As the end of the calendar is fast approaching us, I thought I would look back at some of the fun things I have done this year and what I have planned coming up in the next year. This particular post is looking at the fabulous events and holiday I have got to go to this year. All with the help of my lovely partner who was there for me when my anxiety started to be an issue, which was not that often thankfully.  All the way back in March we went and saw Dara O’Briain live.

This was a wickedly funny night and Dara is an amazing comedian who I would definitely go and see again. It was made funnier by the fact that when he picked on people in the front row there were not that responsive. He laid the seed of a punchline that he would return to later and they never felt forced. Although the commentary around why VR is not used for porn was both witty and thought-provoking.

Soon after we went to An Evening with style event for Brian Blessed. Although not a comedian as such you still found yourself laughing along with his tales. The man is clearly a born performer and storyteller. Tales that you knew were coming, like his time filming Flash Gordon and his adventures. You even got tales that you were not expecting, like his friendship with Patrick Stewart. While we made sure that e was not too close to the stage as we would be deafened by that marvellous booming voice of his. There was no way to escaping it as he sang Nessum Doram. For a man in his 80s he recall is mind-blowing, as he would quote lines for performance that he had done over 30 years ago. You left the theatre with his mantra literally ringing in your ears – “Don’t let the bastards get you down”.

And then there was the event that I was both looking forward to and dreading in equal parts – London Film and Comic Con. I had done a couple of Horror Con in the past but this far exceed those in sheer size. This was the part that I was dreading. I did burst into tears once over the weekend due to the stress of getting there but overall I coped fairly well. My reward for that was getting my photo taken with Meatloaf and Caroline Munro, and going to a talk by Meatloaf in the similar vein as Brian Blessed’s. Both Meatloaf and Munro clearly have a love for their fans, but Meatloaf stole my heart. The photo shoots overran because he was too busy talking to all of his fans. I had cosplayed as Alice Cooper in Wonderland and he told me I looked rocking.

Then there was the holiday where we went to Weymouth and Glastonbury. This was a birthday treat for my partner but he still wanted me to go to something that I would love while we were away hence the two destinations. So for my partner the holiday started at Monkey World and the Jurassic coast fossil hunting via The Tank Mueseum. The work done at Monkey World is superb and the Tank museum was a surprising highlight.

For my part we went to the Chalice Well. This is always a cleansing experience for me and more so every time I go. A last-minute decision to go to Wookey Hole due to the change in the weather was an awesome decision. The caves themselves are breath-taking. The experience was marred slightly by a small child who insisted on crying all the way around the tour which meant it was difficult to hear what the tour guide was saying. After the tour you come out to a myriad of plastic dinosaurs and a giant gorilla. There was nothing wrong with the display, it did seemed jarring after the caves. As we went off-season a lot of the “main events” was not on.

The year ended as it had started with a comedy gig. This time Jason Manford. And while he gave me a term for my class identity, Muddle Class, the comedy did not resonate with me as much as it had with Dara. I have no children, so I do not have to worry myself about them being posher than me and I am an only child, so I do not have the sibling anxiety that occurs when a sibling appears to no longer be in the same class as you. Do not get me wrong, Jason was amusing and likable, it was just not for me. Although I could get behind his commentary on Disney’s obsession with killing parent(s) of the hero of the piece.

His imagined conversation between the Disney rep and the writers, with the Disney rep seemingly to have the same voice as a 70s Northern Stand-Up comedian putting his morbid stamp on the writer’s happy tales of heroes. However Jason did end the show by telling everyone, but especially thr men that it was okay not to be okay. With Suicide being the biggest killer of young men that there should be less stigma around men opening up and this is clearly a statement that everyone can behind.

So plans for next year. Confirmed so far is that we will be going to the Whitby Goth Weekend and I am an officiant for a friend’s handfasting which is a real honour. I will being going to another Con at some point, whether or not it will be London will depend on who the guests are and some more shows are going to in there as well. Here is to more adventures next year.