Richard Shayler: It’s all bonkers and conkers…

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“I was walking along Dyke Road a few days ago and looked up at a magnificent horse chestnut tree. I even took my sunglasses off to admire it in all its beauty. As I walked past, one of the tree’s hanging branches gently caressed my bare arm. It was a glorious day, so I was wearing a T-shirt.

All of this was very idyllic. That was until I looked down at the floor. There were green cocoons with little brown things forcing their way out. Little brown things that looked very much like conkers.

“Conkers!” I cried. “But it’s sunny! And I’m wearing a T-shirt and sunglasses!”

Something felt very wrong.

I left this relaxing and peaceful scene confused, stressed and worried. I was also scared. At first, my worry was that I was imagining either the beautiful day or the beautiful horse chestnut tree. I had to grab a coffee to calm my nerves.

I picked up the local paper and looked at the top of the page to confirm the date. “Phew! It is September. So what’s going on with the weather?”

I flicked through the paper to calm myself and read an article that cleared up all this September strangeness. We’re going through an Indian summer, of course!

The studio gets hot at the best of times, but I thought an Indian summer could mean the end for a few of our team.

I’m very prone to melting in that place, so I think I’d go first, quickly followed by a few of the cameramen. Our director William would be fine – he’s from Italy, you see. He laughs in the face of summer.
When the thermometer hits 25 degrees, he simply screams for more.

“Suntan lotion? What suntan lotion?” He has actually said that.

When the going gets hot, the fans get turned on, the Brighton Lights crew gets sweaty, the audience gets crabby and the bands drink more beer. The only advantage of such heat is the camaraderie. Everyone becomes your equal. One sweaty person means just as much as the next sweaty person. Boundaries are ripped down as layers are ripped off. Sweat patches become rites of passage. Regularly mopped brows are the new form of greeting.

Through all this heated adversity, you’d think our shows would suffer. Quite the contrary!

The shows take on a new life. An excited, unified and cohesive life, where every person in the studio makes a contribution. Whether it be the bar staff cooling everyone down with their drinks (and smiles) or the floor manager cooling everyone down with a blast of the fan between shoots.

Or it might be the brilliant way Lynn Ruth Miller and Guy Lloyd battle through the heat and nail their shows in one take.

The combination of all these things makes Brighton Lights the show it is. It is not one single person, or producer, it’s the audience, the bar staff, the presenters, the crew and of course, the fans! Both the electric ones and the viewing ones…

We’re working on a new set at the moment, and Guy and I were helping to position things.

I noticed something in his pocket.
“What’s that?” I asked.
“Oh, just some conkers I picked up for my son,” he replied. “It’s an Indian summer, didn’t you know!”