Thursday 11th October

Class assisting today at RADA. A major irony that has not escaped my notice is that I’m now sort of teaching in a number of the Drama Schools at which over a ten-year period I consistently failed to get a place. Thus having been told by nearly every actor training centre in th UK that it would be beyond even their capabilities to train me as an actor, I am now in their schools teaching their students how to be actors. Even though I can't do it myself. I know. They told me. Some people would say that this is a common phenomenon in teaching (and lets face it, how many teachers have we all met who are little more than frustrated somethings) (or little more than frustrated). Good teaching practice and old-fashioned manners forbid me from writing anything here about what goes on in the classes I assist at, or the students I assist. Sorry. Imagine it for yourselves then tell me what you imagined and I'll tell you how close you were.

Classes finished at five, so I grabbed a quick pint with Sam before hopping on the Northern line down to the NT to change clothes and dump some kit in the office before catching a train out to Richmond for beer with Brian and Jamie. In this respect, if in no other, the NT is fantastic. Given that when I do manage to make a social occasion (and for me, nipping out to the pub is an occasion) I’m often coming from work or class somewhere else in town, the NT provides an ideal place to perform a quick change and dump anything I can't be arsed to carry with me for the evening. There’s even a shower in the changing rooms for if I’ve had a particularly sweaty class, and what’s even handier is that if need be I can plant a change of clothes in the office ready for my next shift at work. I used this splendid facility a lot last year when I was a manager and the office was mine to do with as I would, but even since then no-one has ever raised any objections to me offloading bags of PE kit and the occasional sword in there. In this way, I’m able to perpetuate my air of mystery by magically appearing somewhere in a different set of clothes.

In Richmond we went to a cripplingly expensive pub and had a silly old time until Jamie’s stomach bug finally got the better of him and he was forced to admith that Dr Beer didn’t hold the cure. Brian and I then went to a much better pub for a couple more before heading home.

You will find that beer plays a significant part in my life. See how many references to it you can spot.