The blog what you wrote…

You know, this blog writing malarkey isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be. When I signed up at the blog writing academy I was led to believe that it would be easy. “Don’t worry,” said the Head of Blogging, “blogging is a piece of cake. All you have to do is come up with something to write about and Bob’s your uncle.”

Well, Bob is indeed my uncle, but that doesn’t help much when I run out of topics to go on about. Fortunately I have my Facebook friends, at least I have the ones that survived the cull, and they are always there to help me out. I’m not sure if they realise it but they write a lot of my blog posts for me. Some days I throw out a random phrase or thought and whatever comes back becomes the inspiration, and often the content, for that day’s post.

Now some might see this as nicking other people’s ideas, but I prefer to think of it as audience participation. A bit like that old programme ‘The Good Old Days’ where the audience were encouraged to oooh and ahhh with each utterly ubiquitous use of unduly unpredictable and always awfully alliterated acclamation Leonard Sachs moustachioed mouth uttered.

The show was recorded at the Leeds City Varieties Music Hall. The idea was to recreate the feel of an old Victorian – Edwardian music hall, something they succeeded in admirably. From 1953 – 1983 the show hosted around two thousand performers, yet despite its thirty year run there were only sixty-four programmes made.

Each week modern-day artists would dress up in period costume to recreate songs and sketches in the style of the old music hall; it was magic. Danny La Rue was a firm favourite, Roy Hudd’s cheeky chappied Max Miller a triumph, and Morcambe and Wise’s spoof of ‘Dr Jekyl and Mr Hyde’ hilarious.. Along with strongmen, trapeze artists, trick cyclists, magicians and a host of other variety acts it made for a really entertaining hour or so. Audience participation wasn’t just encouraged it was expected and eveyone turned up in period costume. Finally, at the end of each programme artistes and audience always joined together in a stirring rendition of ‘Down at the Old Bull and Bush’. Yes, come, come, drink my port wine with me, down at the old bull and bush.

You know, perhaps this blogging malarkey is easier than I thought. I set out to explain how hard it is to think up new blog posts, moved on to audience participation and ended up writing about an old TV show. Maybe the Head of Blogging down at the Blogging Institute was right after all.

Thanks, you’ve written my blog for me yet again.