#175 Bright pink crispy crisp
Good boy. Cowboy. Husband. Monkey.
16 JULY 2025
Hey folks!
Isn’t it nice when the weather cools down?
This week, I’ve been particularly enjoying walking outside without turning into a bright pink crispy crisp.
In other news, we got loads of applications to do our new Improv Actor Training course - and we’ve spent a good chunk of the week going through them all. These things are always a little fraught because you basically want to give everyone a place and wonderfully/ regrettably there’s just too many talented improvisers for that to happen this time.
But the flip side to that flip side (the main point, if you will) is that I CANNOT WAIT to get started on this project. The calibre of improviser we are about to work with is unbelievable.
I predict big things ahead.
Rule of three
[Dog] Krypto
Really enjoyed the film Krypto: The Good Boy Superdog this week (although apparently it has a different title in some territories). I also just found out that David Corenswet, who plays Krypto’s owner in the movie, has a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel of his own. Mostly, I just loved the sunshine blast of hope this film provides and was particularly happy to see interest in dog adoption surging by 500% since the film’s release.
[Book] Mistborn: The Alloy of Law
I’ve talked about the original Mistborn Trilogy before. This is the start of a second sequence of books, set in the same world but many years into the future. On the surface, what this means is that technology has progressed alongside magic and the characters of the first books are now myths and legends. But what it really means is COWBOY WIZARDS.
[Wife] Laura Mead
It’s my wedding anniversary today. Laura and I have been married for 14 years and together for 21. That’s nearly half our lives now. And every day I’m still intrigued and delighted by everything that goes on in her big, wonderful, chaotic, peerless brain and feel such security and joy on account of her seemingly endless generosity and love. She is a good one and I love her a lot.
NB: I’m not recommending ALSO marrying Laura. I’m recommending finding amazing people to share your life with - be that romantically, artistically or platonically.
Spotlight
Pretend Night at Theatre Deli is coming up on Wednesday 30th July 2025. Here’s what we’re cooking up for you.
Mystery Teacher For the 6pm class, we’re keeping the identity of our teacher a mystery for now but guarantee it’s someone world class. If you sign up for this before we reveal who it is, you get £5 off the price. So, £20 gets you a 90 min class AND the show that follows it.
Pretend Night But what is the show that follows? This month we’ve got Liam & Lloydie James Lloyd as The Clones and Jon Nguyen & I as Understudies. Then an absolutely PACKED ensemble featuring Monica Gaga, Katy Schutte, Shanaka Dias, Ed Fargher and Emily Murphy. Show starts at 8pm and costs a tenner.
Longform thoughts
The brain is a prediction engine ... But the best way to predict things accurately is to stay in bed all day, so evolution also wants to reward the ability to benefit from new things. So pleasant surprises are even more rewarding than predictable stability.
This week, a guest blog from the spectacular Peter Wilson about meeting expectations in a surprising way, Feed the monkey the juice.
Radio contact
BIG STRETCH!