The movie version of Paul’s play, Harvey Greenfield is Running Late, will be screened at the Arts Picturehouse in Cambridge. Tickets (238 of them) sold out within 48 hours, but hopefully we can get another screening soon for those who couldn’t book in time!
And just like that, 6 weeks of summer holidays flew by!
As my wife is now a headteacher of a local school, school holidays feel more important to us than ever if we actually want to see each other. I’m lucky because I’m self-employed so if I want a day off, I just take one, but it’s quite nice to see my other half sometimes so we took a bit of time out to have an adventure this summer. Over a period of 16 days, we drove to Poland and back (with our dog), via the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, France, Czech Republic…3,000 miles, but a great cultural experience and I did a lot of writing whilst there.
A couple of gigs with Queen Bee and Fred’s House later, a performance of The Only Drummer in Town in London which was a lot of fun and then I was at the newly-formed Wild Meadows Festival in Kings Ripton where I performed Only Drummer and Harvey Greenfield, plus ran a drum workshop. My play, Little Git, starring Alex Machell and Nicole Horst also ran there, before its final Cambridge run of shows.
And then after that I was at the Edinburgh Fringe, performing a new 9.45am show, Morning Theatre with Your Friend Paul Richards, which went remarkably well considering it was a very new show, as well as MCing my old pal, Liz Barker (of Blue Peter fame, no less) and hosting a drumming gameshow, Percussion Wars. That was my 19th Edinburgh Fringe run. I reckon I’ve got one more in me, even if my bank balance disagrees…
I’m back teaching privately now, and back in the schools next week. Load of band gigs (check out the events page on this site), a screening of Harvey Greenfield the movie and also the launch of the Christmas show to look forward to before the year is out!
Loads of stuff happening here, which is great because I’m a bit restless if I’m not busy, but not great if you’re somebody waiting for me to email you back about lessons…I’m getting there, just need an admin day!
Anyway, we had our latest student drumming showcase event recently where 28 of my drummers hit the stage, many of them for the first time, with a live band. The packed show, held at the wonderful Portland Arms in Cambridge, raised just over a grand for Macmillan Cancer support and all of my students did me proud, as did the band!
Also over the last few weeks, the Harvey Greenfield movie was screened at Cineworld in Northampton, Little Git (a play I wrote some time ago) has been confirmed for the Brighton Fringe festival with a cracking cast and I had a lovely time performing theatre on the Isle of Sark and then Shoreham by Sea over the Easter ‘break’…many thanks to everyone who came down!
Not long come back from a week away in Norway, which was the perfect holiday - a bit of exploring (and falling over in snow), lots of wine and plenty of time to write. My wife treated it as a proper holiday but I saw it more as a writing retreat…got some new stuff that I can’t wait to get out to a bunch of proper actors, soon.
As always, check out the events tab of this page for latest happenings and I trust you all had a lovely Easter however you chose to spend it!
A new trailer for the movie version of Harvey Greenfield has been released! Check it out here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOFgEPnHE3k
An old friend of many a touring musician, Tom Byrne, sadly passed away at the end of last year. A week ago, there was a beautiful ceremony to mark his passing and celebrate his life. Alongside this, his only solo album has been re-released, available online, for free. It features Dan Wilde, Luke Wood, Vicky Jones (Fred’s House), Corinna Jane, Hannah Elizabeth and also Paul on drums.
Listen to the brilliant ‘Estranged’ here:
linktr.ee/tombyrnemuzic
RIP, mate, you will be missed.
Do you ever get the feeling that life is so busy you don’t get a chance to really enjoy it? Looking back, 2023 hasn’t been bad at all, but it’s only now that I can sit back, entering Christmas mode, and appreciate it. Anyway, here’s how the last twelve months panned out…
Music stuff: a painfully slow first half of the year for gigs but it ramped up by the end, prominently with Fred's House and quite a few with Queen Bee Blues Band, also played live with Steve Logan, Claudia and the Braidy Bunch, Vicky Harrison and Big 10. Recorded with Fred's House, Gavin Chappell-Bates and the NMG ALL Stars. Some lovely stuff there.
Theatre stuff: wrote and took a one-man show to New York ('Is This the End of Edward J. Payne'), as well as Edinburgh and Brighton Fringe runs, nominated for the Best Musical Comedy award at the Leicester Comedy Festival for 'My Function Band Hell' and won Best Male Actor in a Feature Film for 'Harvey Greenfield is Running Late' at the Dublin International Comedy Film Festival. Also, for the first time in a while, enjoyed writing for other people, with 'D-List' and 'But We Said We Weren't Doing Presents This Year' - both of whom had amazing casts. Wrote a couple books, which will be re-released before the year is out now that I've changed distributor (and they're no longer exclusive to Amazon, which I think is a cool move).
Taught lots and have loved seeing my students develop during the live performances. They've all done me proud and teaching drums is totally the best job in the world!
Things feel in good shape to hit the ground running next year, whilst also trying to spend more time with wifey, more time with smelly Freddie dog, more time with friends, more adventures, you know, the usual? Big plans for my Drummers to the Rescue project which will benefit my students (and others who really need it), and even bigger plans for the many new shows. In the meantime, lots of books to read, so much new music to listen to. Might as well start that now, alongside all the usual festive tomfoolery. Thanks for being part of my year, let's do it all again soon. That's Richards signing off for a bit, merry Christmas!
The feature film adaptation of Paul’s play, Harvey Greenfield is Running Late, recently premiered at the Dublin International Comedy Film Festival. Whilst there, it picked up three awards! It won ‘Best International Feature Film’, Jonnie Howard won ‘Best Director’ and Paul picked up ‘Best Male actor in a Feature Film.’
The European premiere of the film version of Harvey Greenfield is Running Late - the movie adapted from Paul’s original play (with Paul still in the title role) will take place on Thursday 30th November at the Dublin International Festival.
It’s been a busy few weeks, to say the least. My normal schedule, which (outside of fringe season/touring) typically consists of 9-11 hours a day teaching, gigs with my regular bands (Fred’s House and Queen Bee Blues) and a lot of writing, has continued, but with lots of extra bits thrown in. We had the first reading/rehearsal of my new Christmas play, which opens in December (obviously) and has a brilliant cast including my old mate, former Blue Peter presenter, Liz Barker. I was guesting in the studio drumming for another old mate, Gavin Chappell-Bates, which was great fun and his new album is sounding great. I also stepped in to help ska band Big 10, which was really good fun, despite having 48 hours to learn their set…a challenge is good, though, yeah? And also, last week, we ran our Edinburgh Fringe shows for a final time before moving on to new projects.
A double bill, running in Cambridge for three sweaty and pretty much sold out nights, the first half was always The Paul Richards Playhouse, which was myself and Alex Machell having lots of fun bashing through 12 short plays in 45 minutes. It was very much a last-minute fringe show and one we never assumed would go further, but we had such a great time in Edinburgh that we thought it would be worth revisiting those characters one more time. We were right, it’s a messy little bundle of chaos, but with lots of energy and the audience took to it every night. After an interval we then had my solo show, Is This the End of Edward J Payne, a show which opened in Brighton earlier this year before heading to New York for a run in Manhattan and then Edinburgh (via a bunch of previews). The plan when I wrote this at Christmas last year was that this would be the show that runs for years, a bit like my Harvey Greenfield is Running Late piece, which still sells out everywhere even though it’s totally exhausting to perform. The decision to leave it after last week was a tricky one; I’m really fond of this but sometimes the time just doesn’t feel right to keep it going. In Edinburgh it was ‘fine’ - it never shook the foundations or felt like I was creating a buzz, but everyone smiled and seemed to enjoy it. It was ‘nice’, which is something I often try to avoid. In the US, they seemed to really like it, but I’m an Englishman, a very bumbling one at that, I get the sense I could have done anything there and they would have been so lovely to me. It’s a complex show, one which some may have struggled to follow - there’s at least 8 plots running at all times, with extra jokes and set-pieces thrown in, it’s a solo show but fast, wordy and mega intense. It’s needed for the story and I’m really proud of the punchline which ties it all in, but ultimately it’s a show about death, and, in these negative times, people just need something a little more positive. And also, my other show which launched on the same day in Brighton, The Only Drummer in Town, seems to be really popular with booking agents so I need to turn my attentions back to that again, and that’s a happy piece full of drums and panicky costume changes. Turns out people love that stuff.
The Cambridge run of Eddie Payne was a real treat, the best it’s ever been and I certainly felt during it that I should take it on the road for a bit but…when? This is the busiest I’ve ever been and I’m so grateful, but there’s only so much Richards. This was the show that got me into New York and was well received everywhere else, but it’s time to throw away that sweaty football shirt and start the next adventure.
Next up: new Fred’s House album sessions, a load of band stuff, Christmas show, and my new solo stand-up theatre thing which opens in Leicester in February. More soon!
Paul will be performing (on drums) with the NMG All Stars this Friday at the Apex in Bury St Edmunds. The NMG (New Music Generator) is a local radio show, and the performance will be part of the yearly awards ceremony.
Paul has just finished filming a guest cameo in popular webseries, Ren. Paul appears in episode 3 of series 2.
And, suddenly, as if from nowhere, the summer holidays are over. How did that happen? I started the six weeks away from teaching drums in schools with plenty of big ideas, but in reality I just carried on teaching - mostly one-off ‘Drums for Beginners’ courses, as well as the odd gig with Fred’s House and also the Queen Bee Blues Band. On the one week we actually went on holiday, I got so sunburnt on my right leg (fell asleep on the beach) I couldn’t walk for nearly 4 days…serves me right for trying to ‘rest’.
I was going to have a year off from the Edinburgh Fringe this year, the reasoning being that 2019 was my best year ever (everything worked, the national press were all over me, it was just a joy), then covid got in the way, the 2022 fringe just felt rubbish and I just wanted a year out to let it all settle again. Naturally, though, I’m Paul Richards and taking time out isn’t a strong point so I got talked into doing just a week this year. Took two new shows up there, The Paul Richards Playhouse and Is This the End of Edward J. Payne, both of which went well but it was so weird only doing week 3…almost felt like a tourist. Next year, I’ll do the full run again.
Things are about to get very busy over the next weeks, more news soon!
Paul’s new book, Nobody is Making Me Do This, is now available on Amazon in three different formats: digital, paperback and hardback.
It’s the brutally honest tales of a travelling theatre performer, featuring three candid tour diaries from three very different stages of Paul’s performing career.
You can buy the book here.
Paul has launched a dedicated website for his Team Building with Drums sessions (aka - The Drumming Sportsday), give it a look if you have a moment!
https://www.teambuildingwithdrums.com/
Paul has just returned from a successful run in New York, where his new one-man play, Is This the End of Edward J.Payne ran for four successful nights at the very lovely Below St Mark’s Theatre in Manhattan. The first time Paul has performed in the city, and with the added pressure that it was a brand new show, Paul hopes to return soon.
You can catch the show at the Edinburgh Fringe in the summer.
Last weekend, Paul and his theatrical team hit the Brighton Fringe for 2 chaotic days. Paul performed 2 new solo plays (The Only Drummer in Town and Is This the End of Edward J Payne), both of which were well received, as well as two packed performances of Harvey Greenfield is Running Late. A play Paul wrote and directed, D-List, a comedy about D-List celebrities, also premiered, to audience acclaim. More performances of that soon.
Here’s a cracking review of the Harvey Greenfield performance on Saturday from FringeReview:
http://fringereview.co.uk/review/brighton-fringe/2023/harvey-greenfield-is-running-late-2/
Paul’s show, My Function Band Hell, has been nominated for ‘Best Musical Show’ at this year’s Leicester Comedy Festival. The winners will be announced later this month.
I don’t believe people who claim that January feels like the longest month. As I write this, it’s suddenly mid-February and it feels like 2023 is whizzing by a lot faster than I’d like. Possibly because I’ve taken on more than ever, more than likely because I’m enjoying it all.
The teaching has been great fun so far, I’m beyond fully-booked (6 days a week), my plan for 2023 was to cut down my teaching hours a bit and, well, see my wife occasionally. I mean, we live in the same house and all that, but our schedules certainly don’t match. The problem is, and I appreciate it’s a nice problem to have, is that the lessons have been so much fun that I don’t have the heart to ‘drop’ any students. If anything, I’ve spent a little time preparing myself to work harder…I’ve got a Nespresso machine and, because I’m quite a loud shouty man, I’ve bought a steamer for my throat which is so amazing I’m just gutted I didn’t know about these years ago. Aware that others can benefit from these lessons alongside my students (fun/learning) and me (money), I’m working quietly behind the scenes on our Drummers to the Rescue scheme where charities benefit from this, too. In short, more student gigs in the pipeline (the next one is at The Portland Arms in Cambridge on 26th March), recordings and all that.
I’ve also launched a project where I teach celebrities how to drum, in return for a free lesson they have to sign the snare head. It’ll all get auctioned off when I get to 100 celebs for the Trussell Trust. It’s been trickier than I’d hoped, but it will happen. Team Building with Drums (aka The Drumming Sportsday) continues to be great fun, do drop me a message if your workplace could do with a lanky man, 30 pieces of percussion and a few games to pop in for a couple of hours.
Show-wise, Harvey Greenfield is Running Late continues to…well, run. The film will be out at some point, as far as I know, it’s all done, but it’s all out of my hands. I’ve let Harvey 2 (the awkward follow-up) go for now, the national press liked it, audiences were nice about it, but I never really felt like it excited me, even though I wrote the thing. It was just ‘nice’. I get bored of ‘nice’. My new show, though, is ridiculous. It’s called ‘Is this the end of Edward J Payne’ and opens publicly in May. It’s an absolute git to learn as it’s effectively a 2-hour show crammed into 55 minutes and, in the early script-in-hand previews so far, I’ve realised just how physically exhausting this one will be. It’s good for me, though, yeah? I also have another new show opening in Brighton called ‘The Only Drummer in Town’ which is a drumming comedy show, I’m in my comfort zone with this one, but that’s not always a bad thing. Also, on the same day, yet another new play opens, it’s called ‘D-List’ - it’s a play I’ve written, but won’t be in, although I’ll be directing it. More soon on that.
Right, it’s a Saturday night which only means one thing: life admin, mostly!
Maybe it’s an age thing, but where did those 12 months go? It’s been fine, more work-heavy than normal, I think, but given the state of the world right now that’s probably for the best. Lots of positives, as always - I had a nice long run at the Edinburgh Fringe (90 performances over 3 weeks…), the band have signed to a new booking agent, we’ve finally finished filming Harvey Greenfield and I’ve loved all the teaching (according to my calculations I’ve taught 1023 drum lessons and spent 1484 hours teaching in schools this year). Literally, nothing to moan about. Apart from, perhaps, lack of time for anything else.
That’s changing, though, I’m currently enjoying a lovely long festive break which has enabled me to finish off a few bits of writing - I have two new shows opening next year as well as the continuation of existing pieces, and I’ve also launched a new project where I am to teach 100 celebrities how to drum by next August - it’s all for charity, here’s the details: https://www.thepaulrichards.com/drum-teacher-to-the-stars
Right, best get back to ‘relaxing’. I hope you’ve all had a safe, fun festive break, here’s to a lively 2023…let the adventure begin!
Fred’s House (the band Paul drums for) have signed with booking agency, Midnight Mango, who will deal with all future bookings. 2023 suddenly looks very busy!
