I was really looking forward to the above collection of shows, especially as it would have given me the chance to perform Finding Scrooge. I had found this story and struck up an email correspondence with the author Jason C McDonald who had enthusiastically tweeted his excitement at his work being given this treatment. This show was due to take place at Malt Cross, an old Victorian music hall in the heart of the city centre and I had deliberately kept the admission price low so that it was within the financial reach of anyone who wanted to see it, which is the sort of generous act that Charles Dickens would have approved of.

Despite having given them posters several weeks beforehand, I went for a drink there with Mandi well in advance and saw that they hadn't put up a single one of them on the wall. I had paid for these myself so I was already pissed off at this lack of support. Once I confronted them on this they emailed me to say that the A4 posters I had provided were too small and if I sent them the jpeg then they would print up some A3 versions. Of course when I went to the venue on the Sunday lunchtime of the first show there wasn't a single poster up. As an act of damage limitation we scattered some flyers around the pub and I then spent the rest of the build up worrying that this wasn't going to work. 

The whole affair was doomed from the start. We arrived at the pub to find that there were still no posters up and not only that but none of the staff seemed to know anything about a show even taking place. After going to the trouble of setting up chairs in the room the show was being performed, my dad and I went for a coffee and waited for Mandi to turn up with my suit. Returning to Malt Cross it occurred to me that alongside the lack of posters there was no mention on the A-board outside, or on the board downstairs. Mandi was on the door to collect the money and by quarter past two I decided to give in and go home, having not bothered to change into my suit. 

On the Monday I received an email from the pub to the effect that the quality of the jpeg wasn't good enough for them to print larger posters, so could I please send a higher resolution image. This is when I realised that I was onto a loser because they were only acting on their lack of attention after I had brought it up. I had pretty much decided that this was a bad idea as I seem to have trouble in my hometown when it comes to getting things off the ground. My work is appreciated anywhere in the country but once I get home I might as well be invisible. 

Their email went unanswered and they didn't get in touch the following week to ask why I hadn't showed up. If lack of communication is how they operate then they will understand my own lack. The piss-poor behaviour annoyed me as they should have offered some assistance given to promote the gigs as I was paying for the room (although I didn't actually hand over any money because I had agreed to pay afterwards). To make things worse I had the dates in my diary and so it was too late in the day to obtain replacement shows elsewhere. 

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