Anyone who's a Leicester City fan, or lives within a five mile radius of the city's centre, is likely to have had a pretty unusual weekend of celebrations. So we're please that today's Weekend Review comes from a lifetime supporter - the multi-talented Jim Smallman...
What do you do for work?
I'm a stand up comedian, writer, voiceover artist, podcaster and wrestling promoter. Which is a bit of an odd mix.
How do you juggle your day?
I'm not entirely sure, if I'm honest! I'm away from home a lot, which means that I try and organise my time so I can spend as long at home as I can to be with my wife (who is six months pregnant). My biggest challege isn't organising my time, it's trying to keep my travel down to a minimum. I rend to drive around 1,000 miles a week.
What's been your proudest career moment so far?
I wrote and performed a piece for Radio 4 last year that was very different to what my stand-up usually is, and pretty far removed from what people tend to expect from a working class, heavily tattooed man with a shaven head. The reaction I got to that was wonderful, from all kinds of different people. I love being on stage and making people laugh, but that's something you get instant gratification from. This was something that I didn't know would work, and will remain on the internet for years to come. There's a link to it HERE if you fancy a listen.
And your biggest achievement outside of work?
Being a dad. As mentioned before, my wife is pregnant and I can't wait to be a father again; my daughter lives in Leicester and is nearly 13. Despite never living with her, we've got a brilliant relationship and seeing her blossom into a brilliant young adult is just awesome. We get on very well, although she is clearly the adult in the relationship. I'm looking forward to seeing her be a big sister from August onwards.
Where do you call home?
Leicester was my home until three and a half years ago, before I moved to North Wales. I'm unusual in my line of work as I've never moved to London (but I still spend a lot of time there). Leicester will always be where I'm from, but I love living in Wales.
When is your weekend?
I don't really have one. Some weeks I might have Monday and Tuesday off, but that's when I tend to get my writing done, one of my podcasts recorded and have voiceover work come my way. It's certainly a bit of a pain arranging a trip to Ikea, that's for sure.
How did you spend this weekend?
On Saturday I had a complicated day, because I had a wedding to go to, plus a gig to do - and more importantly, I had to find a way of watching Leicester City lift the Premier League trophy around all of that. The wedding was in a village of North Wales and one of my wife's best friends. I'm grateful that my wife let me leave early to get to work and see my football team to be crowned champions (although I sense that she is feeling relief that I might be quiet about it for a bit now). The wedding ceremony was wonderful, although I was a little bit distracted by the llamas in the field next to the church.
After the photo, I drove twenty miles to a coffee shop that I know has decent wifi and had the strange experience of crying whilst watching Andrea Bocelli sing at the King Power Stadium on my iPad. I must have looked a state as one of the staff in there gave me a free slice of chocolate cake. Then 20 minutes into the game - with the score at 1-0 - I headed to Manchester for my gig, arriving really early so I could watch the second half of the game and enjoy the trophy presentation. The staff at the Frog and Bucket (which is a wonderful club on Oldham Street) let me log into the wifi there and brought be a burger. Then I cried again as Wes Morgan and Claudio Ranieri lifted the trophy, before composing myself and entertaining 180 people. I even mentioned my football allegiance and got a big cheer.
Because I was only working in Manchester this week, I managed to wake up in my own bed on Sunday morning, before popping to the shops to do a big shop and get everything I needed to cook a roast for the evening (my wife was working during the day). As it was an actual, proper day off before a crazy week (I'm off to London, Lausanne, Zurich, Geneva, Peterborough, London again and Manchester this week from Tuesday to Sunday) I was incredibly lazy, watching re-runs of Leicester's title celebrations and playing on my Xbox.
How typical was it for you?
I'll be honest, it's not a weekend that I ever though I'd see from a football point of view! I'm usually away from home for the weekend; it's always nice to be working in Manchester or Liverpool so I can stay a home rather than in a hotel. Having Sunday off is always nice, but I've usually got one deadline or another that means I end up working.
What was your highlight of last week?
Sorry for the football answer, but on Monday Leicester won the league thanks to the Chelsea vs Tottenham result, so that was obviously a day that will live in my memory forever. Then on Tuesday I got a train from Crewe to London to talk on the radio about the football. Exactly seven years before, I was watching Leicester play Crewe in League One. I thought that was a very strange coincidence.
Your ideal Sunday menu...
Ideally, I'd spend Sunday with my wife and daughter, and invite mine and my wife's families over for lunch. Family is super important; I'm lucky that my dad and sister are brilliant, but also that I get on really well my excellent in-laws.
Breakfast: I can't ever eat much in the morning. If I was up super early, decent granola always makes me happy. Up a bit later (I am prone to a lie-in) then it's beans on toast done my way. Chunky granary bread, lots of butter, a thin layer of Marmite on the toast, then beans, then some cheese.
Lunch: I only like beef or chicken when I cook a roast (and I love cooking, so I'd insist) but I can only really cook chicken. So your usual roast dinner with chicken, Yorkshire puddings and the like. Plus lots of potatoes for me (my wife doesn't eat them, so we rarely have them in the house) and tons of vegetables. The older I get, the more I love vegetables. And some kind of cheesecake. Ideally one involving peanut butter.
Dinner: I struggle to eat three full meals a day since I started dieting a few years ago, so I'd probably have more vegetables and some tuna. It's not all healthy though, because I'd remind myself of Sunday nights when I was a kid (after my bath, watching Bullseye) and fill up on biscuits (they are usually banned in our house).
What's in your fridge?
I've just been shopping, so at the minute lots of bags of microwavable mixed vegetables, yoghurts, fruit juice, cooked chicken and cans of Dr Pepper Zero (which I'm a bit addicted to). And far too may condiments.
QUICK FIRE: What's your favourite...
Book: 'Girlfriend in a Coma' by Douglas Coupland
Film: 'Dawn of the Dead' (the original 1978 version)
Album: 'Come On Die Young' by Mogwai
Sport: Football (sadly wrestling isn't a real sport)
Museum: The Imperial War Museum in London. I go there at least twice a year. See also, The Tate Modern.
Board game: Scrabble
Tattoo: Either one of my tattoos that my wife has matching version of, or the Hello Kitty that my daughter designed for me when she was little.
How can people follow what you do and get in contact?
I'm @jimsmallman on Twitter and Instagram. My website is jimsmallman.com, Facebook is facebook.com/jimsmallmancomedian, my wrestling company is progresswrestling.com and my football blog is thefootballneutral.com.