The gig

“What are we sitting here for?”

“Waiting.”

“What for?”

“I’ve managed to pick up a bit of agency work nextdoor.”

“What doing?”

“Compering a game show.”

“Have you done it before?”

“No.  But I’ve done a bit of teaching.  Hang on.  They’re calling me.”

***

“Well?  How was it?”

“Alright really.  A bit stressful, but so is teaching and managing projects.”

“So what did you do?”

“Well, I just watched one at first, from the wings.  The audience couldn’t see me.  I just watched someone else do it and picked up a few tips.  I vaguely knew one of the people who was running it – like a stage manager or something, or floor manager, I’m not sure.”

“How did you know him?”

“He was a kind of small-time gangster where I come from.  I haven’t seen him since.  He seems to have done alright.”

“Seems a bit odd.”

“Well, it was a bit.  Kind of seedy, but I suppose that’s how it is these days.”

“So what happened?”

“Like I said.  I watched them do a show.  The compere was a bit of a Jack The Lad.  Knew how to please the audience – keep them entertained and involved – and knew how the game went.  A bit of cheek with the contestants, you know, a bit of a laugh and that.  That was it, really, I just watched him do a show.”

“Then what?”

“There was a kind of interval.  Same audience, sat on tiered seats in the dark.  It was all a bit dingy, really.  I went over to the stage manager and he introduced me.  You just grin a lot and make a few quips.  He went over the game again with me.  Told me to be myself and ad lib a bit, and that was it.”

“You went on?”

“Yeah.  I had a chat with the audience.  A few close to the bone jokes and that.  I forgot it was being recorded in the end.”

“How did it go?”

“It was all over in a flash.   No time at all.  I made it up a lot, but no one seemed to care.”

“Didn’t you follow the rules?”

“Yeah.  Of course.  But you soon pick that up.  It’s easy really.”

“And that’s it?”

“Yeah.  Pretty much.”

“Are you going to do anymore?”

“I don’t know.  If they call me back, maybe, yeah.”

“Blimey.”

“Why don’t you give it a go?  You might as well, since you’re sitting here anyway.”

“I’m not sure.  I like to know what I’m doing.  I don’t like all this blagging it.  It doesn’t seem right.”

“Well it’s how it is these days.”

“Hm.  For you, maybe.”

“And the rest.”