a busy 8 days gigs 39-43

So i mentioned in my last blog starting a new job, well this has left me feeling all kinds of tired (im aware that all kinds of tired is an Americanism of sorts and makes me sound like a twat).

Basically i’m just getting my excuse in for not having blogged as since my last blog i have done 5 gigs in 8 days including my 1^st middle 10 at a pro night, so lets start there. I was fortunate to get this gig as i happened to do fairly well at Mr Bens gong show in front of Adam Rushton who is involved in the booking of the gig and as a result was offered the opportunity to do the following Saturdays middle 10.

this blog may be easier to read in stages?? i can never be bothered reading big long blogs etc in one go so it is layed out as

Sat21 gig39

Wed 25 gig 40

Thur 26 gig 41

Fri 27 gig 42

Sat 28 gig 43 yes i have somehow reached 43 gigs since starting out in March!! blog should return to normal from next week

Saturday 21^st gig 39 Mr Bens

I of course snapped Adams hand off and changed my dinner plans (that makes it sound so much more sophisticated than it would have been) and off i went to my 1^st slot on a pro bill. I arrived at the club to see only one other person in the room, it was star of plusnet broadband ads and MC for the night Craig Murray, Craig is younger than me by 2 years but i went and chatted to him like he was an older human! Basically picking his brain as a pro act seeing how it all works and if there is a future for someone like me. He was very helpful in offering advice etc and did not look down at me at all as a newbie, to be fair all the comics i know don’t look down on each other even tho for example i’m certain many don’t like my set but never offend me about it but i sort of expecte the pro’s to be a bit “oh god not another shitty open spot act” but this didn’t happen and was not the case with the other 2 pro’s i met those being Marty Mclean and Greg Crook. There was also another open, a very dry and funny act named Peter Brush, i made a little conversation with him but i think he is a little shy? Either that or he thinks i’m a twat and didn’t want to offend me!!

Anyway the gig itself, and one that was a worry for me because the 1^st 2 rows were filled with large ladies on a hen night.... my Dublin story (which im now moving to Amsterdam to link with another true story that may im working on) was not going to impress them! And now i have found out im going on 1^st, lets do this!

I approached the gig in my normal way, there were moments that no laughter occurred when it should and there were moments where laughter occurred when it shouldn’t but on the hole it went ok and i was pleased to get the gig under my belt. I knew it wasn’t as good as it could have been especially as during my hen night bit half the hens in the room sat stony faced, but another lesson learned.

Weds 25^th gig 40 cut up

My next gig was the final CUT UP gig, very sad to see this gig go. I was going to try new stuff but i had not had time to rehearse it as i have been learning loads of systems for a new job, this became very evident very early when i got 3 out of 4 punchlines wrong, then i began to mock a man for having an innuendo sounding name, this was an Indian sikh name and therefore i was essentially being racist, not my intention of course and now i feel like a total dick! I then had microphone issues as that stopped working and as i tried to recover the audience began talking and i do not have the ability as an act yet to re gain control of a bad situation so i bolted!!! Bad gig for me indeed.

 CUT UP is the place to bomb though, the room is full of support and a big comedy safety blanket, such a shame the HOWL guys cannot afford the time to run it anymore but everyone has commitments and given the way things have been for me this week i can see why. I would like to not down how everyone did at this final version of CUT UP but i am condensing 5 blogs into 1 so i will just give special mention to Mike Bentley for the best set of the night and one of the best i have seen in a while.

Thursday 26th gig 41 railway venue

My next stop was thr railway venue Bolton, i drove to Bolton fuelled up on red bull as the week was starting to catch up with me, i was also thinking back on the previous nights failure and how i had stepped back into feeling like i was a terrible comedian once again and talking myself into being a poor act when really i should be selling my mediocre jokes and making them seem funnier, but the thing is all that didn’t matter because when i arrived Timmy and Tommo the organisers just set me at ease, they are very welcoming, very friendly and also generous. They explained the night and the format to me and i just felt at ease and very comfortable. The other acts on would be Casey Dorgan going 1^st, Casey did Mr Bens when i won and did very well, he was doing his 11^th gig i think he said and looked like he has got something. Lewis Charlesworth and Pete Phillipson would be providing a double headliner 2^nd half, they were both great to watch.

My set went ok, it was not the best response i have had but most certainly not the worst and i enjoyed myself up on the stage. The audience who didn’t like my stuff were still polite and pleasant and the ones who did i was grateful for the laughs! I came off feeling very good, a huge improvement on the night before. The guys in Bolton put on a great gig and MC it a bit like Boltons version of Ant & Dec, i cant speak highly enough of the night and drove back to Leeds with my 4^th red bull of the night keeping me on the road!

Friday 27^th gig 42 Roadhouse

I returned to roadhouse to enter a new act of the year competition run by the lovely Jamie Tipping. I don’t fully know the rules, the format or how and when i’ll find out how i have done but i do know that it was another chance to perform my 14 mins set and try tighten it up (which i did but this reduced it to 12 mins) when i arrived the 1^st act was doing a bit about being a maverick,  this included yelling i’m a maverick with a little sort of skip i guess i could call it, dance is another term i could use... but its not really either! Anway i tried doing a call back to that and it must have come across as me being cruel because one judge put her pen down, called me mean and made no more notes!! Well i,m not going any further then!! (she was lovely though so don’t worry all is good)

My performance was ok, there were not many audience members in, about 6 i think and everyone else was an act (acts tend not to laugh at other acts) including one act who actively scowled at one of my jokes, although there was a priest who had performed just before me (and she was funny too... yeah not just trying to be sneaky and preach to a different audience) who laughed a bit possibly out of politeness?

I enjoyed my stint and MC Jamie challenged me to wear speedo’s in the semi should i make it that far...... we’ll see, i don’t want to make people sick!

I had another enjoyable night at roadhouse and back to leeds i went with yet more red bull intake!

Sat 28th gig43 the George

My George and the jesters gig..... Well what can i say about this gig, i flyered this time... i actually flyered! I rallied work friends facebook friends acts who might have friends, friends of friends even people who liked 90’s sitcom friends but alas it was a poor turn out and i am still trying very hard to get the pub management to understand how comedy runs and works. But nit picking aside a gig of sorts did take place and even though Dave Mac was ill and unable to MC it was all good as Ross Brierly stepped in to make his MCing debut. Ross had a hard job going on to an unresponsive crowd of 9, he did well though, his attitude of roll up your sleeves and drag yourself through it is commendable and it was very hard going. Danny Cox had it even more difficult as when he went on 4 more audience members arrived and the bar service continue as normal. Comedy needs silence, i tried to get them to quiet down slightly but Danny to his credit rattled on, i really like Danny, he’s 18 but yet he is pleasant, confident, polite (trust me loads of 18yr olds are totally unaware of politeness i’m not just being all moany old git) the guy is funny too and also has musical abilities. Basically i wish when i was 18 i was that ambitious and creative, instead i was just interested in working, pubbing and playing football. Thom Milson had the toughest job of the evening, Danny had well (better than he thinks) but got nothing and now a few more people were listening but ready to criticise, i hate that, like someone sitting in a karaoke bar slagging off every singer but refusing to go on themselves, the singer is having a good time why don’t you try???? Poor analogy i know but Thom had to endure this although my friends from work and my Fiance’s sister and boyfriend were all in and they were being supportive, however it wasn’t enough and Thom took one for the team and built the night up as a bit of a surreal mix of weird people and poor event management. Si finnigan followed on this in a similar vain, i think Si has a great attitude in that he does what he does and in his words hate-fucks the audience, i very much enjoy watching this unfold!

My turn came and i was lucky in that they were now warmed up, i chose to go on later as i wanted to keep my friends in for the duration of the evening if i could not because i wanted to make a pro Jim Bayes, ego enhancement night as it may appear, especially after somehow a whole group of people became dubbed Jim’s family!!

Anyway i just went on thinking fuck it i’m going for it no matter what and this worked, albeit helped by the work colleagues etc. i didn’t exactly deliver comedy gold but i did just go with it, i was also lucky that the 4 front row idiots were sober enough because when James Christopher went on they were wasted and he never got into any rhythm without being heckled, offered a shot of sambuca or interrupted with talking! I was mortified but James has a calm air of cool control and although he was unable to get his Edinburgh preview out he did get to hear the heckle, what does your shirt pattern mean???

I must not do this again!! Big thanks to all the guys that performed tho especially last min MC Ross who did superb in a role i think we will see him doing more of.

Next for me is a talent comp gig in Manchester