Facebook and real panto

What does facebook have in common with pantomime? I suppose it is that when you get something wrong, it is in front of 200 people.

It has been a real pleasure to play the character of Simple Simon in this year's Hallam Players panto Jack and the Beanstalk, alongside Nick Clegg and Richard Allan and many other talented locals.

So I discover the hard way, during the final show of the run, that, having met one's co-star on stage that forgetting a line can sometimes give the next line added comic poignancy. "I'm awfully glad we bumped into each other" I said to her. Then a pause... under my breath... "I'll remember why in a minute". The prompt came to the rescue: "My name's Simon". Ah, yes, I am introducing myself. "My name's Simon. People think I'm simple. But I'm not really." I'm afraid to admit that after having forgotten my own name, it was difficult to deliver the rest of the line with conviction, or a straight face.

Ah well, worse things happen at sea. So I was talking to another member of the cast at the after show party about Mitch Benn, and how he admired Tom Lehrer. "Tom Lehrer?" "I'll send you a link to something on YouTube."

Of course sending links by email is so 90s. No I'll post it on your facebook funwall. Well that was the plan. Actually I posted it on the facebook funwall of all my friends.... [Update: actually maybe I didn't. Notifications, right, that's just spamming some feed that tells other people that I have sent someone, not them, a video. What will they think of next.]

I will get back to Reinventing the State at some point.