Spoil Me.

Today started with a feeling of positivity about where I'm at with my show, which was swiftly scuppered by reading a scathing review of it.

I know the clichés - it's just one person's opinion, and getting negative write-ups are all part of the game - but it still hurts; mainly because I can't compete with the reach the source will get. ‎This isn't a concern because some of copy isn’t complimentary; more because it reveals a frustratingly large amount of the show's content in just a few short paragraphs. 

 It’s like seeing its key stories and punchlines resorted to bullet points. It takes away the element of surprise. I didn’t expect a Dummies Guide to ‘…and Ephgrave’ but I got it, or for my show to be available as York Notes.

 It’s a spoiler akin to Channel Four’s one-time advert for ‘The Shawshank Redemption’, which started with the prison governor throwing a rock at Raquel Welch.

 (I hope I haven't just made the same mistake myself.)
When you’re working without PR, you’re lucky to get a review in the first place; if it isn’t good, and more people come into contact with it than your own promotional material, you wind up working from the back foot. That's just the risk you take. When the dust settles, I'll remind myself of all the people who did laugh rather than the one who didn't. I won't lie though: it will make the show's stories a little harder to tell tomorrow. 

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