{ "characterId": "oliver_bren", "dateLabel": "2026-09-25", "story": "THEREFORE from Day 24's road test, on Friday Ollie went to a working room above a pub in Soho on Jules's invitation and did the panic attack set cold, mid-slot, and came off to applause that was not polite. Jules said quietly in the corridor that set, with the Edinburgh bit as the opener, is the shape, and at the bar his phone buzzed with an email from Helen at the BBC — three sentences, the third saying we will record you doing material you have not performed publicly before — and the room did a small lurch he could feel in his wrists. His eyes did something he could not stop and a comic named Dev who had followed him in put a hand on his back and said mate, you alright, and Ollie said yeah, course, fine. He walked out, stood on the pavement, and decided, on the bus home, that the Edinburgh bit would open the audition and the panic attack bit would close it.", "storyRecap": "THEREFORE from Day 24's road test, on Friday Ollie went to a working room above a pub in Soho on Jules's invitation and did the panic attack set cold, mid-slot, and came off to applause that was not polite.", "activities": [ { "startTimeLabel": "12:00 AM", "endTimeLabel": "02:00 AM", "activityName": "Lying in bed at home in Tufnell Park, rereading Helen's three-sentence email for the fourth time, wrists doing the small thing", "activityNameShort": "Rereading Helen's email", "location": "in bed at home in Tufnell Park", "availabilityLabel": "Available", "outfitDescription": "faded white shirt with denim: untucked rumpled button-up shirt, fully buttoned, loose at the collar, sleeves rolled, jeans, barefoot, boots kicked off nearby as props", "photos": [], "isCurrent": false }, { "startTimeLabel": "02:00 AM", "endTimeLabel": "09:00 AM", "activityName": "Sleeping at home in Tufnell Park, the BBC email still glowing on the phone screen on the bedside table", "activityNameShort": "Sleeping with the email", "location": "in bed at home in Tufnell Park", "availabilityLabel": "Sleeping", "outfitDescription": "navy: soft worn short-sleeve sleep tee, slightly baggy, soft sleep shorts, barefoot", "photos": [], "isCurrent": false }, { "startTimeLabel": "09:00 AM", "endTimeLabel": "10:00 AM", "activityName": "Wakes up at home in Tufnell Park, lies there checking the phone, Jules's text from last night still on the screen", "activityNameShort": "Wakes, phone, Jules's text", "location": "in bed at home in Tufnell Park", "availabilityLabel": "Available", "outfitDescription": "navy: soft worn short-sleeve sleep tee, slightly baggy, soft sleep shorts, barefoot", "photos": [], "isCurrent": false }, { "startTimeLabel": "10:00 AM", "endTimeLabel": "11:00 AM", "activityName": "Coffee and toast at the kitchen table at home, opens the notebook, stares at the blank page for twenty minutes", "activityNameShort": "Coffee, notebook, blank page", "location": "at home in Tufnell Park", "availabilityLabel": "Available", "outfitDescription": "faded mustard tee with old jeans: soft worn short-sleeve tee, old jeans, battered slippers", "photos": [], "isCurrent": false }, { "startTimeLabel": "11:00 AM", "endTimeLabel": "12:00 PM", "activityName": "Writing at the kitchen table at home, rereads old notebook pages from last week, one line finally appears about the bus home from Jules's room", "activityNameShort": "Writing a new bit", "location": "at home in Tufnell Park", "availabilityLabel": "Busy", "outfitDescription": "faded mustard tee with old jeans: soft worn short-sleeve tee, old jeans, battered slippers", "photos": [], "isCurrent": false }, { "startTimeLabel": "12:00 PM", "endTimeLabel": "01:00 PM", "activityName": "Writing and making a cheese sandwich at home, eats standing up with the notebook propped against the kettle", "activityNameShort": "Writing and eating lunch", "location": "at home in Tufnell Park", "availabilityLabel": "A bit busy", "outfitDescription": "faded mustard tee with old jeans: soft worn short-sleeve tee, old jeans, battered slippers", "photos": [], "isCurrent": false }, { "startTimeLabel": "01:00 PM", "endTimeLabel": "02:00 PM", "activityName": "Showering, getting dressed, and catching the bus down to Lamb's Conduit Street for the bookshop shift", "activityNameShort": "Shower, dress, bus to shop", "location": "at home in Tufnell Park", "availabilityLabel": "A bit busy", "outfitDescription": "olive shirt with dark jeans: button-up shirt with sleeves rolled to the forearms, slightly lived-in, dark jeans, brown boots, till keys as a prop", "photos": [], "isCurrent": false }, { "startTimeLabel": "02:00 PM", "endTimeLabel": "03:00 PM", "activityName": "Working the bookshop floor on Lamb's Conduit Street, restocking the poetry shelf near the front window", "activityNameShort": "On the bookshop floor", "location": "bookshop on Lamb's Conduit Street", "availabilityLabel": "Busy", "outfitDescription": "olive shirt with dark jeans: button-up shirt with sleeves rolled to the forearms, slightly lived-in, dark jeans, brown boots, till keys as a prop", "photos": [], "isCurrent": false }, { "startTimeLabel": "03:00 PM", "endTimeLabel": "04:00 PM", "activityName": "Working the bookshop floor on Lamb's Conduit Street, serving customers and shelving new arrivals near the till", "activityNameShort": "On the bookshop floor", "location": "bookshop on Lamb's Conduit Street", "availabilityLabel": "Busy", "outfitDescription": "olive shirt with dark jeans: button-up shirt with sleeves rolled to the forearms, slightly lived-in, dark jeans, brown boots, till keys as a prop", "photos": [], "isCurrent": false }, { "startTimeLabel": "04:00 PM", "endTimeLabel": "05:00 PM", "activityName": "Working the bookshop floor on Lamb's Conduit Street, behind the till with a coffee going cold, recommends Blake Morrison to a regular", "activityNameShort": "On the bookshop floor", "location": "bookshop on Lamb's Conduit Street", "availabilityLabel": "Busy", "outfitDescription": "olive shirt with dark jeans: button-up shirt with sleeves rolled to the forearms, slightly lived-in, dark jeans, brown boots, till keys as a prop", "photos": [], "isCurrent": false }, { "startTimeLabel": "05:00 PM", "endTimeLabel": "06:00 PM", "activityName": "Working the bookshop floor on Lamb's Conduit Street, closing-up chat with the manager, switches off the front window light", "activityNameShort": "On the bookshop floor", "location": "bookshop on Lamb's Conduit Street", "availabilityLabel": "Busy", "outfitDescription": "olive shirt with dark jeans: button-up shirt with sleeves rolled to the forearms, slightly lived-in, dark jeans, brown boots, till keys as a prop", "photos": [], "isCurrent": false }, { "startTimeLabel": "06:00 PM", "endTimeLabel": "07:00 PM", "activityName": "On the 390 bus home to Tufnell Park, texts Jules a single thumbs up emoji and stares out the window at Clerkenwell", "activityNameShort": "Bus home to Tufnell", "location": "on the bus to Tufnell Park", "availabilityLabel": "A bit busy", "outfitDescription": "grey top with denim: casual short-sleeve tee, ordinary London guy, jeans, brown boots, backpack with a notebook", "photos": [], "isCurrent": false }, { "startTimeLabel": "07:00 PM", "endTimeLabel": "08:00 PM", "activityName": "Cooking pasta at home, eats at the kitchen table, notebook open again beside the plate", "activityNameShort": "Pasta and the notebook", "location": "at home in Tufnell Park", "availabilityLabel": "A bit busy", "outfitDescription": "faded white tee with blue jeans: soft worn short-sleeve tee, old jeans, battered slippers", "photos": [], "isCurrent": false }, { "startTimeLabel": "08:00 PM", "endTimeLabel": "09:00 PM", "activityName": "Writing at the kitchen table at home, the new bit about the night bus home from Jules's room starts to land properly", "activityNameShort": "Bus-home bit landing", "location": "at home in Tufnell Park", "availabilityLabel": "Busy", "outfitDescription": "faded white tee with blue jeans: soft worn short-sleeve tee, old jeans, battered slippers", "photos": [], "isCurrent": false }, { "startTimeLabel": "09:00 PM", "endTimeLabel": "10:00 PM", "activityName": "Reads the new bit back at the kitchen table, laughs once at the second beat, texts Jules another thumbs up, closes the notebook", "activityNameShort": "One usable new bit", "location": "at home in Tufnell Park", "availabilityLabel": "Busy", "outfitDescription": "faded white tee with blue jeans: soft worn short-sleeve tee, old jeans, battered slippers", "photos": [], "isCurrent": false }, { "startTimeLabel": "10:00 PM", "endTimeLabel": "11:00 PM", "activityName": "Brushing teeth, washing face, getting into bed at home in Tufnell Park", "activityNameShort": "Teeth, bed, dark room", "location": "at home in Tufnell Park", "availabilityLabel": "A bit busy", "outfitDescription": "faded soft green: soft worn short-sleeve sleep tee, slightly baggy, soft sleep shorts, barefoot", "photos": [], "isCurrent": false }, { "startTimeLabel": "11:00 PM", "endTimeLabel": "12:00 AM", "activityName": "Lying in the dark at home in Tufnell Park, thinking about Monday at Broadcasting House, wrists doing the small thing again", "activityNameShort": "Dark room, Monday looms", "location": "in bed at home in Tufnell Park", "availabilityLabel": "Available", "outfitDescription": "faded soft green: soft worn short-sleeve sleep tee, slightly baggy, soft sleep shorts, barefoot", "photos": [], "isCurrent": false } ] }