>>>>>Killing Time<<<<<

Last night was the most fun I've had reviewing for quite some time. Godber's Going Dutch was very funny and I laughed out loud on several occassions - oddly, sometimes unaccompanied by the rest of the audience. I pondered cultivating a rather eccentric laugh for the evening to draw attention to myself but, as it happened, my laughter was all very spontaneous and natural. I was fuelled by several pints of Stella Artois. I thought I'd treat the night as my freelance Christmas party given that I'd opted out of the daytime job shindig. Luckily for me Hull Truck had put on a nice buffet which I tucked into heartily at the end of the night. I was, I think, fairly coherent but was rather sarcastic to an actor's agent, who wanted to know what I thought of her talent's performance. Can't these people ever talk about anything else?? Was most impressed by the herbal joints used in the production, which had a very realistic air about them. An audience member, no doubt a pal of Roy Castle, lodged an official complaint about the on-stage smoking. Where will all this namby-pamby let's ban everything nonsense end? Anyway, if you get the chance, go see the play. It was a packed house but I've been noticing that the audience at Truck appears to be getting older - something to worry about maybe, unless they want to go for that blue rinse pound. Slightly hungover I drove the lads to Scarborough for a panto this afternoon. The town was full of foolhardy surfers freezing their testicles on the choppy waters. The producer of the panto had phoned me to thank me for making the effort the other day - a very nice touch in this sea of bullshit - and was there to meet and greet me. "We're not kidding ourselves," he said. "We don't have the money. We do what we can." Not the words to put you in the right mood for a 2 hour stint in a flip-up chair. Scott and Sam have joined the Berwick Kaler fan club so were rather unimpressed by it all, but I thought it was good, for a panto. Just Monday night to get out of the way and that's that for the year. Am still milling over my future as a critic at the mo. I need to free up some time so I can get creative in 2005, lest my amazing talent disappear into the ether.

Drinking: Asia's finest, Tiger beer. Reading: Murakami - After The Quake.