How many times do you have to do something before it becomes a tradition? If it’s two, then this is our traditional post-Christmas OPPO gang drinks. The problem is that the one day a week we’re ever free is Wednesday, because that’s when, y’know, we run OPPO, and you try organising a social for comedians. But in the first week of January, with no students around and thus no gig worth running, we are all free in this otherwise blocked out slot. Hurrah.
Of course, it’s still Dry January (still! On the third! Will this ever end? [I’m actually fine with Dry January, I don’t know what I’m complaining about, it’s just the thing you do, y’know?]), so I’m on the mocktails, which - as ever - are nicer than the alcoholic drinks would be. A lovely elderflower sherbert concoction was seeing me through the evening.
Giving up alcohol for the month is a piece of piss, but giving up sugar would be a laughable impossibility, so I find myself ordering a brownie. It is… fine. The rule holds, I should really stop ordering brownies in restaurants given that pretty much uniformly they are never as good as the ones I make. It’s served with ice cream and a crumb for some reason, and not enough sauce.
This is of course a meeting of comedians, and as the only one of the four of us who arguably does not demonstrate ADHD symptoms, I am very much a silent partner in the evening, but it’s just a joy to be with these lovely funny people outside of a gig context.
Eventually, we tire of keeping the bar staff entertained, with few other customers to be serving, and make our way, ready to start another year of chaotic gigs. What a way to start.