Friday December 14 - Showbiz Makes Me Thirsty

My name's Will and I'm a social alcoholic. It's been 11 months, 13 days and 18 hours since my last drink.

17 DAYS AND SIX HOURS TIL BIG BEN BRINGS BOOZE! (That's the clock. Not some kind of butch delivery service.)

I felt an incredibly strong urge to go for a pint or six at about 2pm today.

Ever since joining City Talk I've been mooting the idea of a topical news quiz show, along similar lines to Have I Got News For You.

It was one of those scary projects which could always be displaced by something more mundane. So that's what I did.

Until today, that is, when I finally bit the bullet and - with much help from producers Kim and Ali - we actually did a pilot.

Trying to be funny in public is nerve-wracking. Trying to be funny in front of two professional comics, two experienced broadcasters and a host of tech ops and producers is, well, brown pants time.

To be fair, it went pretty well. I ummed and ahed a bit, messed up a couple of cues, and forgot to prrrrroooooject my flat Brummie vowels properly, but I got a few laughs and so did the panellists.

After the hour was up I felt that heady mixture of elation and relief that only alcohol could match. Unsurprisingly, it was exactly the same feeling I had after standing in for Pete Price's late-night show back in April. Avoiding alcohol was easier back then, as it was 1am on a wet Wednesday night, with most of the pubs shut and no friends to drink with. Today, on the other hand, it would have been (and could still be) oh-so-easy to find a cosy boozer and a few pals to share my joy.

Still, so far so good. I settled for two cups of tea in the canteen, and I'll be off home shortly to bosh the rest of last night's curry and booze-free lager.

Yes, a proper pint would be nicer, but I'm not going to throw it away when I'm so close. Eyes on the prize, baby. Eyes on the prize.