So the show is all done and dusted.

What show you might well ask? I’ll tell you. ’The’ show.

The celebration of my 80th birthday in the Manx Legion Club.

And not only that show, special so it might have been. This one was the very last Pullyman and Friends variety concert.

Now you may remember me quoting my two golden rules. Rule one: ’Always be yourself’.

This one speaks for itself, especially as I like to think that I was born a Pullyman and will always be a Pullyman.

Rule two: ’Know when to stop’.

This rule is much easier to ignore.

It can be very tempting to carry on when the audience is enjoying your performance.

But don’t fall into the trap. Always stop when you are in front.

Well I’m sure that I’ve told you about the beginning of ’Pullyman and friends,’ and our very first concert but, just in case you blinked and missed it, I’ll give you a quick run through, right from the beginning.

It was a fine, warm, early summer afternoon and we had recently bought a new (well, second-hand) car.

It was a ’vanishing’ roof Volkswagen convertible, with cream leather seats and it was just the job for a pair of old wrinklies to go for a pose on a fine afternoon outing.

’Where shall we go?’ Asked Brown Eyes.

’You choose. Give me a surprise’ I replied.

We were drifting along in the fresh air and I was deep in my thoughts when I realised that we were in Peel.

We turned into Atholl Street and were just about coming up to the Peel Centenary Centre when I heard this voice say ’stop, pull in’. It was me.

By chance, we were opposite a parking slot and Brown Eyes obeyed orders.

’Just wait here’ I said, and went up the steps to the front door of the theatre.

It was locked, but there was a phone number and an invitation to ring it if the door was locked.

The man who answered the phone was true to his word and arrived in two minutes. I asked if we could take a look inside his theatre.

I don’t know what I expected, but it felt comfortable.

I asked him to check his diary and we settled on a date in late October.

So we had a venue, a date and a price.

The man from the theatre asked the final question. ’What kind of show are you putting on?’

My answer was simple.

’I don’t know’. And so it was.

Until that afternoon, I had never set foot on a stage, ever.

It was July. Our show, ’An evening of comedy, poetry, and tall tales with Pullyman and friends’ appeared in Peel in October. It was a sell-out success.

In the spring of the following year, we were in Port Erin and just happened to be driving past the Erin Arts Centre when I said to Brown Eyes, ’just pull in’.

Success number two.

And finally, shortly after Port Erin, we were cruising along Douglas Prom when a rare thing happened.

There was a parking space outside the Gaiety.

’Just pull in Irene’.

She wasn’t happy, but she did pull in, and yes, we filled the Gaiety.

’Pullyman and friends’ was off and running.

The team was Hazel Teare, Bill Strutt, and myself, Pullyman.

It was hard work, but it was an experience that I will never forget.

Then the ’know when to stop’ decision was made. Our grand finale was planned to celebrate my 80th birthday in December, held in the Manx Legion Club with an audience of invited guests and enthusiastic performers.

It was a night that we will never forget. But sadly it was the end.

But there are other things to do, and I’ve always fancied writing a weekly column for the Manx Independent...

Many years ago Pullyman - aka Michael Cowin - was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease, a condition that affects people in different ways. Michael discovered writing and Island Life is featuring some of his musings. Sometimes topical, sometimes nostalgic, read about life as seen through the eyes of Pullyman