your Christmas days, or indeed are still enjoying them for our far distant friends. Tra-la and ho ho ho.

xx