Expressing Exhaustion

Yesterday we completed the third of our seven-week UK tour with a performance at the New Wolsey Theatre in Ipswich. The space was beautiful, the audience warm, and the show went well.

I’ve never toured with this intensity before though. There are lots of good things about it – we’ve visited lots of interesting places in our incredible new tour bus, we’ve met loads of lovely people, and hanging out with the team on the road has been fun.

But the number of performances and the travelling are proving tiring. While this is obviously true for the whole team, my body expresses its exhaustion in a very physical way.

On the way home from Ipswich last night a familiar and desperately uncomfortable surging sensation began in spine. This discomfort spread through my entire body and I wriggled about relentlessly all the way back to London.

Rarely does having Tourettes make me feel hard done by, but it seems unfair that my body’s reaction to being exhausted is unrelenting motion. While what I desperately need is to be still, what I get is like being strapped to an inefficient washing machine during a spin cycle – with itching powder thrown in for good measure.

Tonight I was well supported by Innes, Leftwing Idiot and Chopin. Some emergency medication helped me feel more comfortable, and when I was at last able to get into bed and stretch out I managed to settle enough to get to sleep.

I’m going to try and pace myself as much as possible in the weeks ahead to avoid any more wriggly journeys.

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