Los Angeles, California

Here in Los Angeles, in the final country of the 12 month World Trip.

Hollywood's an exciting place, full to the brim with entertainment, movie stars and the bright lights that attract so many tourists from around the world. Apparently a world within a city, on Hollywood Boulevard you catch glimpses of celebrities at movie premiers (I stumbled upon the Toy Story 3 premier on my first day), downtown LA showcases truely incredible architecture, and you can enjoy sun, sand, and the famous ferris wheel at Santa Monica pier. It's all here, along, of course, with the seedy and dangerous areas everyone warns about - no trouble so far, though being in town before a Laker's game is almost terrifying. But I have to say, it's quite a toy town for me - places, and even people, I recognise from films, some wonderful scenery and all manner of crazy excesses that you'd expect.

Next stop is San Francisco, where I think things will be a little more relaxed and uncaffeinated, and perhaps some of the people there will own dogs too large for their handbags.

Rarotonga couldn’t be a more beautiful and friendly place to spend a month. I could easily stop thinking about this performing lark and just chill at the beach everyday – I mostly have, but also managed to squeeze in some cool shows.

I spent a good time with the people from Cook Islands Television, performing and chatting and the usual, and that as well as featuring in the newspaper, Cook Islands News, has meant that there’s always plenty of smiles,‘hello’s’, and ‘hey, you’re that guy’s’ from the nice people on this wee island. And they sure are nice, you really can’t spend a day being grumpy here as the waves of smiles and kind offers are always there, rain or shine.

The shows I’ve done here have been different for a few reasons. First, performing in shorts and a t-shirt makes me feel about 10 years old and I do find myself flitting around the stage and getting over-excited a little more than usual, and nothing wrong with that! Second, if my show is part of a night of entertainment, I can be on right after a ukulele band or a troop of island dancers, doing their thing to exotic numbers and shelling coconuts with their teeth, and its fun to be such a change of pace from what’s normal here. Which is my third point; most people here have never seen anything like what I do, so it’s extra fun to be showing people these things for the first time.

Still a couple more shows here on ‘the rock’, and I’ll be savouring the peace and quiet before Los Angeles in a few weeks time. Looking forward to it already!