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Thank You Cheggers
While my tics might not be part of my conscious thought processes, they definitely reflect the time and cultural references of my childhood, and this means that the stars of 1980’s children’s TV get a...
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Heroes Of The Imagination
I’m lying in bed, my soft duvet enveloping my exhausted body. This weekend the Touretteshero team’s been working flat out on Heroes of the Imagination at Southbank Centre’s Imagine Children’s Festival....
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Babies, Bodies, Biscuits
In one week’s time our production of Samuel Beckett’s ‘Not I’ opens at Battersea Arts Centre in London. We’ve been in rehearsals this week and it’s been great getting back into the play. I’ve...
View ArticleBeckett and Biscuits
It’s Sunday, I’m lying in bed, and I woke with the first light creeping in around the edges of my bedroom blind. A moment ago I pulled it up to let the light fill the room. Then I sank back into bed....
View ArticleBreakthrough News
Eight years ago to the month, Leftwing Idiot and I started Touretteshero. We’d been friends for many years and he’d provided me with vital support when my tics intensified. At times adjusting to them...
View ArticleHave Tics, Will Travel
We’re off to the US tomorrow, first to New York to give a talk at BRIC in Brooklyn and then on to Portland to work with Boom Arts. I’m really excited to be heading back to North America. Before...
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Standing Up In Portland
While touring our show Backstage In Biscuit Land a couple of years ago I had a difficult experience at a comedy festival. I wrote about it here and have thought about it on and off since. At almost...
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Three Good Hours - A Public Announcement
I woke just now with a start and a sharp intake of breath. After a moment or two I began the urgent shuffle onto my commode to let my wee slowly find its way out. But I started thinking about what I...
View ArticleWee-wee Hard
I’ve just done something really difficult. It wasn’t learning a complicated text, performing in front of thousands or completing a cryptic crossword. And it wasn’t something that I feel proud of. I...
View ArticleOf FOMO and Me
Last night we had our opening performance of Not I here in Berlin. The show went well and the audience seemed to enjoy it. It was quite late when we finished and none of us had eaten so the whole team...
View ArticleThe Tale of the Table and the Tortoise
At work today I had a ‘ticcing fit’. I lost all regular speech but my vocal tics continued. Much to my surprise and that of my colleagues a strange story emerged. Here’s my Tourettes-generated fable:...
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Workplace Adjustments
I’ve written a lot over the last year about my increasing pain and decreasing energy. I’ve shared my concerns about the impact on my work, but I’ve not talked about the adjustments we’ve been making so...
View ArticleA Blog Post From Broadway
I’m writing this post from my room in an old, elegant hotel on Broadway, New York. Spring sunshine, streaming in through the window is broken up by the wooden blinds, casting fragmented light and...
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Please Help Me Find Amazing New PAs
I spend very little time on my own. To live an independent, happy, safe, creative life I need other people’s support and a team of personal assistants and support workers help me at work, at home and...
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Show Us Your Machines
Almost a decade ago I had a conversation that changed my life – I was sitting in Leftwing Idiot’s kitchen talking about my intensifying tics and he described my Tourettes as a “language-generating...
View ArticleBern Geranium Bern
Leftwing Idiot’s been away for over a month. We last saw him in New York in April where we’d been showing our film ‘Me, My Mouth and I’ at a film festival. This morning Jen and I met him at Heathrow...
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Body of Pain
It feels as if my body’s gone on strike. Or maybe more than that, it’s as if it’s engaged in some sort of direct action against me. Since January I’ve been swimming at my local hydrotherapy pool on...
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A Socialist Approach to Energy
My sister had a BBQ yesterday. It was a small gathering of about fifteen close friends. I could see that her two-year-old daughter Bean was very excited by the party but also a bit overwhelmed by so...
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Playtopia and Beyond
Playing and making are the two big passions in my life, and they always have been. Play is a fundamental part of children’s lives and it’s very individual for each person, but sadly some children don’t...
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My Brilliant Blue Body
I’ve written a lot about my love of wheelchairs and what an important role they play in my life. There have been times when my chair’s been broken or I haven’t had the right equipment, and as a result,...
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