very negative Gargoyle - where to start. not where you're at. your advice seems to be - be somebody else.

Alan is a well adjusted guy with many skills. i'm not really sure what he wants to achieve. i'm pretty sure he can achieve something pretty significant just as he is.

if you don't know that the first rule about being comfortable onstage is being comfortable with yourself - the way you are = just shut up - cos you don't know anything.

some people are lucky, like the beatles, or carthy and find their performing metier very early in life. you have to keep searching and re-assessing what you do Alan, and looking for opportunities. thats the only way. network. search the trade press. talk to other artists, see them work - see if theres anything you can steal to sharpen and maximise your impact. think laterally , think creatively - it maybe that theres another avenue that will liberate you as an artist. don't be frightened to leave that comfort zone, discard the props, try new ones....

above all never take advice from anyone who's never lived by their wits in this way. some arsehole who has sat at the feet of the great ones doesn't see the whole picture. look how MacColl is talked about as though he was some professor. no! he was an artist - trying all sorts of things and projects - ducking and diving in a way that would make Del boy's head spin. he was an artist through and through - and that's how artists live!