No jokes tonight

Mum rang at four. I picked up on the second ring. I always do.

She asked what I was doing. I said I am working on something. I said I do not know if it is good yet. And that was true. The truest thing I have said out loud in weeks.

I did not make it a bit. For sixteen minutes I did not make it a bit. I did not talk about the set. I did not say Manchester. I just talked to her like a son.

She hung up. I am on the kitchen floor. Phone still in my hand. My legs just went.

Here is the thing I will not say. On stage I am brave. On the phone to her I am brave too, but it costs me more. I think she knows the set is about her. I think that is why she stayed on the line. The longest I have not been funny in years.

I want to end this with a joke. I am not going to.