There are some things about stand-up you can learn, like how to use a microphone stand, or what's the neatest way to write a joke. There are some things in stand-up you can gain, like the confidence behind a microphone. Overall, it comes down to a combination of the things you earn - time served for one - and the attitude to both hold and convey when you're on stage. Oh, and the mood of the audience... and how that interacts with your own mood.

So, tonight, after a rather good day in general, I took to the stage in a good mood, to an audience who were looking for something to top the night, but who had their own way of expressing themselves. On the one hand, very little of what I normally bash out verbatim came out as planned. On the other hand, I was playing heckler tennis - they threw stuff at me, and I chipped it back towards them with a smile. It was very good fun.

The day overall had put me in my element. There had been a few clouds on the horizon, the dodgy DVD player that would not play the disc I offered it, the rather bizarre mood at the CD fair I visited, the slight concern over the results of the most-expensive-machine-in-the-optician's... but then there were the highlights, like buying tickets to go and see some live music at the Cheltenham Jazz festival, or snapping up some bargains at the CD fair (it gives, it takes) and having a lovely lunch in the mid-afternoon.

Sometimes, a smile and a laugh are all you need to bring to a room of people who want to smile and laugh, and the rest is just bog-standard alchemy.

I was in my element.