My Moment In The Spotlight

I had a fantastic weekend. I found a lovely cheap dress, enjoyed a barbecue with friends OUTSIDE without the need for fur-lined boots or mittens, attended a wonderful event for blogger's families in London and ended my Sunday being greeted like a friend by one of my favourite comedians.
Regular readers and those who know me in the "real" world will know I'm a big fan of Dominic Holland. Last year after seeing him perform twice at a local Comedy Festival I ended up being featured bantering with the man himself on his E-DVD "Alive in Tring" as "that mad mum of 7" (I swear that's what they will carve on my gravestone)

Living it Large with some of the children in London (pic by DS#3)

 Anyway, this weekend I had tickets for a roving comedy night. It's a great idea - 12  keen amateurs attend a stand-up comedy training course then tour four pubs in our local town in four sets featuring three amateurs and one professional. We chose a pub, booked tickets there and watched all 16 acts sink or float in front of us.

Dominic was the very last act. I spotted him across the very crowded pub. I thought he might recognise me, might remember me as "that woman with 7 kids." I did not expect him to greet me by my Christian name, and give me a hug.
He asked after the kids, I asked after his and we had a chat about his current projects - his new book "A Man's Life", the production of his DVD "Alive in Tring." which is soon to be released as a shiny hold-in-your-hand ( or rather stick in the dvd player) version.
He then asked if I'd be interested in him writing a guest post for this blog - Errrm. Let me think now. Hell Yeah!
The show started and it came to Dom's bit. The compere told us they had saved the best  til last and IMHO he was right. Dom always makes me laugh - and it seems I am not alone. As he got into his stride he ignored the official waving a timer at him and went on and on. He brought the house down as he mingled ad-libs with tried and tested favourites. And then, bless him, he introduced me to the audience. I was so chuffed I could have kissed him (again) All he could have done to make it better for me would have been a mention of this website by name. (if you are reading this Dom, next time eh?)
At the end of the night we had another quick chat and he promised to email me copy for the blog. And I went home happy as Larry.

He's a humble bloke Dominic. He is extraordinarily proud of his family and their varied talents. He even wrote an ebook called Eclipsed about how his oldest son's career has eclipsed his.
But he's survived decades in the fast-changing world of comedy where today's cutting edge "alternative" comedy can end up as tomorrow's cringe-fest. And he is not too self-important to stop and speak to a small town, small time blogger like me. And to me that makes him a star.

image taken from http://dominicholland.co.uk

Disclaimer: I was not paid to write this post or promote the products mentioned. All the views in it are my own.