Filming finally wrapped today for the Harvey Greenfield movie. We technically wrapped in July, but added an extra scene in to incorporate special guest star, 70s rock icon, Graham Parker (who has also supplied a song for the film, Paul had worked with him previously on 50 Ways to Leave Your Drummer). Here’s a lovely write-up from Cambridge News:
https://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/news/local-news/gallery/photos-show-film-crews-descend-25217517
Paul is back touring his Harvey Greenfield play next April. Here’s a new trailer of the show, the footage taken from the 100th performance in London earlier this year.
Paul’s set up a new scheme where NHS workers shouldn’t have to pay for drum lessons. Here’s the info.
As I spend a lot of my time teaching in schools, I naturally plot my other activities (shows, mostly) around the school holidays. A normal teacher, after a frantically busy term, would treat themselves to a bit of time off, a nice holiday, perhaps? But I think as we’ve established, I don’t work ‘normally.’
These six weeks have probably been the most exhausting of my life, but also the best. The summer started back on the film set, for the pick-ups for the Harvey Greenfield movie. With a chunk of the recording done last year, this time around we were merely filling in the gaps. A lot of gaps, it turns out, and a lot of tweaks to bits that were already filmed but didn’t quite work. Let’s call them ‘adjustments’ rather than ‘re-takes’, for the sake of my ego. Despite the fact that we were largely filming outside on the hottest days of the year (the day when Cambridge broke it’s own record, I was there, in a full suit, running up and down, mostly confusing tourists), it was a brilliant week and a bit. We’ve all settled into this, the team were really sharp…we worked mega long hours, 12, 13, 14 hours a day to get this over the line, but spirits were high and we forced ourselves over the line. Absolutely wonderful to work with legends such as Annette Badley, Michael Fenton-Stevens and Mr Motivator, as well as our regular team. It’s done now, it’s finished, we’re a very happy bunch. It should emerge sometime next year.
After that, I went straight into a couple of my corporate ‘team building with drums’ sessions - tried out a new format, basically a gameshow called ‘the drumming sports day’ and it works well. If anyone wants me to bring a fun variation on team building to your workplace, let me know - I basically get everyone drumming and we have a lovely time.
A few days later it was my ‘wedding not wedding.’ I got married to my amazing wife, Aggie, on Christmas Eve 2020, slap bang in the middle of the Covid pandemic. Only 9 people could attend, we couldn’t have a reception and I wrote a whole play out of it (Harvey Greenfield is Getting Married…). Two years later, we finally had a chance to have the party we’d always dreamed of, this summer. It was amazing, if quite intense in places, basically getting married again, to the same lady. A few speeches, some overly soppy bits, but mostly just a huge party in a swanky Cambridge hotel. Easily my favourite night of the last two years.
From there we went on holiday to the Highlands, and then Aggie dropped me off in Edinburgh before making her way back home. I then stayed in Edinburgh for three and a bit weeks, performing 90 shows over a period of 24 days.
It was my 15th Edinburgh Fringe run as a performer yet I still didn’t quite know what to expect this year, having had two years off due to the aforementioned pandemic. Numbers were low this year, the main EdFringe organisers decided not to have an app (despite the fact we paid for it), train strikes aplenty, bin strikes so Edinburgh looked and smelt horrible, the cost of living crisis…yet my shows still, somehow, happened every day. The reviews were nice (in particular from The Scotsman, who really get what I’m about). I’ll politely let the new Harvey Greenfield show (the ‘getting married’ one) go, despite it earning me quite a bit of money - it’s just a bit of it’s time, it does have a Covid-heavy plot and I fear people won’t want to hear about that soon, as much as they did this year. Choir - a comedy show with Rachel Creeger, was wonderful, we’ve been working together since 2017 on this and it’s always a treat and I get to drum all show. The first Harvey G show worked well again and I’ll tour that next year when the film comes out, and my very late night show, My Function Band Hell, did surprisingly well despite the occasional drunken fights in the audience…
I’ve learnt so much this Edinburgh. Mostly how to stop fights in the middle of my spoken word/musical comedy show. I’m an awkward, gangly man from Cambridge, I was very much out of my comfort zone with that. I’ve learnt that 4 shows a day for 3 weeks is probably too much for a 41-year-old chap who eats too many burgers.
I’ve been home for two days and I can’t wait to back next year. I see it as my second home…
Now back to rehearsing with the band and, as of Saturday, teaching again, privately and across my many schools. Big plans for this term, including a scheme where NHS workers shouldn’t have to pay for their/their children’s drum lessons (more on that soon) and some big charity concerts. Drummers to the rescue, and all that.
First though, sleep. I hope your summer was as fun as mine!
Paul has just added two Edinburgh Fringe previews in Cambridge, a week before he travels up north for a month of theatrical tomfoolery. For these nights, he’s performing Little Git (with Vikki Gavin) and My Function Band Hell. Both on the same bill with a 15-minute interval. Tickets and info here:
https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/ibic-productions
For anybody who fancies a team building day with a difference for their workplace, Paul has just (re) launched his team building with drums project. This time, it’s a little different and is effectively a game show with colleagues competing against each other in various rhythmical challenges.
More information can be found here.
Originally debuting in 2019, Paul’s hit play, Harvey Greenfield is Running Late, will hit 100 performances in July. The celebratory performance will be at the Etcetera Theatre in Camden and will be filmed. Tickets are left purposely very cheap, basically just the admin fee, to encourage a lively atmosphere.
The show is on July 9th, 7pm. Tickets available here: https://www.citizenticket.co.uk/events/etcetera-theatre/harvey-greenfield-is-running-late/
Paul has lots of shows heading to the Edinburgh Fringe festival this summer, obviously. Tickets are now available for everything:
THE LITTLE GIT (week 1 only) - TICKETS
HARVEY GREENFIELD IS RUNNING LATE - TICKETS
HARVEY GREENFIELD IS GETTING MARRIED - TICKETS
CHOIR? - FREE ENTRY (BUT INFO HERE ANYWAY)
MY FUNCTION BAND HELL - FREE ENTRY (BUT INFO HERE ANYWAY)
Yesterday Paul hosted another gig for his drum students, this time at the wonderful Portland Arms in Cambridge. Backed by a wonderful house band (featuring 2 members of Fred’s House), 21 students performed over 2 typically frantic hours, making £325 for Macmillan Cancer Support in the process.
Paul’s play, Letters to Sparkle (which he performed in alongside Liz Barker) was repeated on BBC Radio Cambridgeshire last night. You can listen back here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0bx736d
SINGER-SONGWRITERS/BANDS WANTED!
So what we do is give drummers, new drummers, who are taking their first steps into the performing world, a chance to show the world what they can do - with a chosen charity benefiting. You know all that already, that's why Drummers to the Rescue exists. The gigs are happening and we've recorded one full album with a bunch of brilliant guest musicians that will be released on 29th April 2022. That was a fun experiment, in which every student and musician randomly jammed to an agreed bpm and it's been mixed together with rather exciting results. The album is called: Hanging Out with Friends Having Adventures in Peculiar Rhythmical Dreams. It will raise money for The Trussell Trust.
Next up, we're going for something more...structured. What we need is songs. Original songs, 'donated' to us by the writer/artist/band. We need a minimum of 12 of them for this to work. A drumless song, that my students will write a part for, learn, and eventually record a part for. They'll rehearse it relentlessly in the lesson, they'll be creative, they'll learn how to write a drum part themselves - the experience will be invaluable for them. Eventually we'll have 12 songs, 12 different drummers, a unique and hopefully beautiful album that will be released for Macmillan Cancer Support.
If you're a songwriter who fancies submitting a track, drop Paul a line: thepaulrichards@gmail.com
More information at: https://www.drummerstotherescue.co.uk
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.”
Paul was recently a guest actor in a course called Cinematography for Drama, filmed sessions which can be purchased online. The course is by the wonderful Neil Oseman, who was the DOP on the Harvey Greenfield is Running Late movie. Check out the course here: https://www.udemy.com/course/cinematography-for-drama/?referralCode=41172D86483CB4FA8C5C
At four days notice, Paul, having watched more news than is probably considered healthy, realised he needed to do what little we can do to help those over in Ukraine. With a regular student gig in the diary already, instead we decided to get the parents onstage instead! With just an hour's tuition from Paul, 11 brave parents took to the stage at the lovely village hall in Cottenham and performed in front of an enthusiastic crowd, backed by a cracking makeshift band. We made just over £540 for the Disasters Emergency Committee.
Paul will be back at the Edinburgh Fringe with plenty of projects this year, as always. The first one to be confirmed is a new play/comedy show, simply called CHOIR? It’s a collaboration with comedian Rachel Creeger; the pair previously worked together on The Complete History of Pop Music show, which Paul hosted for 3 years at the Edinburgh Fringe (it also ran briefly in London’s West End and has had 2 UK tours). More details soon.
It’s half-term…normally I’d just work through it, or at least keep myself busy especially as it’s the February half-term and the year has only just got going. This time around, though, I’m going to treat myself to a couple of days off, simply because last week felt pretty ridiculous. Maybe launching two brand new solo plays in the same week was a bit much. The first one, the new Harvey Greenfield show, certainly stumbled a bit in its first ever public performance (fortunately in front of a small audience of friends) in London, but it settled by the second night. In February, any new show is very much a work in progress but there’s enough there to suggest it'll be a winner once it’s all honed in. A few days later, I launched another new show, this time in Leicester at a festival there. Big audience, I changed tact halfway through realising the vibe of the room wasn’t quite a good good fit…they clearly needed something louder, so that’s what I was happy to give them. Proper seat of the pants stuff, having to effectively rewrite a new show on the spot, but i’ve been around long enough now to get away with it.
In between those shows, I also performed the original Harvey show (also in Leicester) and had a lovely time…there’s definitely a point where you think…why write a new show when the old one still works so well? But that would be too easy. That was performance 81 of that piece, I think. I also spent a glorious day filming with the brilliant Neil Oseman, reprising Harvey G for the camera.
I also rehearsed (as a drummer) with Josie, Dylan and Gaf for a new little side project, great fun but one which may stay very much on the side considering how much Fred’s House have in the diary for me.
And of course, all the teaching. So much teaching, 7 days a week. We have a new student showcase gig booked in for 30th April at the wonderful Portland Arms in Cambridge which is exciting.
Everything is exciting, isn’t it? All of it. Too much of it?
Nah, but I did welcome half-term with open arms, a can of beer and then the fear of having to do some basic DIY around the house…
Either way, Happy New Year! It’s still January, that means it’s okay, yeah? I mean, I looked up from my laptop the other night and realised that we may still have our Christmas tree up…where is this year going? It’s going fast, in a fun and frantic way full of lovely projects.
I’m really pushing my Drummers to the Rescue project this year - I enjoy teaching but more good must come from this…there’s a lot of people in the country (and world!) in a less privileged place than us, we can help with charity gigs and have a lot of fun in the process.
In the meantime, my brand new show, HARVEY GREENFIELD IS GETTING MARRIED opens in London next month and it’s looking every bit as frantic as the first instalment so I’ve spent every evening when I’m not drumming practicing for that. My other new show, The Loneliness of the Long Distance Drummer, opens at the fabulous Leicester Comedy Festival merely a few days later. And then Fred’s House start touring again, it’s a good job my lovely wife bought me a fancy new coffee machine for Christmas….
Just a quick one to wish you all a merry Christmas…it’s been a pleasure drumming at a gig you may have been at, performing theatre to you, teaching you drums, teaching you how to write a play…or if you’re that really friendly family in my local Londis where I by my coffee from most mornings. People are great, you deserve a lovely Christmas, I hope you manage to get one despite all this constant uncertainty.
The final gigs of the year have been played (a struggle, due to musicians having to self-isolate) and tomorrow I socially-distance-teach my final sessions of the year. Gift vouchers for drum lessons available if you fancy taking it up in 2022, the writing course is also available, we need to stay creative, yeah?
Stay safe, next year will be brilliant, keep making those plans :-)
Still not quite comfortable, is it? The variant that's crept up has put us all on edge once again. Just little things...we were discussing the idea of a little student showcase Christmas gig for my Drummers to the Rescue project but have realised it's best to maybe do a virtual event instead. At one of my schools today, I was told that the Christmas drumming assembly I was to be hosting (giving the kids a chance to perform in front of their families) now can't have parents in the audience...just minimising the amount of people in the school. I get it, but it's quite sad. It's like the drumming equivalent of a nativity. I guess I just hoped that nearly 2 years into all of this, things would just be a bit more, well, certain, I guess.
I know, I know - compared to many, I shouldn't grumble. So I won't. I'm still working (more than ever) and as long as Christmas happens somehow and I'm allowed to see my core family (I live with my wife, if we can have over her parents, her brother, my mum and my sister) we'll have a lovely time. It just feels like some of the fun has been cancelled; I had two Christmas plays about to go live in December but we backed out due to pandemic-based fears. Sorry, I'm grumbling again.
I've done plenty this year, quite a few nice gigs, the movie (more on that soon), London and Bristol runs with the play. I've recently taken on an extra school and it's a wonderful place to teach with lots of space, great equipment and the students really get it. We've been to the West Indies for our honeymoon and have somehow acquired the most amazing puppy you could possibly picture (despite his constant wind breaking). Nothing to grumble about.
But. Well. Just like everyone in December, I want to make plans for next year. I have huge plans. Mostly theatre company based plans. And ways to get my students onstage. But other plans, too. They all involve live performance, in some way or another. That involves booking venues, tours, committing quite a bit of money and energy to making this come alive. But will it actually happen? Here's hoping 2022 is the year of actual freedom, not tentatively booking things in whilst constantly looking over our shoulders...