I turned 40 last week. I’m still not too sure what to make of this…I mean, there’s very little I can do about it, I guess, but I’ve always seen myself as young/sprightly/being able to avoid adulting duties. It’s all creeping in, though, I’ve got an incredibly sensible new car, we bought a puppy the other day who is awesome but demanding (and a bit like having a baby, that’s next on our list), wife, mortgage, career…and grey hair, the odd back twinge and, only recently, I’ve started going to bed before 2am. I’m in a good place, I really have nothing to complain about. Okay, apart from the fact that I’m suddenly 40, seemingly out of nowhere.
My 40th was lovely. Given the restrictions, everything had to be outside, but we had 2 parties in the garden (‘surprise’ parties organised by my amazing wife, although I knew they were about to happen - I saw that epic Asda order arrive and may have caught a glimpse of the bunting), 30 people in each and I’m lucky enough to be a very popular boy. Birthday gifts were mostly fine whisky and jazz vinyl, which was totally perfect.
40.
Anyway, as another frantic half-term ended (I missed one day due to feeling a bit woozy post-vaccine) with my students all brilliantly recording their parts for the forthcoming album, I was soon back on stage playing Harvey G, this time at the Brighton Fringe. First public performances in over a year and, let’s be honest, far too hot to be running on the spot for an hour. The audiences were lovely all the same and Joe from FringeReview wrote this wonderful, in-depth and very constructive review of the opening performance here: http://fringereview.co.uk/review/brighton-fringe/2021/harvey-greenfield-is-running-late/