The sound of distant living
Unemployable I’m back from a month away, in body at least. Dealing with jet-lag has been a doddle compared to remembering what work is. So I’ve been easing...
When the wrong hands are the right hands
Nothing to see here, and everything to see here You can tell how old this ad is by the cut-out response coupon in the corner. You can also tell how old this...
Defiantly and joyfully themselves
The month of October is a sandwich, with a slice of travel at each end: a thin slice of Istanbul just gone and a thick slice of Japan and Australia to come....
Low-stakes and high-stakes goofing
Low-stakes goofing Adam Buxton came to the Edinburgh Book Festival to promote his book. He was interviewed by comedian Zoë Coombs Marr. During the...
Causation and escalation
Advertising people describe themselves as storytellers. They tout themselves as culture makers. They puff out their chests and proclaim themselves as the...
Shiny rectangles
Out of the mouths of buyers More proof, if it were needed, that there’s no such thing as an entirely rational decision. Not even when someone is a buyer of...
Only press REC when it matters
I watched The Boy and The Suit of Lights at Edinburgh’s recently reopened Filmhouse. Screen 1 was pleasingly full for a documentary screening given that it...
What did you see?
Talking The best part of my job is talking to people, which is an odd thing for me to say. I’m quite shy and I’m an introvert. Small talk has never come...
Afterwit
We’ve all had our afterwit moments. We’ve all experienced wisdom after the event. That thing you could’ve said to win the day or score some points. The witty...
The hole that is in their soul
A post about good questions. Tell me what you bought I had an interview last week and I think it went well. It was also slightly strange. I’m usually the one...
Thank you for your hard work
A post about belonging. The smell of resignation A long, long time ago I was on the BBH team that pitched for the Hoover advertising account. BBH had a...
Trying it on
Taking one for the team is usually a selfless act of sacrifice. However, as things revved up on a recent project, I heard a story where taking one for the...
After which everything was different
Some books that made me better. Consider This by Chuck Palahniuk I think I’ve read everything Chuck Palahniuk has ever written; every book at least. He’s one...
Phoning it in
Neither showing nor telling I don’t like it when I have to read a character’s text messages in a TV show. It’s lazy filmmaking. It’s lousy storytelling. It’s...
It helps if you know what you're doing
So my only goal as an actor was to be someone people wanted to work with and to have one job lead to another. And I thought that was about as fine an...
Doing work that never sees the light of day
Brand strategy in public and in private Some bits of brand strategy work are allowed out in public. Vision and mission statements I’ve written appear on...
The night wanderings of an amorous cat
A wordy ramble A ramble about words. In the writing and in the editing I’ve tried to hold it back from becoming (too much of) a wordy rant. Words matter in...
A masterclass in owning your mistakes
A post that shows how choosing just one word over another doesn’t just speak volumes, it changes everything. Wit and principles are a potent brew Meet...
The irresistible truth of Rogue Heroes
An appetiser not a spoiler This post includes some dialogue from Series 2: Episode 2 of SAS Rogue Heroes. The dialogue reveals the irresistible truth of the...
The irresistible truth of Jesse Armstrong
Jesse Armstrong’s writing credits include Peep Show, The Thick Of It, Black Mirror, Veep, and Succession. This post is about his irresistible truth as a...