A grand don't come for me Gigs71-73

Another busy week gigging with 3 coming this week thankfully as Nov and Dec i seem to have very few.
My 1st gig of this little trio was to be at the cult gig Hollybush in Cradley Heath so i'll start with the build up to that.

Gig 71
I had done the Cradley heath gig on my 16th outing in comedy. It was a long way to go from Leeds but I feel I need to travel in order to enjoy different gig experiences and meet different acts. I had on that occasion had a car full to save fuel costs and the plan was the same this time.... however this proved more difficult this time as 1st of all Rich Hodkin had to drop out due to getting through to the final of an xfactor style gig in Bolton.
He was then replaced, Dave McAndrew also had to drop out due to unforeseen circumstances so another replacement was found, this being Dave Rivers, Rich's replacement also dropped out so I then replaced him however he then dropped out so another replacement was sought.... yes believe it or not he dropped out too so I needed a replacement for the replacements replacement!!! alas I had no time to find him and another of our original guys also dropped out very last minute meaning there would only be 2 of us with the only real down side of that being the pushing up of fuel costs slightly.

The journey to the gig, was just as troublesome as getting an entourage with it taking 1hr10 mins just to travel across Leeds! so we were a touch late getting out of Leeds, Sat nav didn't recognise the postcode or street name for the Bush and I was feeling ill too that along with the horrible traffic getting just as far as Sheffield.... it seemed like such a bad idea to press on but I had booked it and I hate to let people down.. plus this is the legendary Bush!
We eventually arrived about an hour late and Mc for the night Dave Dinsdale was welcoming. We grabbed a drink and settled into a seat, it looked quiet... about 10 people of which 6 were acts, but it filled up.
Dave did a superb job warming up the room, it was really enjoyable to watch him release puns and jokes along with audience interaction. Up 1st was a pro act testing new material, Will Marsh, he was brilliant... new material just seemed ten times better than anything i could do. very enjoyable. 2nd act was a magic act, there was no comedy in his short set, it revolved around 2 tricks really and some overly dramatic music. I assume he is new to the circle, a little refining later and I'm sure his act will be mesmeric. I was next, I had sensed the level of the room so went straight into my filthier stuff, I'm not a filthy act but I do have some stuff that would not work at a Christian gig! the Bush however seemed to really enjoy it and I had a lot of fun up there. Dave followed, his set is more slow paced than mine and has some really nice observations, he struggled at 1st to get the Bush on board but recovered it well with his tales of buying takeaway and a £2.99 breakfast. Sadly we had to leave at this point, I don't like to leave before a gig has ended but a 2.5 hour journey home meant I had to depart missing the final 2 acts, Lisa who's 1st words to me were can i sit on your face!!! and johnny P. I'm sure i will return to the Bush again soon.

Gig 72
This was at totally the other end of the spectrum to the Bush, It was for Anthony J Brown. I am pleased to be getting work from Anthony but tonight I don't think I did myself justice.
It was at Ilkley playhouse, in the studio theatre, a lovely venue and filled with a lovely audience... but that was the problem... they were too lovely, they did not like filth! Anthony got the best from the audience as MC. Elliot J Huntley was opening, I saw Elliot Mc the wonderful Gainsborough gig and really liked what he was about, but he seemed to struggle slightly not in a performance sense, his performance was flawless but but more in a sense of getting anything from the room. He did clean up his set a touch but i still dont think the audience were expecting anything dirty and one guy even stated 'my wife doesnt like vulgarity'.... well lets hope your girlfriend does otherwise you are missing out!! sadly i was not able to say that out loud!
Next on was Nick Parry, nick is an excellent act and really does impress with his one linery goodness delivered by a scary stare! he did fine in this awkward room which is why when I went on I thought I can relax a bit now.... i basically died on my arse... they were having none of it! I started telling the tale of when I was mistaken for a paedophile (based loosely on truth) and built up into my Otley stuff (neither of which they liked) my thoughts turned to getting off stage but I wanted to try and recover and impress Anthony... Fail!!! I went into the big julie bit and they just stared at me silently!! Bugger me!!!

Headline Archie Kelly did at least provide the real laughs with his simple easy material brilliant pieced together and expertly delivered. This the second time I had gigged with him and the second time I really enjoyed his stuff.

Gig 73
This was a competition gig to win a grand and a set on Hallam FM (im not sure if that set would be on the radio or not?) apparently 400+ people applied by sending in a video and the 'finalists' were selected from these videos. There were 8 finalists, Myself, Tony Basnet, Steve Rimmer, Alistair Greaves, Kate Yossarian, Steven Shaw, Daniel Nicholas and Jed Salisbury.
it was taking place at Owlerton dog track in the function room above the grandstand. There was lots of Hallam FM Pr, a photo shoot and waivers to sign for the usage of any footage. It is easy to convince newbie acts to sign up to this kind of thing when there is a grand at stake!! The running order was then revealed and it was me on 1st, my heart sank... any chance of winning was just hugely reduced! I am not one to blame outside factors though and I would try just as hard to be as good as I can be. The Mc Justin Moorehouse made a point of saying how hard it is to go 1st and on I went, I couldn't really see the audience given how bright the lights are, but I could hear them.... they weren't laughing!! and stupidly i let this effect me, Tony Basnet summed it up saying that you are still playing to the audience and not the judges but I knew a I trudged off that I had done terrible, and I felt pretty bad about it like i had let myself down not because i did not put myself in with a winning chance but because i did not impress people who book comedy!!
Tony Basnet followed, I had met him once before and not surprised he did not remember who i was as he was very distant that night, His set was nice, he was getting laughs so it confirmed to me that it was not the audience that caused me to have a stinker!! he ended superbly with a fake band that must be seen to be enjoyed. Steve Rimmer followed, Steve's usual confidence seemed to be missing slightly  I have only ever seen him storm it but tonight he was not the usual cheeky chap. His equipment let him down too which was a shame as all in all the set didnt do him justice. Alistair Greaves was next, and had a real pleasant demeanour on stage. his jokes were nice and all in all a good set, i would suggest however that he like me was a bit nervous? it appeared that way but i could be wrong.
after the break Kate Yossarian our only girl finalist went on and talked confidently about working in the construction environment. she also had songs about it and switched between musical and spoken jokes. following on was Steven Shaw who talked about space and his observations on how space is perceived. it was a decent set but long set ups meant that he struggled to get a great response from the audience. Follwing him was eventual winner Daniel Nicholas (it could be Nicholls and I'm sorry of it is but Justin Moorhouse who clearly didnt want to be there used both and im not sure which surname was correct)
Daniel was dead pan, one liner and very clever with the way he worked his stuff. he also had good audience interaction which is not always something you see with one liner comedians. Very much a deserved winner.
Jed Salisbury was last on, He was Jed... the usual, funny, energetic, brilliant! i love Jed's stuff and I thought he was in with a shout of winning but when the judges returned they were unanimous in their decision with what they called commendations coming for myself, Jed and Tony Basnet.
I had not enjoyed it really, I just think I have performed badly for an act on 70+ gigs. Consistency is what I now need to work on.

Next Gig is my Pudsey one, back into MC mode.