I was looking forward to my gig tonight. I got a haircut to celebrate. I prepared for the cycle ride to the station. I prepared for the cycle ride from the station to the gig. I even took a book for reading on the train.

What I didn't prepare for was that the room would be full of comedians - a lot of whom turned up on the off chance of getting on the bill - with only 3 genuine audience members among them. By the time I got to the end of the night, 2 of the genuine audience had left. Bar one guy, who wasn't the average audiene person, everyone was a comedian.

It's hard to perform in front of your peers. Especially when they all know how it's done.

I think it went okay enough - I felt confident doing the new bits of material.

After receiving my fee - all of £5 - I went to get my bike. A man stopped me and started telling me jokes. It soon transpired that he was begging. I found it amusing that, after playing to a room full of comedians, I had someone soliciting money from me in return for telling me jokes. I paid him.

I love irony.