20 years ago I gave stand-up comedy a go. As the years have gone by I’ve come to the conclusion it wasn’t for me. I have other commitments now, a wife, a home, a job. I have refocussed my creative efforts on writing and got on with the business of being a husband and carer. About two months ago I found I’d come up with what felt like a 5 minute stand-up set. I tried to turn it into a sketch, or a blog, or something that would fit down one of my existing creative avenues. I failed. Then it occurred to me that I could do it without trying to do it professionally. So I did.

The advent of the internet in its current form since I was a teenager has transformed the whole process completely. I was able to google 'open mic nights' in my area. On twitter and Facebook I follow comics and chat with other fans. I picked up the insight that trying comedy at a general open mic with a predominance of musicians (I think that’s the collective noun) wasn’t the best plan. So I re-evaluated my options. I was, to be honest, on the verge of letting the whole thing drift. Then I got a message on twitter from a guy who makes a Podcast called 4amCAB that I once wrote a sketch for. He had made another podcast about his own decision to move into stand-up and wanted to know how I was getting on. We all need a nudge at times, and, duly spurred on, I kept looking, found a venue and booked my first gig.

All of this is very interesting, of course. And we can see why it makes a lovely chase-your- dreams-never-give-up story. But you appear to have listed it under the heading of a column about being a carer. Did you just chose the title out of habit?

No, don't worry.

I wasn't.

Whatever. I knew what I was doing. Here goes.

The thing with being a carer is the extent to which it can rule your life. This of course is true of people in lots of scenarios, the most notable perhaps being people who need carers. As so often, then, the lessons you learn as a carer can be applied not only to other carers, but also to the rest of the world in general. In this instance the lesson I am tentatively submitting is: don't forget yourself.

Because it is the kind of person I am, I built a spreadsheet. I did some very basic maths and worked out that uses of my time that are relatively easy to enumerate take up 63% of my life. That's without shopping, housework and, yes, I didn't count the caring bits. The fact is that large parts of most lives are taken up doing things we have to do. They're not necessarily awful or unpleasant things, but we have to eat, sleep, wash, shop and work. So when we're done with all of these things, and we've done the hoovering and we've made the appropriate time for other people, we need to do something purely because we want to. As long as it's legal.

So that's what I did. I haven't got a career plan as a stand-up, or a dream of winning any awards or even the notion that I might make any money. I did it because I wanted to. And then I did it again about three weeks later. It's early days, but I really think it's good to have something like this in your life.

You should give it a try.

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