I have blogged
recently about badly run gigs and badly attended gigs so it is only fair having
started my own gig picking up from where Leeds Acoustic left off i be uber self
critical too, pot calling kettle and all that.
Gig’s can be as nice
or as good as the audience but they do in fact need an audience and although i
had sought to promote via on line forums, facebook, twitter, posters and by
asking the acts to help out a little spreading the word i was unable to get
more than 9 (at its busiest) plus the acts in. Sad really as i had done all i
could to make a nice gig and had got some support from the landlord Chris who
will be willing to put some money into the gig when it builds. Chris likes his
music and the idea of keeping punters in the pub longer so he is booking a
musical act to play after the comedy had finished, on this occasion he booked
Chocolate Orange who were vocalist Georgina and Keyboards from Michael. I had
booked in acts who i had fairly recently gigged with, i was unsure of how the 1st
night would pan out so went with people i trusted would deliver but had also
booked 2 guys who i did not know as well however had gigged with both of them
before. The full line up was Thom Milson, Ben Gibson, Jon Newell, Ryan Brown,
Todd Pemberton, Si Finnigan and myself with Matt Fong as MC. When i arrived at
the gig it was clear despite my efforts (feeble though they were) it was not
going to be packed!! Or even attended at all it seemed, although my brother did
show up with my nephew (who i mention in some of my material has only just
turned 18 so he was exited... naively ... about the night) 1st act
to arrive was Ben Gibson, carrying a bucket!! He told me it was his joke bucket
and that it also doubled up as a bucket, then jokes about bucket lists followed
and such hilarity ensued, i’m so funny off stage!
Next to arrive was Jon
then quickly followed by Matt and Ryan all of who thought... where is
everybody?? Si and Thom were next to arrive and i received a message from Todd
that due to the rugby he was delayed on his train but as he was coming from Manchester
the furthest of all tonights acts (not hundred % sure how far Ryan travelled)
so can be forgiven.
In running the gig i
had tried to think of what i would expect from a gig, let the acts know what
time to arrive, how long they have, who is mc and who else is on, where they
can park and the gig rules (just things like stay and support other acts, try
use best material not untested new stuff) e mail those details in advance,
however i feel i had fallen short on my end of the bargain in not getting an audience
(i could blame the rugby i suppose?)
So the night went
ahead as a kind of test the water style gig, Matt Fong kicked us off as MC and
warmed the few who were listening up with a more gentle approach than i have
seen from him when he is gigging normally, he was using the stage time well and
making a hard job look easy which i was grateful for as like all the acts in
fairness he shrugged off the poor attendance and just went about the gig with a
good attitude. Todd was meant to be 1st on but he was yet to arrive
so Ben stepped up, Originally he was going to do his character act Silvio
Delewrance but this was dropped in favour of more proven material and Ben
delivered his unintentional Stewart Lee style with charm.
Todd had arrived and
went straight on more or less, i had mentioned him in an earlier blog once by
name and once not but both times i had said how likeable and confident he is on
stage despite being short on punhlines.. well he had worked on his act and more
punchlines adding to an already instantly enjoyable demeanour, i really enjoyed
how he opened apologising to Ben for missing his act and suggesting “you can
wait outside till i have finished if you like”, todd was only doing his 14th
gig i believe and i would say he is one to watch out for. Next on was Jon, Jon
was steadily improving his delivery and stage persona and tonight looked
another step closer, he had some real charm about his stage presence tonight and
made light of a mini heckle when doing his gay superhero bit.
Jon is another act who
is worth keeping an eye on, his writing is miles better than i could ever
produce which leads me nicely on to the next act.... me! I went on with a
notepad, i would never do this normally except at cut up but the way the gig
was going i figured test some of those jokes that never get tried or tested
because i haven’t figured out a way to slot them in!! A few worked, a few didn’t
and i then slipped into some old materiel that i had tried only about 3 times
before... it didn’t work that well then it isn’t any better now! I limped of
stage almost apologetically and into the break we went.
Chris suggested we get
the band (for want of a better word as they are not quite a band) to play at
the interval allowing a few more people to come in. They played for around 20
mins, the beautiful vocalist Georgina hypnotising almost every bloke in the room!
I would love to further review them but i will stick to the comedy aspect for
now.
Si Finnigan launched
the 2nd half with typical Si Finnigan style, confrontational,
confident, funny. The confrontational element to Si is not aggressive (sometimes
it is!!) but rather like someone who is justifying his persona, a part of his
act that is a joy to watch, and one it is best to see in action than to take
from my scribe. Thom followed and in keeping with the 1st half
tested a few bits breaking into material now and again but with no real success
as the audience buy in was fading, Thom has enough ability to make the most of
the situation and delivered jokes indicative of his style while only delivering
a short set.
Ryan closed the show,
he is a one liner specialist but the audience buy in had fully faded by now and
he struggled to start with, no fault of his own and the pace picked up with a
few joke down allowing the people who had descended into the basement room to
pick up the flow of the set, Ryan has a high joke rate and a cheeky giggle
after each delivery that is in itself amusing.
And so the George and
the Jesters debut night was brought to a close, The next one is on Sat 28th
(2 weeks apart) and will hopefully have a better crowd with the heat turned up
on my promoting of the night and some great advice from Matt to look into. Big
thanks to all the acts who will be invited back when i have it busy.
For me next is my 8
spot at Frog and Bucket Preston
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