CITY HALL, NEWCASTLE

We did finally get some snow through the night but it was all gone by mid morning.  We do seem to have had far less than other parts of the country.  Even Sussex where Becky lives had more than we did. 

I spent most of today indoors just catching up with odd jobs around the house.  Then at 6pm I caught the bus to Newcastle.

Had a bit of a wander before heading to the City Hall... the doors opened at 7pm and I arrived at about 7.15pm.  Before going inside I crossed to the other side of the road to take my blip shot.  I was surprised when one of the security guards who was on duty outside the City Hall came over to me and asked why I was taking photos.  I explained that I was going to the show and wanted a photo of the venue to remember the event... as I knew that photos indoors weren't allowed.  He seemed OK with that explanation and told me that they always ask people who are taking photos of the building the reason they are taking them.  Seems a bit overkill to me but I guess its their job to be extra careful.

The show I was seeing was comedian Troy Hawke... real name Milo McCabe.  I " discovered " Troy Hawke on Facebook last year and loved his videos so much that  I jumped at the chance to get a ticket when I noticed his tour included Newcastle. I had a good seat in the Stalls not far from the front.

If you haven't heard of Troy Hawke its a bit difficult to explain exactly what he's like. His character is a well educated 1930's throwback...the Errol Flynn of the high street. He wears a purple satin smoking jacket. See photo in Extras.  He is the founder of 'The Greeters Guild' as well as being the only member - not counting Jan Molby - the Greeters Guild CEO.  In his videos Troy " pretends " to be a member of The Greeters Guild " ( this is just a made up thing ).  He mainly stands outside of shops and greets customers .... welcoming them to the store and saying positive things about them - whist being filmed from afar.  Sometimes he is challenged by someone who works in the shop and they ask him if he's there officially. He says he is and if they want to check they should phone Head Office and ask for Jan Molby,  ( Jan Molby is actually a Danish ex footballer and manager.)   Sometimes they ring Head Office, come back outside and tell Troy to leave as he isn't authorised.  Sometimes the shop worker will be pleased that someone is being nice to the customers and just let Troy carry on.  On one memorable occasion a shop worker from B & Q told Troy that they didn't want him greeting customers and being welcoming saying " We don't do that here ".  You really have to see the videos to appreciate the humour.

Anyway the show was very funny.  It was a one man stand up show with a lot of interaction with the audience.  Troy's Geordie accent was very good.  I'm sure when he was in Liverpool yesterday evening he was able to pull off a Scouse accent as well. And probably a Yorkshire accent for his next two shows in Ilkley and Leeds.  There were a few technical problems and footage which was supposed to come up on a large screen didn't come up.  The IT experts tried and tried for ages before finally getting it to work.  In the meantime Troy had to fill in and ad lib and he did really well.  The show lasted 2 hours with a half hour break.

I left the City Hall around 10pm, caught my bus at 10.25pm and was in the house by 11pm. 

Today would have been my 41st wedding anniversary.  It was good to do something fun.

Steps today - 8,586