This is kind of an open thank you letter to Paul (audience member Tues 10^th August). 

Something wonderful and enjoyable happened today and I’d like to thank the audience member in question with far more sincerity than when I had to write to my Uncle Gerald to thank him for giving me a Wham! tape cassette album.

In my show I ask an audience member to join me on stage to translate a song from French to English.  I sing it in French and I do give them the English translation, but I ask if anyone speaks French as a way of getting someone to come up.  And today there were three young lads aged 17 – Will, Jack and Paul.  Decent young men – their mothers should be proud – but Will and Jack were clearly the more confident of the two.

When I asked, ‘Does anyone speak French?’ Will and Jack immediately pointed to Paul as he’s the best in the year at French apparently and he agreed to join me on stage.  Paul was the shyest of the trio and although he did agree, Will and Jack knew he’d be uncomfortable.  But Paul pulled off the gig with aplomb.  Yes, there were moments when I took the piss a little and Will and Jack loved watching their mate squirm, but Paul got through it and the rest of the audience were laughing and loving him. 

I think they were also the kind of mates that really properly liked each other and it reminded me a little of friendship at that age and of those school friends I’m lucky to still be in touch with.  My mate Andy recently posted a load of pics from our youth on Facebook – from that age around 15 to 17 when you start drinking, going out and everything is a maelstrom of emotion and seems so important.  It is important, even though it isn’t.  Andy also posted a gallery of schoolteachers from the school magazine, including Mr. Bentley, who features in the show and his pic generated a load of comments that confirmed my opinion of him that he was a tool of some proportion.

Anyhow,  Paul, you’re a lovely young man and helped make the show today.  Thank you and I hope your Edinburgh trip goes down as a joyous memory and that when you post the futuristic 3D memory video on Brainbook (or whatever it’ll be then) via an inbuilt wireless connection in your cerebellum that it generates a slew of comments.

All the best.

Matt