FIRSTLY, I hope everyone is staying safe during this lockdown. What started off as a year I thought I was going to remember has turned into a year I will never forget.

Just before the lockdown began I had supported Carl Hutchinson at the Tyne Theatre, Newcastle. It was my most enjoyable gig to date and I got to announce that I was doing my first-ever hour show at The Stand in Newcastle on April 19 – I saw the audience light up with phones; it turned out it was people booking their tickets in the interval!

I got a call from The Stand to say my show had sold out and they asked me if I would I put on a matinee show. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing ... this news combined with my daughter now being old enough for full-time education, I was ready to push on and pursue my dream.

As news of the virus took hold I wasn’t worried, as like most people in this day and age, I bought into the social media news of “it’s just another strain of flu”. Once the talk of lockdown began I knew it was time to take this seriously.

I was naturally concerned for my mother, a 60-year-old with diabetes and three strokes under her belt.

She couldn’t resist one last big shop and called by the house to gift us £150 worth of shopping.

As my wife was still at work and my daughter was playing I sat and shed a tear as my mother’s main concern wasn’t for herself, but to make sure her baby’s family – albeit a 37-year-old baby – was sorted with two weeks of shopping. The tears may have been there as I felt there was a lot of unnecessary fruit and veg and it was my mam’s way of putting me on a lockdown diet.

When the country got grounded I had mixed emotions. I lost two months’ worth of work right away. You feel for everyone in that instan – I’ll be honest, I felt for myself first, then others. Then people who are way, way worse off than you. And everyone in between.

On top of the comedy industry being pulled, my wife had been furloughed from work, and being on a zero-hours contract meant we were unsure what kind of payment – if any – we were getting, which led to a lot of money worry. On the other hand, for the first time in a long time, it was just three of us home together. Emma has never had her parents around this much at home which, for a three-year-old, was a dream come true.

Although after four weeks of this I’m considering asking that the word “dad” be removed from the English language.

Week three came with news that my show had been rescheduled to August 23, and the following day our May family holiday was cancelled. Although sad, we were just grateful that we were all healthy and staying safe.

Then I got news that a school friend of mine lost her dad to Covid-19, which got to me as I lost my own dad five years ago and I know how hard it is without the added fact of it being a pandemic that took him. The week ended with me receiving a call from my mam to inform me my granddad passed away with Covid-19 symptoms and, unfortunately, due to restrictions, I would be unable to attend his funeral on account of the 10-person limit.

I’ve suffered from depression since I was 18 years old, I’ve had pills and therapy, but one of the main things that got me through the worst of it was doing stand-up comedy. I remember my first five-minute set at The Stand – the headline act was Kevin Bridges!

I came away from that night and said that’s what I want to do with my life ... make people laugh and smile. I couldn’t have picked a better industry to get into. A local act I had chosen as a support for my show, Mick Holford, contacted me to offer me any financial help I needed at this time, and Carl has also contacted me and offered help every step of the way. Social media (it can be a horrible world) has been filled with comics trying online content, sharing each other’s posts and videos and has kept a smile on my face.

So even though I’m sick of the word “dad”, Kate and I agree that our marriage vows said “in sickness and in health” – but nothing about being stuck together for this long during a lockdown!

I’m confident that once all this is over we’ll come out of this stronger, with a sense of togetherness, and on a personal level I hope I can still kick on and try to make this a good year for comedy.