My Apology

On Monday night, I participated in an improv jam in which I expressed a clear preference for Digimon over Pokémon. In addition to this, I also shouted uttered an expletive in relation to Pikachu and declared them inferior to Digimon’s Agumon.

I would like to distance myself from these remarks. They were said in character and, as such, they do not reflect my true opinions. While I enjoyed the serialized nature of the Digimon series, I have always been drawn more to the offbeat humour of Pokémon and their quirky character designs.

Far from wishing any ill will to any Pikachu, I have previously stated on the record that I would consider getting a tattoo of their likeness. Seeing a picture of them always makes me smile.

I would like to apologise to everyone I have let down. I also offer a personal apology to Pikachu. I deeply regret the hurt I have caused and am truly sorry.

Keep Your Hobbies Fun: Why I choose to enjoy the level where I am.

'I can't wait to see to see what you do next.'

They were words of encouragement, but they sent me for a spin. Next? I haven't finished having fun with this project, let alone thought of what to follow it up with. I was proud to be making One Good Thing. Now I must devise a second?

When it comes to your career, I appreciate that it is important to always think of where you are going next. A gap in the CV will be questioned. It will look like you do not have ambition or are lazy.

What are the rules when it comes to something you pursue for fun?

I consider myself successful in many areas of my life, not because I have moved up, but because I have stayed still. I have managed to keep some of my creative ventures going for over five years. Keeping any role for half a decade, regardless of whether it is the job that pays your bills or serving as treasurer of the Taunton Crochet Club, is an achievement. If you enjoy what you are doing, why change?

Again, I must stress, in a hobby. If you are a decent employee who adds value to a company, you should ideally get more responsibilities and/or money. Unless you are the treasurer of the Taunton Crochet Club – in which case. that money stays in the communal purse, damnit!

I have previously turned down the opportunity to start teaching improv. This was for a multitude of reasons, the simplest of which is that I did not want to. I like running a show and still find that a thrill, so, although I could do that alongside running classes, I said no. I was less concerned about my continual professional development and more interested in following the fun.

This brings me to the question of what I will do next.

As of 2019, I have written four series of my comedy zombie noir podcast, Dead Drunk Detective. In addition to scripting all twenty-seven episodes, I also cast and direct the show alongside my producer, Katharine*. This figurative wearing of multiple hats means I have a big influence on the project. It also means I am frequently fretting about it.

When I eventually wrap up Dead Drunk Detective, would I want to take on the challenge of creating another show? Currently, I do not know. Then again, people say that about having more children, then some tricksy hormones make them forget all about the pain sufficiently long enough that they in fact do go through it all again.
At least, I think that is what I was taught in biology. I don’t remember – I was too busy shushing my rowdier classmates.

Maybe, after all these many months apart from friends, it would be refreshing to get people together not for the sake of a project, but to just hang out. One of my first podcasts at uni was basically an excuse to invite pals and funny acquaintances to tell me their stories. Now why have that contrivance?

Speaking of The Booth, that panel show was one of my first Good Ideas and a format I really have been trying to top ever since. Eventually, like a lot of creatives who find something that hits early in their career, I took the easy route: I revived it. Twice.

My thinking was that I like doing it, I know how it works, and it is a chance to play with my friends. Most crucially - and now I hit upon a key reason Dead Drunk Detective may be a little more work than it has to be – its release does not have to tie-in with an annual holiday.

Herein lies the solution. Just as with my decision not to start teaching, I should continue to create, but on my terms. In devising a show that must appear on or by Halloween, I managed to make the fraught role of showrunner even more stressful. It was like deciding that juggling swords wasn’t hard enough, so I opted to do it while walking across a tightrope.

If – and it would still be a big ‘if’ even without a pandemic draining my will to write – I do run another series, I will give myself the space to enjoy it. Having no deadlines at all guarantees something never gets down, but casually committing to something might be the way to go. After all, I’m not being paid for any of it.

* Katharine has written a guide to creating podcasts for your business! It will no doubt be excellent. Download the book.

My Five Favourite Pieces from 2020

Ah, 2020. A year in which very little occurred - but only because ONE VERY SPECIFIC THING happened.

I went into the new decade quietly determined to write more. I had neglected this page as of late - most years the number of posts I wrote were in single digits - so vowed to not only up the quantity, but also increase the range of formats I tackled.

The result? I ended up producing thirty-nine reviews, episode guides, and dumb jokes. It was my most productive period for the blog since its inception. Although, admittedly, that is largely because I spent October looking back at every single episode of my spooky podcast, Dead Drunk Detective.

That said, I'm proud of the work I did in the last twelve months. I think a few of the things I wrote are some of the best pieces on the blog. Here is a ranked list of my top five posts from the year (which, weirdly, all were written at the end of their respective months).

5. 'How Tabletop Role-Playing Games got me Through 2020' (December 28th)

My attempt to explain to the unconverted why games like DnD are fun. It also gives me an excuse to promote 'Monster of the Week', an RPG that I love.

4. 'Good for Them. That's not for Me' (March 24th)

Some sincere advice on dealing with jealousy. In terms of career envy, that is. I have nothing to offer in terms of dealing with relationship drama.

3. 'My Secret to Staying Young' (January 24th)

A quick 'one joke and I'm out' piece. My apologies to anyone who clicked the link in hopes of finding out how I keep it tight.

2. 'Five Thing to Know about Improv' (February 28th)

As of 2020, I have been performing improv comedy for five years. That makes me more than qualified to offer some unsolicited advice.

1. 'Passed A Way' (July 29th)

An extremely dumb piece full of nonsensical instructions for my funeral. I started the first draft of this on a laptop which later crashed. Choosing to ignore this omen, I finished writing it up once I was back online. It is a deliciously silly list and I love it very much.

How Tabletop Role-Playing Games got me Through 2020

I miss making up stories onstage. Sure, like the rest of the global improv community in 2020, I now do shows via video chat, but the gigs I am part of usually feature montages of disparate scenes. We often explore the same universe, but we are rarely telling one tale.

While it may be a while before I’m doing narrative improv in person again, I have found a medium that sates my need to devise adventures with friends: tabletop role-playing games.

Much like the improvised quests I devise with The Parentheticals, games like Dungeons & Dragons are focused on collectively creating a story that follow the same characters throughout. Everyone involved becomes emotionally invested in the party’s journey. You wince at their pain and punch the air when they are victorious. It is exhilarating.

I cannot wait to get back onstage, but until it is safe to do so, I am very content with participating in what are essentially private performances. Each campaign is a story shared with only five to eight people. Some groups livestream their game or turn sessions into podcasts, but part of the appeal for me is that no one else can fully appreciate the world in our heads.

To explain what happened during these sessions is akin to telling someone your dream. The significance of events is lost of them. You cannot adequately convey how exciting it is to defeat a fictitious foe. In-jokes are never going to be as funny when explained to someone.

Given the improv background of my fellow players, there is a giddy silly energy to proceedings whenever we play. There are lots of comedy bits and tangents. Introducing an audience however could make us self-conscious. The Observer Effect would kick in.

These sessions have helped me become far more comfortable telling a joke for one person than trying to please an entire room. I still miss the thrill of whipping up a crowd, instinctively feeling when to ride a laugh, but I think I may emerge from this time at home as a less needy performer. I don’t want to be a SUPERSTAR. I am satisfied just making my pals laugh.

That said, I do enjoy how RPGs allow me to do some acting without the rigmarole of pursuing it as a career. The roles I give myself are never ones I would be up for in auditions. No one would look at my boyish chubby cheeks and floppy fringe, then cast me as a po-faced bureaucrat nearing retirement (which is exactly the part I created for a Monster of the Week campaign). You can play characters outside of your age, gender identity, and, if you want, species. As these games take place inside your mind, the only limit is your imagination.

Playing the same person each week makes me feel like I am part of a long-running serialized drama. I have the luxury of being able to settle into a role. Just as in an improv scene, I can gradually feel out which choices instinctively seem wrong. I can adapt and drop quirks until I have a rounded character whose choices are completely different to mine. Brendan thinks running into danger would be a terrible idea. My grumpy monster hunter however…

Admittedly, at times, the line between myself and my creations can be blurred. For instance, in one campaign, I am playing a boy saddened that circumstances beyond his control mean it is not safe for him to go home and see his family. Mostly though, it is a joy to turn up each week and know whatever happens will be fun.

After all, the most obvious benefit of playing these games in these times is escapism. For a few hours, we have a chance to temporarily forget the ongoing numerous crises and instead focus on something fantastical. Don’t think about rent – we have an orc to slay.

I will now stress, for the sake of my parents, that I do also think about how to pay rent.

Right now, in the real world, we are not encouraged to travel. In our imagined adventures however, we can go all over the map, traverse many lands. We ride horses, sail boats, and trek across fields. We hunt vampires and haggle for potions. We can actually hang out in a pub! And all from the comfort of our respective homes.

Holding these sessions virtually is so convenient. Playing together in the Before Times required coordinating half a dozen schedules to find the one Saturday afternoon a month in which we can all travel to the same house. Now we play weekly.

It is a delight to “meet up” so often. Before the lockdown in March, I was already part of one campaign. I now play in three. In this year alone, I have played seventy sessions of TTRPGs. To put that into perspective, in 2019, I played a total of twelve.

The games are such a great way to bond. They are the happy medium between a free-flowing jokey chat of a check-in with mates and the structured fun of a quiz (although both of these have been part of my lockdown too). I finish each week with two consecutive nights of games and always leave them wanting more.

When we can go to each other's houses again, all the campaigns I am in will continue and most, if not all, will stay online due to people living in different cities. Tabletop role-playing games are a major part of my schedule now and I like it that way. They form part of a balanced diet of hobbies alongside improv and making podcasts.

I love having these games in my diary. They have kept me sane. They made sure I’m still exercising my storytelling muscles. They gave me something to look forward to. In other words, they are exactly what I needed to help me cope with my time at home.

The Games that Got me Through 2020

Dungeons and Dragons (various authors. Currently published by Wizards of the Coast)

I am playing two campaigns. One is taken from a book (Curse of Strahd. I’m a big fan of this as I love all things spooky). The other is an incredibly inventive homebrew adventure devised by my sister.

Monster of the Week (original guidebook is by Michael Sands)

Your group is a team of monster hunters trying to figure out which supernatural threat is causing chaos this week. Basically, it’s your chance to roleplay as Buffy and the Scoobies/Mulder and Scully/Sam and Dean.

Goat Crashers (one-shot by Grant Howitt)

A one-page game in which you are all goats trying to fit in at a party.

Dead Drunk Detective: Oh Christmystery

 

This post is about the series four Christmas special. You can listen to it here.

Christmas spent at your parents' house. Christmas with your friends. For the third instalment in this seasonal trilogy, I thought the next logical plot was the "joys" of hosting Christmas at your place.

This is the first time Johnny's parents - and the show - have visited Johnny's apartment. He previously said he sleeps there so rarely that he expects his landlord wouldn't recognise him.

Betty points out that Johnny rarely uses his gun. I have previously explained this is for practical reasons.

Santa working for the Grim Reaper has been canon in the Dead Drunk Detective universe since series one.

Johnny states he does not eat meat in case it gives him a taste for human flesh. I rewrote dialogue in this scene to make sure it did not imply he eats no food at all. Instead, he just rules out full meals.

As is tradition, the episode ends with a rendition of the minor key version of 'Jingle Bells' and the cast laughing with relief immediately afterwards.

Dead Drunk Detective: Drown and Out

 

This post is about the series four finale of Dead Drunk Detective. You can listen to it here.

Four series in, I knew my format and wanted to see what else the show can do. Betty leads an mystery? Sure. A cosy Christmas special which doubles as a family reunion? Done. A bottle episode which essentially plays out in real time? Well, let's see...

I contemplated writing scenes that act as a counterpart to this plot. These would have been set in the office and feature Betty and Hairy realising that Johnny may be in trouble. I also considered concluding the episode with the police arriving at the brewery, but thought this was too similar to the final showdown in series three. As the final version ended up as a two-hander, this is the only episode in which Betty does not appear.

Despite featuring multiple members of the Van Helsing family, this is the first series in which Dracula (and Charles, the man who plays him) does not appear. He is namechecked here and in the wedding episode, but he could not be in the latter as he would recognise Van Helsing.

Dead Drunk Detective: Dead Letter Day

 

This post is about 'Dead Letter Day' and series four of Dead Drunk Detective. You can listen to the episode here.

This the twenty-fifth episode. While not traditionally hailed as a milestone, I thought to celebrate it, much as I had with the previous Christmas special, by featuring a lot of our series regulars. There's also a few references to past adventures including a nod to episode one and Jo's blackmailing past.

In a reverse of the pilot's premise, Hairy is initially thought to be the intended victim, but the culprit actually wanted to target someone else.

I cannot believe it took so long for me to use the phrase 'not today Satan'.

Satan's remark that some people in Hell actually enjoy being poked with pitchforks is one of the dirtiest jokes I have written since series one.

As with series three, I aimed to make this run a coherent whole. The villain's motive stems from Johnny's actions in 'Here comes the Died'. The final scene takes place in the brewery from episode one, a mystery where the eventual culprit was a character we had not previously "met".

This is also the case with Anne. She was listed in Johnny's rundown of fellow recovering alcoholics in 'Who's the Pawpetrator' and referenced again at the start of this episode. but does not actually appear until the cliffhanger.