Back In The Saddle

Soooo fresh from my CELTA, I literally dashed off to Watford Junction on Friday night for my first gig in a month.

Things have changed since I was last there, both the club and the dressing room have been done up, as you can see.



I must say the TVs on stage with the moving Highlight logo are rather distracting for the audience trying to watch the comics, but other than that it looks fabulous!

I was nervous and excited about going onstage, but within 30 seconds of being up there it was like I'd never been away. I had a ball.

Another change is that on Fridays we had two comedians and a compere, instead of three. This would've been a good thing had we started on time. As a slave to London Midland railways that makes all the difference between getting home safely and being a crime statistic!

Anyway, it was great to be back and brilliant to see both Tom Wrigglesworth and Chris McCausland make everyone laugh.

Saturday night I was right back there and we had the full complement of comedians. We also started on time - hurrah! I got to see my old mate Harvey Oliver, as well as Johnny Katz and Gordon Southern who I've not worked with for a very, very long time. Fabulous!

There's a sense of 'counting down' for me now, I've got about 20 gigs left before I wander off into the Indian wilderness, and as a result I'm enjoying every single one.

School's Out!

Soooo the more eagle-eyed amongst you will have noticed that I didn't blog much (at all!) during the course. One simply reason, no blimmin' time! In future, when somebody tells me something is intensive I will totally believe them, not just half-believe them!

Looking back on it all now, it's a bit of a blur. Week one was comparatively simple, though at the time it felt pretty darn tough going. As I got to know my fellow-classmates I realised that we really were a mixed bunch! I was the oldest of course; just call me Ms Mid-Life Crisis!

The majority had university degrees and weren't long away from those universities. I calculated it's been 32 years since I was last in any form of education! This became obvious when I had to write the assignments. There's a formula to these things and I don't know what it is! The only creative writing I've done in the last couple of decades has been the odd knob gag and a few telly treatments that never got further than the commissioning editors' desks!

Fortunately we were allowed to resubmit, and as in each of the four I certainly had the right idea, with a bit of tweaking I passed them all. Yay me!

It's a very practical course and on Day 2 we were thrown in the deep end teaching-wise. From that point onwards we taught around three times a week. As nerve-wracking and stressful as that was, it's so the right way to do it! Earlier in the year I'd had a go at an online TEFL course, which I had to drop out of because of my Dad, but I see now that even if I had passed that, I would never have been fit to teach in the real world. After the 6 hours of practical experience I got with the IH CELTA, I feel able to actually apply for teaching posts knowing that I can do the job.

Week three was the most intense seven days of my life! Ever! Even week two's tube strike couldn't hold a candle to the sheer volume of work involved in writing two huge assignments, teaching four out of five days, the hours and hours of lesson planning needed for that, plus the four hours spent observing professional teachers, and the 10 hours of lessons we had! Even now, I couldn't tell you how I got through it!

I did though, and week four was comparatively easy. I only had one, one-hour lesson to teach, I'd passed Assignment 3 straight out so there was no re-write to do on that one, and by then I was becoming used to working at this level. When I finished my hour lesson and got my grade I knew the result of my labours, even though the written confirmation has yet to arrive in the post.

I've learned quite a lot about myself this last month, I've learned that I can be a team player (as long as I am on the winning team - Go Team Tanc!). I've learned something really special too. I first thought about obtaining an ELT qualification purely as a means to make a few bob on my travels, but I've come out of this experience with a new revelation - I genuinely love teaching! I love the sense of satisfaction you get when someone learns something new because you've explained it properly. There's a few ex-teachers amongst my comedy chums, but I'm not aware of any other comics who've gone the opposite way. Maybe I'll be the first.

I've learned that no matter how old you are, you can always learn something new, and I don't just mean the teaching skills. I've learned all kinds of things about people from the people on my course. I gained a new BFF who is almost 30 years younger than me, and I've met and been lucky to spend time with a really terrific and interesting bunch of human beings who are all now going out into the world and will be teaching so much more than past participles to anyone lucky enough to study with them.

I learned that my Mum was right about me too, that if I apply myself to something I can achieve. This is the first time in my life I have ever given 100% to something. School, journalism, stand-up, relationships, I've always only ever done 'just enough' to get by. But this last four weeks I did everything I possibly could to get the right result. I stuck my neck out and actually it was more about the doing it, than the end result. I know there are a few people out there who never thought I'd last the course let alone get a good result, but I dug in and gave my all.

And guess what, dear reader? I passed!