Pimp My Hotpot: Two Down!

It's frightening how much I'm enjoying this - and last night was the best yet. What made it so special was having family and friends in the audience. As I said to Natalie on the way back to the car - it's a kind of payback for all the wonderful concerts I've been to over the years when she's been performing. I think I'll need a few more outings before we're all square but hey, it's a start.

I managed to join the family table for the latter half of the show before diving back to the green room to join the queue for the curtain call. Luckily myself and one of my fellow compères were the penultimate cast members to take the stage, so my timing was spot on.

If anything this experience has confirmed my long-held opinion that I have absolutely no interest in treading the boards in an acting capacity. Opening the show as compère can't be called "acting" IMO. It's more like doing a presentation (only without any slides) and from day one I've found it no more nerve-racking than any presentation I give as part of my day job.

And the singing is really not that different to the karaoke I've been doing for almost ten years. Except the songs are our own, and we don't have to keep stepping off the stage to "let someone else have a go."

But having mentioned karaoke, I should just add that if it hadn't been for my past experiences, gaining confidence in singing in front of an audience, I would never, ever, have been able to step up on stage and give a performance like I did tonight. A certain person who shall remain anonymous laughed at me when she first learned I'd started singing karaoke. But say what you will, everything happens for a reason, and starting out on that path all those years ago has led me to last night - one of the most fulfilling experiences I've ever had and a buzz that can't be easily explained to anyone who hasn't done it, or matched by much else. Laugh all you like, but if I could change anything at all, I would only want to have started sooner.