Event Anxiety
Last Friday I attended The Christian O'Connell Show live on-stage event, in celebration of their 1000th show. The event was held at the Yarraville Club and it was an amazing evening, I had a great time. The team are just as entertaining in person as on air and I'm so glad that I went. Even though I was struggling with anxiety, being around so many people. It seems ridiculous to have had so much anxiety over something so small considering events I've attended in the past. I guess the reality is that I have not been to a large scale event since before Covid. Add in the mental health issues and everything is amplified that little bit more.
I even arrived over an hour and a half before the show due to anxiety over car parking. Since I had time to kill I thought I would find somewhere to eat, but I was just too anxious. Inside the club everyone was mingling near the bar, as more people arrived my anxiety got worse. When I saw Christian and his wife arrive, I felt a sense of calmness. That's when I realised it was the crowd making me anxious, not the team or event itself.
Mingling
When the bar got a bit too crowded for me I decided to go outside and get some fresh air. I started to walk around outside, just up and back doing laps out the front. Only came back inside around 7pm when the doors where due to open. Figured once inside it wouldn't feel as crowded and my anxiety would calm down. Whilst standing outside the entrance of the room I started talking to some fellow attendees. I spoke with a nice lady and it turned out her partner Ron is also a Garbo, what a coincidence.
Chatting to this couple and mingling with new people, helped to calm my anxieties. Probably being able to talk to someone else about work helped to. I guess you always feel more confident when you talk about a subject you know well. When it comes to The Christian O'Connell Show I'm a fairly new fan so I don't know all the history. That's probably another reason why I felt out of my element and anxious. As we entered we got to take a photo with the photobooth, not the best photo but a good memento.
Conversations
when being led me to my seat, I saw Christian's wife Sarah in the corner, I waved and said hello. It took her a moment but she recognised me and then came over and sat with me for a while. It was very lovely of her and we had a good conversation, one that I really appreciated. Last time I saw them I had spoken to them about my mental health struggles, so we talked about that. I spoke about being nervous around so many people. She commented that it takes a lot to come out, to get out of your comfort zone. After suffering from mental health issues we often tell ourselves we will do something when we feel better. But that activity will make us feel better, so you just have to push yourself to do it.
I've been saying that a lot myself lately, especially regarding doing art, I need to be in the mood. However, art calms me in a way that nothing else ever does so I know it will help. I mentioned that to Sarah, and she had a fantastic suggestion. Something I'll have to try, it’s about giving yourself a time frame and seeing what you can do with it. Then deciding if you want to continue on afterwards. She is right though; you just have to push yourself to do these things and they'll make you feel better.
Last Encounter
We also spoke about the last time I met them and how important a step in my recovery it was. That it was in ways a breakthrough, how important it was when Christian commented about Smiley being the perfect nickname. I mentioned writing a blog and how that after that encounter, I was finally able to write it all down. That I was finally able to put all the feelings and emotions into words and explain everything. Sarah is such a lovely and amazing person I very much appreciate her taking the time to talk to me.
I hope I get to see her and Christian again in the future. These conversations have had a significant effect on me. They're really helped me, especially given everything that's happened over the last year. Sometimes I worry that my obsession or fandom is too much, but I am just very appreciative. I've met a lot of different celebrities over the years, but I've never had such honest and open conversation. At least none involving so much talk about mental health. I've had issues with mental health in the past but nothing as significant as this last year.
Front Row
When purchasing my ticket I decided to pay slightly more to get a front row seat. All seats in the front few rows had a goodie bag on them. It was a nice show tote bag with a pen, keyring, bottle of water and a mug inside. The mug is a "I'm knocking on with the Christian O'Connell Show" one. I was not expecting the goodie bag so it was a nice surprise. The people in the two seats to my right didn’t actually attend. Sarah walked past and said she should sit there if they don’t turn up. She said Christian would hate it, having her watching him from right there. I thought it would have been funny, but in the end they stayed vacant.
The Show
The show started with Christian coming out on his own at, he shared some funny stories. With a lot of inuendo and of course some swearing, it wouldn't be an after hours show without it. It was obviously a little different than an on air show, a little less clean. It was not too out there though, it was entertaining and enjoyable. Christian is brilliantly funny and very entertaining; I mean of course he is or we wouldn’t listen every day. But he is also British, and British humour is the best, or it's definitely my favourite kind of humour. Seeing him perform live on stage, it gives you another level of respect for him as a person and comedian.
Christian then introduced Jack and Pasty, Patsy had her own thrown up on the stage, it was brilliant. They started off by showing the social media profiles of some of the people in attendance. Such as the guy whose profile picture is him on the toilet. Then they did some non radio friendly misheard lyrics, there were a lot of penis’, assholes and shits in them. There was an auction where they auctioned off a few items, including a breakfast and studio tour with Christian. This sold for $3,000, I wish I’d had the money for something like that, but I don’t and that’s okay. Patsy did some funny news stories she couldn’t share over the radio. Such as the one about the man who got a potato stuck up his butt, because he ‘fell on it’. It was hilarious and Patsy was so good, very entertaining.
Timewaster Time
Then it was time for the timewaster, a segment that they do every morning on the radio. It's where you change the title of a song, movie or band and add words from a certain topic. The topic this evening was Bogan Movies, which is one they have done on air before, not that long ago. I remember they were so funny that Christian was laughing so hard he could barely read them out. There were some good ones tonight as well, and they had prizes to give out for best in show.
I've never been good at the timewasters. However, when Christian read mine out, Jack liked it and gave me a gold. He said I'd won a kettle and then Christian asked that I come up to the stage to collect it. When I walked up Christian said "We've met before, nice to see you again Smiley". Made me feel special that he remembered me. He then handed over the kettle and I went back to my seat. I know that I'm often remembered my celebrities, but it's always a special moment. The kettle I won is a gold SMEG kettle, and the Red Dwarf fan in me was over the moon. I've always wanted to own a SMEG product, now I just need to get the matching toaster.
My Timewaster: THE GOODBAGIES
Brilliant Show
This was such an amazing show and the guys were brilliant on stage, I had a great time. After the timewaster they threw it out to the audience for some Questions, there were some good questions too. After the Q&A it was time to wrap things up, so they finished on stage. Then everyone started queueing for photos. I've never really been much for waiting in queues, I normally just hang around until things calm down. Then I just jump in at the end, tonight was no different.
I stayed in my seat for a while, then Ron came over and congratulated me on winning the kettle. I grabbed my things and went to speak with them, they were waiting for the queue to die down too. We had a good chat, it was nice to mingle with other fans and talk about general life topics. And it was good to talk to someone about being a garbo too, someone else that understands what it's like. We have added each other on Facebook so we can keep in contact.
Whilst waiting around I used my drink voucher for a lemonade. Then went and had a look at the merchandise stand were they had 1000th show merch. I purchased myself a T-shirt, but they were just for preorder, so it'll get sent out later. When everything started to dwindle down I started chatting with Sarah again. I was talking about work and showed her some photos of my work truck. As mentioned, she's really easy to talk to and a lovely person, I feel honoured to have had the privilege.
Photographs
I walked up for my photo with my kettle box in hand, figured it had to be in the photo. Christian came up to me and gave me a big hug, I wasn't expecting this but it was nice. I then got the photo taken, Jack turned the kettle box around so it was facing the camera. We had a bit of a laugh over it, I didn't get much chance to talk to them. It was the end of the evening and things were finishing up, but that's okay. It was still lovely to meet them all and get such a great photo. They really are lovely people and I have a whole new level of respect for them.
I have had many photos taken with celebrities, mostly at events where I have had to pay for them. A photo was taken this night that I absolutely adore and that is the photo of Christian hugging me. There is something special about such a candid photo. No posing, just a nice sweet moment caught on camera. This photo is special, seeing the genuine smile on Christian's face as he hugs me means a lot. I've had the same thing happen many time with different guests I've met, but never had a photo of it. I wonder, has that been the same reaction every time it's happened? I like to think so, that they've all been as genuine as this one. It's giving me a whole new perspective on things.
The official photographs from this event are with thanks to Lizzy Jacobs Photography. Thank you for capturing such a special moment for me.
Charity
I hope these guys do another live stage show like this, because it was so much fun and very entertaining. Over the entire evening over $26,000 was raised for Backpacks for Vic Kids, the charity this event supported. What an amazing achievement and it's great to be apart of it all. I wish I could have donated more, but I know that I have to be frugal with my money lately. Which means no impromptu spending, which is why I limited myself to only purchasing a shirt.
1000th Show
It felt appropriate to publish this post today given that this morning The Christian O’Connell Show broadcast their 1000th show. What an amazing achievement, I know that I'm fairly new to being a fan. In fact I feel like a bit of a fraud in some ways. I have always listened to Gold 104.3 ever since I was at a kid. But there was a long period of listening to my own music or Spotify. I only started listening to the radio again about a year ago. The role I was doing didn't allow me to fully listen being in and out of the truck.
It's only been this year that I have been able to properly enjoy listening to the radio again. Listening to this show helped to pull me out of a really dark place. It made me laugh again and enjoy music again. It gives me the motivation to get up and keep going every day and I mean that with complete sincerity. When they were away for a few weeks I felt that darkness trying to creep it’s way back in. I just have to push through and keep going and I like that this show helps me do that. But I’ve already gone into detail about that in my previous post Meeting Christian.
Below are two posts I shared on Instagram: One about this event and another congratulating them on their 1000th show. In these posts I shared my appreciation and gratitude for this show and what it means to me.
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