In the first edition of Bashing Keys, Paul concludes that getting out and away from your keyboard is a very constructive thing indeed. “The very worst thing a writer can do is sit in an office all day, every day, staring at a blank screen.”
This is good advice, but sometimes the benefits don’t seem tangible. It’s not often, for instance, you’re sitting in the street, bearing witness to something that turns into an entire scene or sketch. It does happen though.
I was waiting for my friend to empty a cashpoint, in the middle of a busy square in London. I like people watching, and saw something fun. A couple were meeting, and she leaned in to give him a hello kiss, just as he turned his head to look at something. Thus, she missed. Then, as she turned to look at what he was looking at, he turned back to kiss her, thus missing. This happened again, both missing.
I went home and turned this into a sketch for Smack The Pony. I say “turned it into”, what I actually did was type it up verbatim.
