I spent the weekend up in Yorkshire with the new Harvey Greenfield play. I previously had mixed feelings about Yorkshire, as, in my former life as a (mostly failed) stand-up I really died on my arse up there in my few nights in horrific working men’s clubs. It turns out they never wanted a bumbling awkward fellow chatting away with drums, they just wanted jokes. Still, I got a whole Edinburgh show out of it. Anyway, the last time I was there was back in 2019 with the original Harvey G show and I had a lovely time, so I was pleased to be back in the village hall just outside of Hull, with a second night on the way back down in Doncaster. With a booking agent I know, like and trust, my only doubt was…well, the show itself. It’s so new, and the first run-throughs of it in London felt a bit underwhelming (as they had every right to given it was the first look at the new piece). I spent all of last week rehearsing, re-writing, re-recording the audio…and rehearsing some more.

The shows themselves went really well. Harvey Greenfield is Running Late is widely considered to be my first ‘hit’ but I strongly believe Harvey Greenfield is Getting Married will eventually top it. Eventually. It still needs a bit of work, and a lot of tightening (20 previews perhaps before Edinburgh?), but it’s all there as long as I have the time to put the work in. And then after that I’ll probably be sick of playing Harvey, but we’ve still got the film to finish and release, too, so there’s plenty more life in that slightly tired face.

Anyway, here’s what the audience said, they kindly wrote all of this in a thank-you card after the Doncaster performance:

”Wow! Harvey! Amazing show! Thanks for allowing us to see the preview of your show. Massive good luck in Edinburgh this year. Can’t wait to see you again.”

”Brilliant show.”

”Love every minute, thank you.”

”What an amazing one man show, enjoyed it all.”

”Great fun but I need a lie down now!”

”Hope your 2nd show is just as successful as your first - it certainly deserves to be!”

”You are too energetic! What great fun we had!”

”Thank you for the energy, the comedy, great fun.”

”That was awesome, really pleased to have witnessed it, hope to see you again.”