Advertise on podcast: Sitting Under A Tree with Aidan Jones

Eight years ago I started recording a weekly, solo podcast, and resolved to keep going every week. I had no idea what it was or why I was doing it, but it felt like a good idea so I kept going. In that time I have gone from a lonely, open mic comedian to being a professional artist living in London. I'm so proud of the life that I've built for myself in my life, profession and community. In these years I have come to use this podcast as a way of contextualising my life and giving narrative to the chaotic events that continually bombard all of us. Throughout that journey there have been an incredibly small, but unbelievably loyal group of listeners on the journey with me. Thankyou to everyone who has ever tuned in! I'd still struggle to tell you what "IT" was, but I do know I couldn't have done it without you.

Tomorrow I'm going to upload every episode of this podcast to a voice-to-text engine, then run all of the text through an AI chatbot like ChatGPT or something, to effectively have this AI engine experience 8 years of my weekly thoughts. Then I'm going to ask it some questions. If you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them. Then next week for the last episode I'm going to talk about whatever comes of it, and that will be that!

This is the third-to-last episode of my podcast. I talk about feeling unfocussed and frustrated this week, and trying to find a renewed sense of focus. I'm sick, which isn't helping. Time to pop a Vitamin D tablet, I reckon.

I bought a car on Friday from a car dealer in Coventry, then drove it to Birmingham, Preston, Liverpool and finally back to London today! I've never owned a car before and it's really exciting and scary to have invested so much into this thing. Still, better than lugging my trolley with the keyboard up a flight of 60+ stairs after a gig, as was my fate on Wednesday night. This feels like an important step forward.

Back from almost two weeks in Poland, and for the first time in a year I gave myself permission to completely neglect my professional life. What a joy!! But I'm back in London now and have a very busy week of gigs and travel lined up. Also looking at buying a car. Still need to find a permanent place to live. It's all details, really.

Spent a wonderful 24 hours in Zamosc, this medieval town in the South-East of Poland. I fired a cannon! I'm in Krakow now, in some dodgy tenement-type accommodation with thin walls and the guy in the room next to me is snoring like a m**********r. It's alright though, I'm travelling, and learning stuff. And really having a fantastic time.

I'm tired today, and it's making me grumpy. I'm off to Poland tomorrow to watch the International Chopin Competition which is just so incredibly exciting! I can't wait to see the city and feel the energy around this celebration of Chopin's music, and I feel very lucky to have the opportunity to go.

I've been in London for a month now, and in that time I've performed at the best club in the city, done a paid 20 for a promoter who didn't even know my name at the start of the month, and done a bunch of sets at great clubs and rooms! I'm feeling really good about the way things are going. This weekend I was in Manchester doing a bunch of shows at clubs and my solo last night, it was great. Everything is great, really.

I went to the media night of 'Emma' at the Rose Theatre last night, this is the play my girlfriend is in and has been rehearsing for the last 6 weeks. It was INCREDIBLE!! F**k I loved it so much, as did the 800-odd people who packed out the theatre. I went to the opening night on Wednesday, and even in the time between that and the media night it's changed heaps. I have so many thoughts after this week on the differences between acting and stand up, and I really feel like this has given me a completely new perspective to create from! Super exciting, feeling incredibly inspired!

I've been in London two weeks now. I'm writing every day, and the gigs I'm doing are going great. Like always, I can't help but think about what things will be like 3 months, 6 months in the future. The one thing I am absolutely certain of is my phone is destroying my brain and ruining my ability to concentrate.

I've just finished reading the book 'Cloudstreet' by Tim Winton - I've been reading it for like six months, so god damn it, it's about time! It struck me how all the characters had, by the end of the story, found some semblance of home by virtue of simply staying put. Some of them left, and in leaving they also departed the story, but the ones who stayed, even though many of them were deeply flawed, ended up in a happier place than when the story started. I also saw the film 'The Roses' with Olivia Colman this week and if I compare the two main characters in that film to those in 'Cloudstreet', the couple in 'The Roses' live much more separate lives from each other. It's not that they fight less, but they seem, maybe because of wealth, to be able to live independently of each other, and so their relationship suffers.   They don't need each other, and they chose over and over again not to prioritise their relationship, and so in the end their relationship dies.

I've finally arrived in London. The Edinburgh Fringe is over, and I'm booking spots for the next few months around the UK. Today is my first full day as a resident of London, and I'm feeling great about the future! Let's go.

The last week at the Fringe my ticket sales have gone up and up! Also I've seen a bunch of wonderful, inspiring shows, I've been getting a good amount of sleep but also have seen friends, and managed to even work on a few ideas for a new show. It's been perfect, honestly, so I'm just reminding myself to be grateful and enjoy this all right now!

I've had a day off today, no shows! In 10 years of coming to the Fringe I've never had a day off, and I'll tell you what I F*****G LOVE IT!! I'm feeling so good right now, this is smack-bang in the middle of the run, and everything is ticking along smoothly. I've got some plans for after the Fringe, some potential opportunities and some industry people excited about the show. I'm also having fun, and have booked tickets to see shows every night until the end of the festival.

I have a snotty nose and everyone can f**k off. Nah I'm actually doing great other than that, the show is selling and I have a review coming out tomorrow which I am NERVOUS about. I guess I'm nervous about a lot of things, just thinking about the future. Ruminating. At the end of the podcast I went around my room and described everything, it was an exercise in mindfulness and made me feel a lot better.