(ASMR) (no music) (10 hours) #524 Windy Body Scan - Deep Sleep Whisper Hypnosis (14th February 2025)

Hello and welcome to jasonnewland.com. My name is Jason Newland and this is Let Me Bore You To Sleep. Please only listen when you can safely close your eyes. I'm just checking out my inbox.

Here's a fact. You know, well you might not know but pretty much every tablet or phone I think generally needs to be updated with their software. I use Apple, my iPad and my phone but I've got an Android as well, an Android tablet and that needs to be updated sometimes.

Excuse me, I'm coughing here. Hmm and it's not all the time but they need to be updated sometimes. Well I just updated the software on the Apple iPad.

It's completely messed it up. Some of the apps are just not working now or they're not working the way they were working. It's just annoying.

You know I'm getting used to doing things. The thing is I have only started using the iPad the last two or three months. I had an iPad back in 2011 and I never used it.

I just didn't like it, couldn't see the point. I tried to, I got it as a replacement for the internet really because the iPad was a contract, 24 month contract with I think unlimited internet, well you know unlimited data. But the the reception I got because I lived in a basement was pretty pretty rubbish.

Plus I couldn't really get my head around how to use the thing, you know, just it's not the same as a laptop. So in the end I got internet back and I bought another laptop and didn't use the iPad really. Occasionally I played with it but in the end it just got stuck on a shelf somewhere and I didn't bother with it because I didn't like it.

I genuinely didn't like it. But now with this new one that I've got that I've had for, blimey, I've probably had it about six months now. I was sitting over there when I got it, if that makes any sense.

I was sitting that side of the room and I didn't touch it probably for the first month, didn't like it. You know, I had a laptop, I knew the laptop was on its way out. It kept, kept freezing, it kept stopping, it kept, you know, I knew that it didn't have long left and then eventually, you know, did just, it stopped forever and I had to go to the laptop graveyard.

So my choices was get another laptop or use or learn to use the iPad. Now financially I couldn't get another laptop, especially as I was paying £30 a month for four years or five years or whatever to pay for this iPad. So I thought I better learn how to use it, better learn how to do everything that I do on an iPad, on a laptop, but on an iPad.

And it was a big learning curve, it was actually, it was, wasn't a huge amount of fun to start with. It took a lot of playing around with different apps to find one that was suitable to record, one that was suitable to edit, especially long recordings like I've got. I need to find a way to store all my stuff and also, you know, make sure I don't lose it.

And yeah, so it was a mixture of different things, processes that I used to do on different things. I used to record on the tablet and I used to edit on the laptop. So I've gone to doing everything on the laptop.

On the laptop, on the iPad, I mean. That's what I meant. The iPad.

And so there you go. I ended up going to get a pencil and a keyboard as well for the iPad Pro. So yeah, it's costing me £1,700 just for the iPad Pro over the next however many years to pay for it.

We, I don't know what level of interest is on that, but I guess quite a lot over the years. And then I think the, the pen was nearly £200 and the keyboard was, I think, about £270. But I got those from a catalogue, so I'm paying that off.

So yeah, it's quite an expensive little adventure. But I do like it. I do like the iPad now.

Now with a keyboard, it's sort of, you know, the mixture of using the pen on the screen and using the keyboard and there's certain things I can't do that I used to be able to do on a laptop. But yeah, the screen's big enough for what I need to do as well, because on the other other iPad, the other other, not the other iPad, but the other other iPad, screen was a little bit small. So this, this sort of does its job.

And the quality of the sound is in a, from a recording perspective, it wasn't very good when I was using the lapel microphone. But now that I'm using a proper microphone, it's Rode, I'm using the Focusrite mixing desk thing. And then the, I don't know what it's called, some kind of connector to connect that to the iPad.

So there's a lot of, a lot of wires here, connecting different things. So you've got the microphone connected into the Focusrite. And then the Focusrite connecting into this hub, which then connects into the iPad socket, like the little lightning thing, which for some reason, I don't know why, for some reason is completely different from the one on the iPhone.

Didn't used to be like that, iPhone, iPad, same connector, you could charge both of them with the same thing, use the same stuff. You know, no, that was a weird noise, wasn't it? No more, no more. Weird, my voice makes weird noises, even when I don't want it to.

I don't understand. Yeah, I did an update of the software, and I can't get my email out, up on there, the app for the email. I can do on my phone, but not on the iPad.

And the, the way the files are now organized, different to how they were. When I go to rename a file, it doesn't come up like a big long bit so I can, you know, type in stuff. It's a tiny little box.

So I can't see the whole title in one go. My description of this is not perhaps useful, but I know what I'm talking about. I understand.

And it's annoying. It's annoying. So, if I happen to get used to a new iPad, it's like, come on, man.

The updated, I figured the updated iOS thing would be, you know, updating the security, making it better. You know, but I don't know, really don't know what what's going on, but I can work around it. It's okay.

What other things was I going to say? I went to, where did I go to? I didn't go nowhere. I didn't go anywhere today. But tomorrow, tomorrow, I've got my bicycle coming.

My bicycle. Ba ba ba ba ba ba bicycle. Ba ba ba ba ba bicycle.

It's coming in the post. I don't know how they're going to get it through the letterbox. So, my exercise bike will be here.

The next time I make one of these recordings. I will have ridden it. I will probably have a very sore bum.

I'm hoping. I'm hoping it's a very comfortable seat. Because no, they wouldn't put like a nah, they wouldn't put an uncomfortable seat on it, would they? Surely.

My bum's too big. I'd lose a normal saddle. It has to be very wide and cushiony.

I'm looking forward to not losing a saddle. I'm talking about having a comfortable, comfortable bicycle. And I don't know how, I mean, I'm guessing it's going to have some kind of speedometer, a milometer.

You had to tell me how many miles or kilometers I've accomplished. So I'm going to start keeping a record of it daily and seeing how many I can do. Because I'm not going to be going out much.

Until this virus thing's gone. I'm pretty much staying in as much as possible. So I'd like to get myself, I'd like to get fit.

I mean, what a brilliant thing. If I can get, I know I can do weights and I can do press ups and stuff. But from a cardiovascular, you know, to improve my heart, my lungs and all that stuff.

If I can do that, and still kind of live a solitary life for the next year or so. Oh, got itchy leg. Damn fleas.

Then that's pretty good, isn't it? Don't you think? It's like, yeah, yeah. I've got an itchy leg. I don't know what that is.

Oh no. Better not be fleas. I might just need to have a bath.

It's the dry skin eating each other. Okay, so here's something. I haven't had any messages.

What was I going to do? I was going to, oh yeah. I've for quite some time, I've been a little bit, not hugely, if I'm honest, but mildly concerned about my hearing ability. And I don't spend much time with humans.

But the one I do spend the most time with I don't always hear what he says. He makes a joke of it, saying, oh sure, I'm mumbling, sort of, that he is because he's mumbling. But it's not.

He speaks very clearly. So, well, it might be occasionally, but no more than me. And I'm merely my mum.

So, you know, for me, it's a rarity. But I don't know. It's, I don't hear things sometimes.

Especially if there's background noise or background sound, such as traffic. And I'm very much, I've always, oh my leg is itchy. Oh, that's not better at all.

I had, so with my ears, okay. I was partially deaf when I was a kid. So, the doctors didn't know if it was, or the ear specialists, whatever you call them.

I'm not sure what they, areola, not areola, not oral, what is it? Ears. Auditory, audiologists, audiologists or something. Anyway, they weren't sure.

And I was seven at the time. I was eight when I had an operation on my ears. Had my adenoids removed.

And they said that they weren't sure if it was something I'd been born with or it'd been caused by an injury, like a head injury or ear, you know, ear injury. And at an earlier age, like something quite, I don't know what, but they said it's, that could be a cause of hearing, hearing, what's that, hearing damage, but less hearing. Yeah.

So, I used to go to, it all started with ear aches, and I used to have ear aches at school. And I was, yeah, I was seven. And it was the second school I went to in that town after I moved there to, from the children's home, I moved there in the summer 1977.

And I was seven in the August. I think we'd already moved there probably, maybe June or July. I went to a school, which is just up the road.

I think for maybe a term for September to Christmas or something like that. And then, the, we went to a different school, because we moved into a council house, which was the other side of the town, I would say a long way, but it is if you've got a bad knee or an ingrown toenail. It's a long walk, but other than that, it's not really a big distance, unless you've your whole life has been driving.

And it's different. Because I know some people who drive everywhere, just walking to the shops is a chore, because they're not used to it. But if you've been a pedestrian your whole life, like me, walking half an hour, 50 minutes, even an hour, it's not the end of the world.

Well, it is now, but it wasn't. I used to do all the time. Not so much now.

No, that's the thing. Even the weather. So if you drive, you can, if you want to go to the garage and buy a newspaper, for example, if you're a pedestrian, you've got to put on all your winter clothes, if it's a winter.

There's a clue, isn't it? I guess. You've got to wrap up, really, really wrap up. Six pairs of underpants, 14 t-shirts, two jumpers, two jackets.

We don't have to carry a Mars bar in your pocket. That's not really relevant. But just in case you get lost and you need sustenance.

And I remember just the amount of times I walk into the garage and a car would pull up, or a shop even, the car would pull up and someone would walk out in a t-shirt and take, you know, maybe four foot and they're in the shop, get what they want, and then walk back into the car, a nice warm car, and then drive back and park up and walk maybe another five or six steps to get into their house. You don't feel the cold when you're only out there for like a few seconds. I've never been so angry.

I've never been jealous, probably more than anger. I wish I could do that. The only thing with me is, apart from not being able to drive, not being able to afford to drive, because it's an expensive thing to do, you know, it's not, you know, you've got to buy the car.

And even if it's a crap, if it's a crappy old car, it's going to cost you money in maintenance, constantly having to take it to the garage. You can get it, or should we call it the shop? Do they call it a shop in America? Take it to the shop. What? The chop shop.

We have those there, the chop shop. So they take the car apart, make another one out of lots of different parts. The shop.

Go and take it to the shop. What, are you going to buy some groceries while you're there? Which shop? The bakery? I'm almost all silly. It's the shop.

Take them to the shop. Why are you there? Why don't you, uh, why don't you go to the pizza place and buy some pie? It's not pie, it's pizza. You want a pizza pie? Want a pizza pie? Yeah, I'll have a chicken, chicken and mushroom pie, please.

No, the pizza place don't do that stuff. You're going to have cheese and garlic, and onion, and cheese, and chicken, and onion, yeah, you can have chicken, chicken, chicken, chicken, and mushroom pizza on bread. Bread.

When I've done that, I'm going to go home, climb on the roof. The roof? What's a roof? Yeah, that's what I'm going to do. Yeah.

Oh, man, I don't want to go off subject because this is very important to me. But I've discovered some comedians from the past. American ones who actually possibly, well, from the sounds of it, were very famous in America.

I mean, I don't know kind of what level of fame because it's, I think probably 80s, 70s or 80s period. But funny, very, very funny. And what I'm thinking of doing on my website is start to just add videos of comedians that I've found that just really, I really like.

Just really funny. But all comedians are funny. I mean, it's a matter of taste, isn't it? I guess, but these are ones that's like, wow, I can't believe I've just discovered this person.

Let me see if... so I was on YouTube. I've now got itchy other things. Okay.

Oh, come on. No, it's not coming up. Oh, the thing is, what it was is I've not signed into my YouTube on the television.

And it means it doesn't store what I've looked at. Oh, never mind. I'll figure what I'm going to do is start to keep a track of this stuff.

Keep a track of these comedians that I discover. And tell you about them because it's really funny. Okay, this this man, I see George, but he did.

He did. He didn't do impressions, but he did characters. And he's now in his now in his 60s, I think.

Maybe 70s even, but he's still around. And I think he has some HBO specials or something. He, he supported Rodney Dangerfield for like 12 years.

So it was like Rodney Dangerfield's opening act for absolutely ages. And is it Robert, Robert something? Anyway, he did these characters. One was a boxing coach.

Another one was a whole football team. Another one was like a geek. I forget the name of the person.

Okay, these are made up characters. And he did this apparently very famous sketch. I've never seen it before of a farmer looking out of a window.

And it involves a duck that he's trying to catch. He's trying to get rid of this duck. And he's really good.

I think he's kind of one of those things. I saw him then I thought I gotta see what else he does. And so I saw other sketches of characters that he does on stage.

So he does these sketches, but it's him just him on his own. Or maybe some weeks or, you know, and he does it on stage in front of an audience. So it's not like a sketch show, as it were.

Although he might have had a sketch show, I don't know. But he was in he was in a few films as well. But really funny.

And anyway, I ended up watching a few different things. And I ended up watching him do exactly the same sketch twice. The one with the the chicken, is it a chicken or pigeon? No, it's a chicken.

Flying around not flying chickens don't fly. Do they duck it was a duck. And it was in a both in front of an audience, two different audiences, two different times.

Wouldn't be two different audiences at the same time, would it? And they, the way he changed it a bit. So added a few bits and just hugely talented, really talented. And the kind of comedian that would have been successful at any time.

Any era, he would have been he'd have made audiences laugh. Always. And so wouldn't matter if he was in the 60s, 50s, 40s, 30s.

Now, you know, or 20 years in the future. He's funny. That makes sense.

Because it's not political. It's not. You know, it doesn't, it's not relying upon social stuff that's going on.

It's just funny. And he's, I mean, I guess kind of in a way, like they said that he was similar to Fred skeleton, or skeleton. Fred skeleton.

Is it Fred skeleton? And so I don't know. I'm, you know, I would say I'm not blowing my own trumpet, which I could if I could, I wouldn't be making recordings. I'll be doing that.

But if I would say I've got a fair bit of knowledge about the comedy world, not just in this country, but in America, because I studied it. And, you know, I just love comedy. And watching that really got me got my juices flowing.

Just in a sense of how timeless comedy is, or can be. I think some comedians are not timeless. They were of their time.

So Lenny Bruce was of his time. And even sort of like Andrew Dice Clay, Sam Kinison, and Jerry Seinfeld, they're kind of a lot of comedians. Or I imagine Jerry Seinfeld, he's just, he's pretty much a comedy genius.

So I think he would have, it was about his personality, wasn't it really? He was likeable. I mean, Sam Kinison was not likeable. Andrew Dice Clay, it was the opposite to like, the opposite to being likeable.

And I guess some comedians would be, people would find annoying if they didn't like them. So I imagine a lot of people perhaps didn't like Rodney Dangerfield. But I thought it was brilliant.

I love Dangerfield. But here's something, here's something about this, you might not know this. I've probably talked about this before.

Rodney Dangerfield was a failed comedian. I don't like the word failed comedian, because clearly he wasn't. But he quit.

Because he, he was like me, in a sense of he didn't, he didn't get very far. And he was doing all the cafes and the coffee houses in the 50s, I think, maybe 60s. But you know, probably the 50s.

And he was this big, big young man. He was big. Looked a bit like a big thug.

Very, it's probably, he might have been sweating profusely then as well. But the audience didn't seem to like him. Because maybe they were intimidated by him, maybe.

I don't know. But then when he came back, he was a middle aged man. You know, he's probably in his 40s, at least.

And when he became famous, pretty much what the 80s, 70s, 80s. He was, yeah, probably in his 50s by then. And he wasn't intimidating.

He was just, he was still a big man. But you know, and some would say funny looking. You know, his bulging eyes and then all of like the quirks, which made him who he was, made his comedy so good, because then he just made fun of himself.

And then he became, you know, really, really, really famous, like really popular on the comedy circuit. When he came back in probably the 70s, he took quite a bit of time off. And then he came back and he became successful.

I think probably like late 70s. I'm going to do a fact check on this. I am.

Because I'm telling you this out of my memory, from stuff I read about Rodney in the early 90s. It's true, it's been a long time. Today's been quite a good day, just if you're interested.

Tuesday 20th of October. So far, there's still probably another hour or so to go. So this, but it's, I've had 6,837 downloads.

6,837. That's a good day. Yay.

So let's have a look. Rodney Dangerfield. Come on, Rodney Dangerfield.

Let me see. So he, he was 82 in 2004, when he passed away. So that means that yeah, he was born in 1921.

30, 40, 50. Wow. So late 40s, 50s, he was in his 20s and 30s.

So he was pretty old for today's standard, you know, to, to become famous as a stand-up comedian. Not many people do it in at a later age. And we'll just have a look.

So let's have a look. Yeah. Okay.

March 1967, on The Ed Falloway Show, they needed a last-minute replacement for another act. And Dangerfield became the surprise hit of the show and began headlining Las Vegas. And so it's actually, it's earlier than I thought, but I was trying to figure out his age.

I didn't realize he was as old as he was in 2004. So 1967. So he's born in 1921.

31, 41, 51, 61. So he was 46 when he got his break, which is brilliant. I mean, you know, I just, yeah, I used to love listening to his album, his albums, comedy albums, was it No Respect was the first one he did in 1980.

So he appears on The Tonight Show more than 70 times. Wow. That's interesting.

He built his comedy club Dangerfields in 1969. And that's where loads of stand-up comedy comedians became popular at his club. No Respect, No Respect.

Yeah, it wasn't really till the early 80s that he started, he did some films, but it was the early 80s when he started becoming popular in comedy films like Caddyshack was the first one. Back, if anyone remembers Back to School. And yeah, he was in a few films.

But now I want to go up to his early life. Let me tell you, see if I've got it right. At the age of 15, he began to write stand-up comedian.

He would write for stand-up comedians while performing at a resort in Ellensville, New York. Then at the age of 19, he legally changed his name to Jack Roy. He struggled financially for nine years, at one point, performing as a singing waiter until he was fired before taking a job selling aluminium sliding.

Not aluminum, aluminium. Siding in the mid 1950s. That's what it says here.

It said not aluminum, aluminium. I was like, that's a bit cheeky. So he took a job selling into the mid 50s to support his wife and family.

He later quit that he was so little known when he gave up show business that at the time when I quit, I was the only one who knew I quit. Brilliant. In the early 60s, he started down what would be a long road to build his career, still working as a salesman by day, who turned to the stage performing in the evenings.

He fell into 20,000 pound debt or dollars debt. But he couldn't get booked, he couldn't get gigs. And okay.

So he didn't, he stopped doing it for quite a while. So I was right there. It's good to be right.

And because I'm thinking 1960s, so 21, 31, 41, 51, 60s. Yeah, he was in his 40s before he started back doing a comedy. So it basically had a big chunk of his youth, a time when most comedians are at their, not necessarily their peak, but most, most comedians kind of at their peak in well before the age of 40, you know, in their probably, it's different for everyone, but let's say 25, 30, 35.

You know, those that want to be on telly, those that want to have albums, and well, not that people really do albums that much, but, you know, concerts and going on tour, getting into movies, and you know, that that's more the American way, but to go down the route of comedy, in order to get into movies and to be famous that way. Most, my experience is most comedians in the UK, they get into comedy to maybe at the height get into television. But generally, it's about being a comedian.

But to be in movies, it's always going to be harder for people in this country, because we're such a, to get into comedy movies, I mean, there's not that many. When you think about it, one of our top comedy actors got his break in America as an American surgeon, playing it straight in house. I mean, he's, he's a comedy legend in the UK.

He's been around since the early 80s, maybe late 70s. So he's, okay, let's say early 80s. But he's, you know, he's probably in his 60s now.

But he played it straight, you know, what other comedians got gigs in America, Eddie Izzard. He's been in a few straight films. And even Lee Evans, I talked about him the other day.

Although he was in a comedy, and he did do a comedy performance. He still wasn't. It was like a, it's like a serious character, but with comedy aspect to it.

I can't think of any English comedians that have gone on to make big Hollywood films. Where they're able to be a comedian in it, you know, to be like the funny person in it. The way that Bill Murray did when he first saw it.

He did comedy films, didn't he? Where, I know he does more straight, I don't know, he's just a great actor, isn't he? He's very watchable. Or Dan Aykroyd, or you name it, all the people from Saturday Night Live, all those comedians that went on and did lots of comedy films. We used to, the carry on films, and even before that, we used to have loads of comedy films.

Ealing, comedies, I think they were called. And Benny Hill was in one I saw. Loads of people really did slapstick comedy, did jokes, all that kind of stuff.

I'm trying to think of any comedians, I mean, you say, well, that Ricky Gervais. Well, when he started in films and TV, he wasn't a comedian. He was, you know, he, he kind of did it a different way around.

He went from being an actor, writing his own TV show. Well, actually, he was, he was on a TV show called, I think it was the Friday, Friday Night Show or something like that. And if I'm right, I think Ali G was on there as well.

Ali G was on there. And Ricky Gervais was on there, and he was interviewing famous people and just being really rude to them. And then from that, he got a TV show, which was, I think, like a sketch show or something he did.

Because Jimmy Carr used to write for him, for the show. I know this because I know the people that managed Jimmy Carr at the time, my friend. And then he did The Office and became a megastar.

But never in any films he's done, he's never played I don't know the word, the fool, but he's never, he's, it's been more funny dialogue than slapstick. Mind you, there were moments in The Office wasn't there, when he was dancing and stuff. But he's just a different type of comedy.

And he's amazing. I do think he's brilliant at what he does. I wasn't really a fan of the stand up that he did.

But I'm a big fan of the writing, the way everything he's done really, to be fair, everything, every TV show that he's done, I've watched every film he's ever made. And the most recent film was Afterlife that he did. But I really liked Episodes, not Episodes, Extras.

That was one of my favourite things that he did. And I liked Office at the time. But you know, I like the fact that he, he went on and did something very different.

And then, you know, having famous people, celebrities, allow themselves to be made fun of. I think it's lovely. I like that.

I like it a lot. So he went from being, I guess, a writer, actor, performer, like maybe, I never watched the Ricky Gervais show. I'm sure it was great, but I never watched it.

The thing they had. But then the Office, so he wrote that and performed in it, and directed it and produced it with Stephen Merchant and, I think, one other person, I think. Then he did the same with Episodes.

Not Episode, I keep calling it Episodes. Then he did it with, what is it, Extras. And then he did, he did a few other things as well.

Made some films. And then he, then he did his, you know, stand-up stuff. I think he did, what did he do? Three, didn't he? Or Religion, Animals and something else.

There might have been four, but I think it was three. So he just, he did it in a reverse order. And I don't know anyone that's ever done that before.

That's gone from doing, being a writer and an actor, you know, to then doing stand-up comedy in front of a sold-out crowd, being able to perform worldwide to an audience. And, you know, it's amazing what he's accomplished. Absolutely amazing.

And I like Stephen Merchant, you know, the really tall one with the glasses and a funny grin. I used to, he did a TV show called Hello Ladies. In fact, he did, I think he did the stand-up comedy.

Again, he's another one that did, went and did a stand-up comedy show called Hello Ladies. I might be getting this in the wrong order, but I think then he did a TV show, which then ended in a feature film. I love the TV show.

I like the stand-up comedy as well. But I think it's because he's such, and with Ricky as well, Ricky, Ricky, my mate Ricky, they're such good writers that there's, it can't go wrong. I notice what he does, he surrounds himself with really good actors, very different personalities and characters.

So although he is the star of the show with the afterlife, one that he does. He's a star, of course he's a star, it's him. He wrote the thing, he's, you know, his picture's on the cover.

But it's not, it's not just about him. So much of it is about, well no, it's mainly about him really actually. But it's about his interactions with other people.

And if you've ever watched Afterlife, which is his Netflix TV show, he's got two seasons of it. And if you've watched it, I really suggest you go to YouTube and search for the Afterlife outtakes. Very funny.

It's really funny. Check out basically any of Ricky Gervais' outtakes, because he can't stop laughing. And you can see even though Afterlife is a really, a time is really serious, you know, subject.

You can see that he's having the time of his life on the screen, on the set, it's funny. You know, and what he's written, he really finds funny. And that's, for me, that's kind of refreshing because having spent a long, a lot of time around comedians in the past, they, they didn't find their stuff hilarious.

They didn't seem to find their own material hilarious. It might be hilarious to the audience. But to them, it's like, oh, that's good.

I like that. I'll try that out tonight. But I think Ricky Gervais actually, I can just imagine him writing a line, writing something down and just laughing his willy off, honestly, absolutely.

And that's, surely that's a really, really, I don't know, sounds like an enjoyable job. Anyway, I don't know why, why am I talking about him for? Yeah, he's, he's done films, comedy films, written comedy films. But it's been, you know, so I guess he's probably the one.

And I mean, there are, I'm sure there's probably, there's loads of comedians, I know, that have been in films and TV shows. But rarely do they play comedy actors. Arlo Hanlon.

Arlo Hanlon. Yeah. He's a good example of someone that has.

He was in Father Ted. He was the young, the young priest in Father Ted. And he, I know a little bit about his story, well, only from when he got into London.

Before Father Ted, he, he moved to London. I don't know how many comedy clubs there even were in the early 90s. I don't know.

I'm sure there was some, I know quite a few opened up, like late 90s, maybe 2000s even. But in 19, you know, 91, 92, whatever it was, I don't think there was much going on. But to be fair, the whole of the country, the only place really that was thriving was in London.

It started to thrive in northern parts as time progressed, to the point where there was comedy clubs everywhere. But in the early 90s, there wasn't. And in Scotland, or in Edinburgh, for, I think, three weeks, two or three weeks, the Edinburgh Festival, that would be like a comedy whirlwind, really.

All loads of comedians going over there and putting on a show in the hope that they'd get discovered by a TV channel, or producer or something like that. And it got to the point where anybody, even if you were shortlisted for the, at the time, it was called the Perrier Award. It was a Perrier Award for ages.

And then Perrier stopped. They stopped promoting the award. Then it became something like the Foster's Award or something like that.

Basically, it was the Edinburgh Festival Comedy Award. That's basically what it was. Anyone that won it, pretty much automatically went on to be famous or to have a really good career, either on telly, or Lee Mack.

Sorry, Lee Mack. He's, he does not going out. So that's, that's a comedy show that he does.

But it's not a movie. I was more talking about movies was not before. Lee Mack.

I'll always love Lee Mack. I'll tell you why. Those that don't know Lee Mack is.

And some, some people, if you listen to the first time, you're probably thinking, what the hell is he going on about? But if you listen for the first time, you might think, why are you mentioning? Do you know who Lee Mack is? Of course I know who Lee Mack is. He's on television. The majority of my audience live in other countries.

So they might not have ever heard of Lee Mack. But if you haven't, please search him out, go to YouTube. Lee Mack.

M-A-C-K-L-E-E. It's very funny. And he's lovely.

He used to perform at the comedy club I was at for over a four year period. I would see him. I saw him hundreds of times, probably during that time, because he'd come, he'd do a weekend.

Sometimes he'd do a Thursday, Friday, Saturday night. And sometimes he'd do, you know, he wouldn't be on every weekend, but I saw him lots and lots of times. Because he wasn't a big act at that time.

This, he wasn't new, but he wasn't, he was, he'd only been around for like maybe a year or two. And he saw me performing at that club in probably, October, maybe 2000 and no, 1997. And it was on Wednesday night.

And you know what he said to me? He said, that was bad. That was really awful. He said, I liked your act.

That's what he said to me. He didn't know who I was. You know, it was no benefit to him to tell me that he liked my act.

And he didn't know that I was involved in the club and stuff. And I didn't perform after that. I think the last time I performed was January, 1998.

22 years, man. I didn't even stop. I didn't quit.

I just had a break, a form. Because I was going to be at the comedy club. If you spend, I was spending more time in a comedy club than I ever had before.

It was like one place, but I kind of didn't really feel, I wasn't motivated to be on stage at that time. I prefer just to watch other comedians on stage and have, for the first time in my life, have a kind of a social life. You know, being around people that, well, I liked being around.

So yeah, that I enjoyed. So that was a very special period in my life, that was. I spoke, I actually spoke to my friend the other day, who used to own the club.

And he said to me that he'd been talking to his girlfriend about me. And he said that I was running around and doing things, making the most of the nightclub environment, I think. That wasn't his words, but I had to laugh.

I said, yeah, it's true. I said, so, you know, basically you were my pimp. So it wasn't.

Well, anyway, I had my hearing test. I went on to, on my phone, I downloaded three different hearing apps. They test your hearing.

And I thought, I'd try three of them. Three. Because one, I thought, one's not enough.

Let's try three. That's what I did. And here's the results I got.

Here it goes. On one of these, okay, I'll just put the volume down so it doesn't make any noise. Very low hearing.

And below, kind of hearing, basically, it's got me down as being hearing impaired with all three of the apps. Testing how, what sounds I can hear. One did, like, can you hear the words with background sound? Stuff like that.

Another one here, ear age test. Okay. This is part of one of the other apps.

And testing at what level I can hear. What pitch I could hear. And it gave me, my ear age test was 75.

Don't laugh. It's not funny. And I did a test with another one.

And according to your results, your hearing does not seem to be at its best. And my right ear, I got one, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine. So out of nine tests for my right ear, I got one, two, four right out of nine.

Left ear, I did better. I got one, two, three, four, five, six. So we got three wrong, six right.

The other hearing test. I did it twice. And the second one came out better.

In fact, at one point, I could hear something that's way, way above average, or way above a good hearing. But the rest of the time, I'm below. So I'm below average, an average person on the different frequencies that they test.

Wow. Yeah, so the further it goes along, the lower I am. So, but, but, but, but, apparently, sure, where did it say this? Our hearing diminishes anyway, standard app is a percentage over a lifetime.

So, you know, I did, you know, the ear test, the ear age, age test. Now the first one they play, I couldn't hear it. I did it earlier, and they did it, and they played it, and I could hear it, and then I couldn't.

And I had 75. And then they did it again, or 75 again. What I did this time is I just pressed that I could hear it.

And then play the next one. And I pressed I could hear that one even I couldn't. At the end of the test, it said that my ear age was 13.

So basically, our ears are at the perfect, the most, the bestest hearing ability at age 13. According to that app. So, yeah, it's a bit strange, a little bit, thinking, because my television, I have it during the day, I have it at 20.

Yeah. But in the evening, I have it about 10, 12 maximum volume level, so that I don't, in the evening, I talk about like late at night, or during the night, so that I don't disturb anyone. And now, in the evening, I kind of need it to be 20.

And during the day, I've got it often 25. Now, I don't know if it's the television that's done that. Or if it's my hearing.

So I'm not sure. All I know is I don't, I don't want to disturb other people by having like a TV blaring out. And if that was the case, I would wear headphones, which I, I don't really want to be wearing headphones all the time.

Because it's nice sometimes, because I like to listen to loud music sometimes. And I love to have like, now and then, have music blaring out. I'm not going to do it.

I suppose most people that I've ever met, will just have the music blaring out thinking, doesn't matter about other people. And that's, I can't, I just can't do that. Because just because of the life I've had, I can't, I've just, I've been so many different places, where I've had to sort of try and move down because of stuff like that, loud music.

And so ultimately, I don't want to be, I don't want to be that kind of neighbour, you know. So I will listen to loud music sometimes, but I'll have my headphones on, and I'll have it blasting out. I just arrived, Andre, on the paper.

Serious, this is getting ridiculous. He's now, he's got probably so much newspaper on the floor, spread out, and he keeps going onto the carpet. And every time, what I've been doing is covering it up with paper, in the hope that it will go onto that paper, and I won't have to clean the carpet.

Nope, it then goes on the carpet again. And he looked at me as if to say, yeah, we can do about it. What are you going to do? He said, he said to me, you're the one that gave me the raw egg, what do you expect? I don't know, I thought I was giving you something.

He loves eggs, raw eggs, loves them. And that, if he can get stuff like that in the wild, would be part of his diet. Any ferret that can get hold of an egg, would be very happy.

But he's, I don't know what to do with him. I don't know. But yeah, so that's, that's it.

So I did those hearing tests, and I'm just wondering whether I should, if I do need to go and get my eyes tested. Because the eyes, my eyes at the moment, although I was reading earlier, my reading glasses seem to be okay. But distance, they're not.

I think that I might have to have a new prescription for the distance. But, but, but, but one of the main reasons to go to the opticians for me would be simply because the lens, the frames broke. And the lens every now and then pops out, so I have to put it back in, and it's the lens, the frames run even, you know.

It'd be fine if I had one eye in my ear. The frames are really, really wonky. Anyway, I think that's about it for me.

I think Andre, that's a proper eggy one, they just, he is weird. Like my friend, it's my neighbor's my friend, and his dad came around today. So I met, yes, I know his dad, he's lovely, really nice.

And Andre hasn't really seen me for a long time. He has been up here a couple of times, but Andre, Andre normally clings to me when someone else comes up here, unless it's my friend, who he's known since he was a baby. And he loves to bite him.

He, he likes to be rough with him, and he likes that. But anyone else, Andre will, if he's awake, he will come over, and he will cling to me. I think he's just a bit shy.

But my friend's dad, he wasn't shy at all. We were talking, sitting, standing in the hallway, just chatting. And Andre started sniffing at his feet.

And he, he sat down on the floor, and he looked up at my friend's dad. He looks so cute. He basically wanted to be picked up by him.

He doesn't want to be picked up by people generally. I mean, he doesn't mind it with kids. So if we're in a park and there's parents with their kids, and sometimes a kid will pick him up, and he's okay with that.

It doesn't happen very often. Most people are a little bit wary of him because he moves so quickly, and he's got those sharp teeth and that. And very few people really sort of want to pick him up, or he doesn't really normally look like he wants to.

But he was just sitting on his hind legs, looking up at my friend's dad. And my friend's dad bent down a bit, and he put both, he stood up, both his legs, not my friend's dad, Andre. He stood on both his legs, which is what he does when he wants to be picked up.

Now, he didn't pick him up because he didn't know that's what Andre wanted, and I don't think he wanted to pick him up. That was loud. I don't think he wanted to pick him up, really, which is fair enough because, you know, he can be a little bit smelly and stuff.

But he was licking his hands and his fingers and stuff, and it was just really nice. It's like really cute seeing Andre like that, just the way he was sitting there, just looking up at him, almost like, love me, will you love me? Will you be my new dad? It's like, oh, thanks, Andre. Anyway, oh, I'm gonna go.

So, thank you for listening. Remember to be kind to yourself because you do deserve to be happy. Lots of love.

Bye.