Mr Bens is kind of becoming my comedy home ground so when i saw that they were again asking for gong acts i could not resist. it would mean that this week i would have 2 gong show gigs and a semi final of a talent show.
gig 50
Having finished work later than usual i was 1st on the scene at Mr B's having loitered in town until 7pm then wandered up to the comedy club. on the bill were Thom Milson and Lindsay Davies doing 8 spots and amongst the gong contestants some great talents such as Jon Newell, Chris Washington and Danny Cox. I was 1st on the list after swapping with Jon as he wanted to move back a slot to prepare, that was fine with me as i was taking a notepad on to the stage to road test some new and newish jokes. i also wanted to work on an older piece of material that i abandoned after 3 times testing it in my 1st 10 gigs or so. a decision had been made not to do the gong as there were only 16 people in so i was less apprehensive now about this approach. it went ok and i seemingly did 6 mins without overly boring anyone!
Jon Newell followed and was also more at ease without the worry of the gong, the irony being if he performed like this during the gong he may win it, it was still a nervous performance but that is what Jon does and the jokes flowed even when he knocked over a pint of water while leaning over an amused audience member Alison Grosser. Ciaran Mullins, Chris Washington and Edy Hurst completed the 1st half, Ciaran was charming and pleasant Chris was downright funny and just rapidly becoming at ease with this despite having a lull in his set, deffo a guy to watch out for and Edy.... well Edy just needs to keep going and working on his set, it was confusing at times what he was trying to do but there is something there for him to work with and when he has the finished set polished i'm sure it will be a surreal and funny show. Danny Cox, Beu Carter, and an impromptu performance from Rob James Alexander made up the 2nd half before Mark Haden had a rant about the hunger games that was full on and actually very funny. the night was not the same without the gong but still all good experience for me.
gig 51
Next gig was another gong show this time in Sheffield for Spikey Mike, a lot of names i know on the bill which was going to be fun, i had decided to bring my a game materiel and try to win it but given the quality i was up against this was going to be tough. there were 17 acts lined up to take part including 3 débutantes one aged 15, one aged 16 (not sure on the age of the other)
in the draw i was able to secure a fairly nice slot in 9th right in the middle of the middle section. the acts i was up against were Danny Cox, Ross Brierely, Rich Hodkin, Steve Goodall, Kappa Llewellyn, Josh Barker, Martin Hastie, Alison Grosser, and some i have not met like the newbies Scott Liversedge, Lucy Wardrobe and the 16 yr old lad whose name escaped me.
I wont say too much about the show as so many acts took part but i will say eventual winner Martin Hastie stormed it with his superb one liner act, i have mentioned before how great he would be when he gets better at performing and that is now proving true as he has such great writing. Danny Cox went 1st so dificult job for him and again as with Mr Bens on Monday he just looked at ease on stage, i always enjoy his set and one of the best jokes ever (the Scarface one for those who were there)
Steve Goodall was also in great form and also joined the aforementioned acts in the final, pretty much what i expet from steve, always great fun to see him in action. Josh Barker doing only his 4th gig got through too along with musical act Rajin Chowdry and finally myself, i went through oddly after being red glowsticked by one judge at the 1st vote then green at the 2nd and all the others keeping me green as i rambled through the silly routine i now have. i was not quite at the laugh rate of some of the others but i was on my way. The 16 yr old débutante also joined us in the final, a great effort on his 1st gig, the other 2 débutantes had odd openings, the 15 yr old girl while being filmed by her dad joked about giving her boyfriend a blowjob...... awkward! but the winner of worst 1st line ever was Scott Liversedge who opened with laugh or i'll fuck a child... in the mouth!!!! he then continued to dig his grave at one pint saying doing worry she's a lovely girl, as if peodophilic rape against lovely girls was ok? the guy at least stuck around to see how other acts do it and tried to get tips.
Gig 52
the Semi final at Burscough, 2 comedians made up part of the 10 strong semi final, myself and Kevin Connerely, Kevin is a large fella with a lovely Scottish accent and blutoe like beard, his jokes are well thought out and he includes singing in his acts too which is nice in this competition. i really enjoyed his set and felt a little disgruntled when he was told he had disappointed the judges for doing jokes they heard him do in the earlier round, this seemed unfair when singers were praised for doing covers or songs they had sung in previous rounds. Kevin however had done enough to get through and deservedly so for my money.
i went on immediately after what i would describe as a novelty singing act who was very very funny, the energy from his performance may be what i could ride off but there was to be a break 1st.
I did some of my new jokes, some additions to my existing set and my tried and tested 5 mins mixed in. The audience seemed to like it and laughed at key points but it was not enough as i discovered at the x factor style final vote i was one of the acts eliminated. a shame but just another learning curve as my performance must have lacked energy this time around.
Mr Bens again next for my 8 spot
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