Hamble Valley Stick Club, Hampshire

Sometimes I find myself speaking at a club with its own fascinating traditions. This was certainly the case when I was booked for the Hamble Valley Stick Club in Hampshire last October.

This is a 41 Club. These are for ex-Round Tablers who had to retire from the organisation when they were 45 (it used to be 41, hence the name). They continue to raise large sums for a number of good causes and hold meetings where they have a dinner and listen to a speaker.

The Hamble Valley Round Table presents walking sticks to members moving on under this age rule and there is a lot of stick-related humour at this 41 Club, for example, visitors are known as 'Teflons' (non-stick) and the Chairman is addressed as Boss-Stick!

And there was plenty of humour at their meeting, with witty banter throughout the excellent meal in one of the Meeting Rooms at the Fareham-Solent Holiday Inn at Titchfield and the reading of some hilarious minutes.

Then it was my turn to speak, my topic being My Life as a Freelance Comedy Writer.

There were less than 20 in the audience but I had observed during the meal that they were a lively bunch and the talk went well.

My vote of thanks afterwards was delivered by one of their members who is a retired judge. That sounds daunting but he was very complimentary, especially about the fact that when reading out one of my unintentionally funny press cuttings, I had used the correct pronunciation of the name of Romsey, the Hampshire town he grew up in (it's 'Rum-sey').

Public Speaking Tip #387: Attention to fine detail, such as the correct pronunciation of a place name, can be much appreciated by audience members from that area.

Testimonial from David Moss, their 'Boss-stick':

"Just a quick note to thank you for your very entertaining talk to Hamble Valley Stick Club last Friday and to say how much we enjoyed your presentation.
 
You made a major contribution to the success of the evening".

And from Vice-Chairman Manny Martins (I know it appears under the picture of me on my Home Page but it's so great that I just had to repeat it here!):

"Nick spoke at our monthly meeting last Friday (15 October 2010) at a joint meeting with Kingston 41 Club.  It was a brilliant evening.  Nick is an engaging speaker, witty, topical and very interesting.  He spoke for three quarters of an hour without notes, a most knowledgeable man,

I cannot recommend Nick enough and assure you that engaging him for an evening is a worthwhile endeavour. I wish you a great evening like ours".

A terrific evening. My thanks to Manny for the transport from Fareham station and back.