I wake up in Halifax with hours to spare.

I take it slowly. 

Now that I am nearing the end of the 100 Bookshops tour, people are saying that I must be looking forward to putting my feet up, but I’m not.

Putting my feet up puts me into a position of guilt for laziness. 

Pic by @bookcornerhx

I am a finger tapper, a human of antsy energy. 

I am beginning to work out new plans so I can continue to descend into busy-ness. 

I remember Eddie Izzard commenting that he found it necessary to work so hard because he knew how lazy he was. I understand that. 

I deposit my suitcase and book bags at The Book Corner in The Piece Hall and take a walk around the subways and side streets of Halifax. My friend Martin has recommended the Dean Clough gallery as a place to wander. They have an exhibition my an artist called Alan Gummerson. I knew nothing of his work and I like what I see – it reminds me of Robert Rauschenberg and Louise Bourgeoise (but no spiders). I eavesdrop on the two women at the reception desk as they are talking about cyborgs. 

“Once you’ve put metal jewellery through your ear lobe, you are a cyborg”.

On the journey back, I see a small Oxfam. 

Of course, there are four books I need – an anthology of WB Yeats, a book on Auschwitz and a memoir of Alice Herz-Sommer who, until 2014, was the oldest survivor of the holocaust. There is also a book, Invisible Residents, a non-fiction work about the invisible beings that live under the sea and who may be responsible for phenomena such as UFOs and the Bermuda Triangle. They are all only 49 pence each, so I pay more and the leads to confusion. 

Back at The Book Corner, I am still early. Sarah gives me a cup of tea and a copy of their bestseller, The Gallows Pole be Benjamin Myers. I start reading it and quickly decide that it is a book I will buy for Alan Moore. I chat and sign and then run hastily to the train station to get to Hull. 

Back at The Book Corner, I am still early. Sarah gives me a cup of tea and a copy of their bestseller, The Gallows Pole be Benjamin Myers. I start reading it and quickly decide that it is a book I will buy for Alan Moore. I chat and sign and then run hastily to the train station to get to Hull. 

I like Hull. I like places that are the end of the line, places that people try to dismiss or barely know exist. I like the stories people tell me about when Mick Ronson used to mow the grass of their school. One of my favourite autobiographies is Cosey Fanni Tutti’s Art Sex Music. She paints a brutal picture of post war Hull that reveals her toughness and individuality. She is self effacing and iconic. 

I arrive with 5 minutes to spare before the vast Tesco closes. There is no time to browse for sustenance, I just have to grab impulsively and so return to the hotel with a small cheese and onion quiche, tomatoes, Dairylea Triangles, “Japan’s favourite noodle pot”, some digestives and a packet of pumpkin seeds – all the major food groups. 

I am talking at Wrecking Ball Press, publishers of the brilliant novels of Barney Farmer. I still think Drunken Baker is an unsung classic. I pick up a copy of his latest, Park by the River.

I am on stage with a chair and a radiator. One audience member comments that the radiator seems to be an inanimate double act partner. Add a pineapple and it might look like I was an adventurous juggler. The audience seem quiet and I am unsure how they are taking the talk, but this can happen in Hull, and it turns out everything was fine. 

I go to the pub, a rarity as I have generally been pretty careful, but maybe I am getting blasé to the pandemic as the year comes to an end. I stop at three pints. It is not over yet and I have to be at JE Books at 1130am on Monday morning. I eat the Dairylea but don’t get around to the pumpkin seeds. 

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All Tour dates here. Nine Lessons and Carols for Curious People is coming up soon too, at Kings Place, as is mine and Brian Cox’s Compendium of Reason at the Royal Albert Hall.

Order signed and dedicated copies of The Importance of being Interested here.

Robin Ince is a multi-award winning comedian, writer and broadcaster.  As well as spending decades as one the UK’s most respected stand-ups, Robin is perhaps best known for co-hosting The Infinite Monkey Cage radio show with Brian Cox.  For his work on projects like Cosmic Shambles he was made an Honorary Doctor of Science by Royal Holloway, University of London. His latest book, The Importance of Being Interested has just been released.

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