I’ve put two new songs up on my Myspace page, which you can listen to if you want – ‘Think Of England’ and ‘The Other Shoe’. Just click here. I’m afraid the recording quality is a bit scrappy (although better than my previous efforts), and it’s clear at several key points that my reach exceeds … Read more

So yeah, those of you who came to the Local Boys Done Good edition of HOMEWORK will remember we did a show all about our hometowns. Well, guess what? If you missed it or just forgot it or loved it so much that you want to be locked in a cell with it projected onto … Read more

So yeah, had a faboo weekend over in Liverpool at the Bluecoat, doing some challenging and fun gigs and getting to soak up some culture. I really enjoyed doing the Revolutions In Form gig on the Sunday, which featured live doodles, a poem passed Chinese Whispers style through the whole audience, performance art, music and … Read more

So, I’m in the midst of a rather pleasant weekend in Liverpool, doing a bunch of gigs at the Bluecoat. On Friday evening, I got to host an evening with Vic Reeves, where we introduced a sold-out crowd to his new book, Vic Reeves’ Vast Book Of World Knowledge. As you can probably imagine, I … Read more

Back at the beginning of 2007, the Onion AV Club’s Nathan Rabin coined the term ‘Manic Pixie Dream Girl’, to describe the archetype represented by Kirsten Dunst’s character in the movie Elizabethtown: ‘Dunst embodies a character type I like to call The Manic Pixie Dream Girl (see Natalie Portman in Garden State for another prime … Read more

Pity the swollen ranks of crap comedy superheroes – every Goitreman and Ochre Bagpiper, each Super Wafter and Captain Brasso, even The Amazing Mr Narcolepsy – and their attempts to amuse by being mediocre. They are all but wisps of bumfluff against the majesty that is Mustache Boy. Mustache Boy is a vaguely Einsteinish hirsute … Read more

Masquerade‘He goes by many names –Loki, God of mischief,Mara, the deceiver.In the dark arts of misdirection and illusionHe is peerless,’Says Cecil.I am looking at a green electricity junction boxConcreted into the ground.Cecil senses my confusion. His beam widensLike an interdimensional rift.

Little GodsStrange, omniscient Maxine watchesA couple conceive on the backseat of a Yatsuki GremlinListens to the creak of leather upholstery and ancient suspensionAnd the hushed whoosh of a snowstorm raging outside the carWhile, seventy years later,Their great grandson thumbs cartridges like little lipsticksInto a magazinePuts the muzzle to his throbbing templeAnd waits for the 12:15To … Read more

So, yeah, guess what? Last night, my first book, We Can’t All Be Astronauts, scooped Best Biography/Memoir at the East Anglian Book Awards! That’s good, isn’t it? The judges called it: ‘A funny, poignant, beautifully written account of a budding writer’s quest for literary success.’ Yep. No argument there, judges. As you can imagine, I … Read more

The Amazing Adventures Of Mr F. Lea can’t blame its title on some over-enthusiastic foreign programmer’s bad English – unlike most of the other games I’ve covered in this hall of shame, it’s just a really crap pun. Appropriate really, since the entire game is basically a succession of weak jokes, as gentle and poorly-executed … Read more