On 23 Jan 2012 at 2:55pm Ratty wrote:
In the spirit of being positive on this forum, I remember a while back a thread from a regular forum poster asking for comedy information for a new stand up comedian coming over from New Zealand or Australia to try their luck and just wondered how they had got on over here? Have they got any gigs here?
On 24 Jan 2012 at 9:24am jrsussex wrote:
Ratty - That was me, my great nephew Shaun from NZ. After a stay with me he moved to London, got himself a flat and a job in the employment agency section. He is visiting comedy clubs to gain some UK comedy experience and has had a few bookings so I think it is going as well as he expected having travelled half-way round the world.
I do wonder what such experiences tell us. When younger I travelled and worked in various countries and as with Shaun always found worthwhile employment. He had never been out of NZ before yet travels 12,000 miles from home and within 7wks has a flat and good job. The complaint that UK people are losing out in the job market to those from other countries, I have to ask why when jobs are clearly there but are snapped up by non-UK personel. Why is that?
On 24 Jan 2012 at 10:26am Clifford wrote:
All credit to your great nephew, jr, but I'd say one of the reasons jobs are snapped up is because of mobility. It's probably far easier for a single and relatively young person to shift around to areas where jobs are still easier to get (London, for example) than, say, a man or woman with a family who has been made redundant in an area of the country where unemployment is already high. And I'm sure that your travelling days were in the long 1945-73 postwar boom, when jobs were plentiful because governments had full employment policies.
On 24 Jan 2012 at 12:09pm jrsussex wrote:
Clifford - Please do not write me off, I was at school in 1945 and into the 50's. I do not disagree with your observations but I, and I totally accept we are all different, was always prepared to move if it meant work or a better job. An example is my 3yr contract in Saudi Arabia when I was in my mid 30's, my then wife and two young children were not allowed to come with me so I only saw my family 3 times a year, which was tough but the money I earned out there is what funded, on my return to the UK, my first nightclub so I felt it was worth that sacrifice, that would not have happened had I stayed in the UK. That said if I am honest I think that separation may have been the early start of our divorce, albeit almost 20yrs later.
On 24 Jan 2012 at 1:42pm jrsussex wrote:
Wondering why my post above this is not showing on the home page. I am doing this to see if it will appear
On 24 Jan 2012 at 2:26pm Clifford wrote:
I stand amazed at the interesting life you've had, jr. I think it was 'my first nightclub' that made me sit up. My life seems sadly tame in comparison.
On 24 Jan 2012 at 3:22pm jrsussex wrote:
I have been very lucky in life in that having left school at 15 with no worthwhile qualifications I have travelled far and wide and had some interesting jobs. Started as a floor-layer (carpets etc), army, iron foundry, driller in a quarry, taxi driver, manager of a villa complex in minorca, international truck driver (wonderful job), importer of fine European porcelain, finally a licensee having operated a total of 11 pubs and clubs in all. You know from previous posts my working class background,which provided the drive to improve my lot in life. I think a combination of hard work, with a little bit of luck, and most people will achieve some level of success in life.
Incidentally I sure you have not led a tame life, it may differ from mine but by from your posts on a variety of issue's I would guess you have led an interesting life.