I'm Proud of the BBC

I had the pleasure of seeing Mitch Benn perform at the Nuffeild theatre, Southampton in 2008. He was every bit as professional and inventive as I expected of him despite the fact (as he admitted towards the end of his set) that he was feeling not a little ill of health. After the show, I was standing at the bus stop just opposite the theatre. Mitch had joined his wife Clara, and as they headed over to the car park, I heard Mitch tell Clara that he felt glad that he went ahead with the gig.

This must have had some kind of affect on me because two years later when I spotted an interesting article on Mitch's blog. There was to be a video shoot outside Broadcasting House the following day at 11am. This was an open invite for any volunteers who were willing to help.

I knew it would be a stretch. Here I was in Southampton enjoying a lazy weekend by myself, yet I knew this experience would be good for me. I really wanted to meet the man and offer my support to this guerilla project... "But seriously, BROADCASTING HOUSE AT 11AM?!"

My one fear was that if I missed out, I would regret it for possibly the rest of my life.

"Well, why not?"

I came up with a plan. I would get up at 6.00 am, walk to the station, get a train over to London Waterloo, head to Oxford Circus and be at BH with plenty of time to mill about while we (the fans) waited for Mitch to turn up with his wife and kids. That's what I did, and I am so glad I did it.

Not only did Mitch turn out to be a gentleman, his fans, his wife, his kids and his director turned out to be lovely people also. We got the job done swiftly whilst having a bit of silly fun at the same time. It truly was a day to remember.

So, getting to the moral of this story, it can be a really good thing to go ahead with "it" just as Mitch did for his fans at the Southampton gig. I've heard it said that, "It is better to regret doing something than to regret NOT doing something." From my experience helping out with this Mitch Benn video, I'd like to say that to do something and not have any regrets at all is a real bonus.

Mitch Benn's new single I'm Proud of the BBC will be available on iTunes on November 1st.