Post-divorce, I’ve fallen for a man I’ve known years Valentine’s Day 1988. I am 15 years old, standing on the second floor of the Trocadero in Piccadilly Circus waiting for my date. It has taken me six hours to get ready. In the event, he was a no-show. I waited for more than an hour. … Read more …
Sean was one of those rare comics who would make comedians feel like punters again. Nothing about what he did was predictable
The feel of the festival is very much ‘the show must go on’. Audiences pack socially distanced venues, and no one dwells too much on the fact that we have been locked away for so long
The other day, my eight-year-old daughter asked me, “What’s a Karen?” There are many questions my daughter has asked me that I’ve had to quietly look up, so it doesn’t look like mummy paid no attention whatsoever at school. Like “why can we sometimes see both the sun and the moon on our walk to school?” or “why fish … Read more …
Being a younger teenager is a notoriously tricky state of affairs. Your body changes, your skin can erupt into another planet with an ecosystem of its own, and perfectly ordinary things, like your mother smoothing down your hair in public can cause the most acute embarrassment known to man. I have noticed my 13 old … Read more …
There’s no point me even trying to talk about anything other than the football. No longer am I someone who cluelessly gazes at the screen, waiting for the cue from the proper fans to get excited before I join in with the whoops, the way tiny children laugh when adults do, not understanding the humour but … Read more …
I’m still on a high after England’s win against Germany. I had to drive to a show straight away after the match and had my own little private party in the car listening to the continued excitement on BBC Radio 5 Live. I drove around the Chiswick roundabout and stopped at the lights, ready to take the … Read more …
Boris Johnson is off the hook for a moment. His moral compass when it comes to sex and relationships seems to be set firmly in the Georgian era. For now, he can play with his toy buses and watch as Carrie changes the nappies and breathe a sigh of relief that this time, it’s his … Read more …
We don’t do Father’s Day in my family. I adore my dad. You would too if you met him. He is the warmest and funniest man, and the word “generous” seems too puny to describe someone whose door is permanently open to waifs and strays and, like The Godfather on the day of his daughter’s wedding, can never … Read more …
There is no doubt that our name, that formation of sounds we use to introduce ourselves to the world, is important. It’s literally who we are. It can be cumbersome to have a name that others don’t pronounce easily. Pity those called Featherstonehaugh. It’s pronounced “Fanshaw”. “I’m afraid we don’t have a booking under that name” is … Read more …