Yes, a four star review from Three Weeks. Bloody hell. It reads:

“How can you be a double act if you’re only one man? Simple. Create a partner by pre-recording your own voice and perform sketches opposite yourself. That’s what Moz does in this highly original show. Unfortunately things go awry when Shmozle, his eponymous comedic partner, suffers an existential crisis upon realising he is in fact just a voiceover with his every word predetermined by a script. At this point he rebels, forcing Moz into a metaphysical conflict with his own words. The exceptionally clever writing is counter-balanced by enjoyable puerile humour, which consistently amuses without quite hitting the heights of hilarity. Very enjoyable, you have to admire the amount of work which has clearly gone into it”.

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck! Someone “got” it. Someone “understood” it. That’s a brilliant review which I’m incredibly proud of, but leaves me with a massive dilemma; re-write the show for the masses, or continue to appeal to my very niche audience? 

Sod it! This has given me the courage to carry on, to continue, I like shMOZle as a show. Yes I still believe that I’ve made big mistakes with it, and that my slot is wrong and I’ve over-used the voice-over. Basically everything my audience fed back to me, and everything I feel about the show’s faults still stands, but I wanted to be original and different and give the audience something unexpected and that’s what I’ve done. Some love it. Some hate it. In Brighton they loved it, in Edinburgh they hate it, except a handful… who probably come from Brighton. :-)

What an emotional roller-coaster I’m on. I have no idea what to feel or think. I’m massively confused, but also on massive high. I’m meant to be sleeping but can’t. And I realise this is just one person’s opinion, and opinions are like assholes, but like I said before about us writers/performers “we just want to feel loved and appreciated”, and this has made me feel loved and appreciated again. The writer in me is smiling.

I’m just gearing up for a one-star or no-star review tomorrow. Maybe people will throw things at me? It’s all peaks and troughs innit?

More tomorrow.

Mxxx