I haven’t had a lot of
spare time but since my last blog I have surpassed the 70 gig mark somehow!
The month of October
looked quiet on the gig front then all of a sudden I had Baby Jupiter Weds 3rd,
Manchester Weds 10th Gainsborough Thurs 11th Driffield
Fri 12th Hartlepool Sat 13th then Manchester again
(different gig) Mon 15th so this blog will be broken into bitesize chunks I suppose
to make it easier to read/write!
Baby Jupiter gig65
A new act new material
night called Generic comedy night took the place of CUT UP, it was run by
Anthony Murphy (who I accidentally called Murray in a previous blog).
I cant say too much
about the gig, I went on last and was awful!! Callum Scott was excellent doing
some shouty new stuff and I thought Si Finnigan really did what was needed to
give a lacklustre night a kick up the arse. Baby Jupiters staff are not
supportive, the music levels kept going up there was lots of loud talking and
they generally did not care there was a gig going on... enough said really.
Manchester gig 66
Comedy Balloon had a
spot going and DaveRivers was able to drive so I jumed on this gig last minute
to try some new material out. Joe White was MCing I noted on arrival. He was
actually a lot more relaxed and pleasant this time, the sarcastic attitude last
time probably just nerves. Liam Pickford was on along with a guy named Will
Sketchel who was nice and chatty (this time it was me sat quiet)
I went on 1st,
did a distinctly average job and didn’t learn anything really other than the
new stuff needs a lot of work still. Dave went on 2nd and also tried
some new stuff, likewise he struggled to get a lot from the audience but did a
nice job nonetheless. We both then left as the 1st section was
brought to a close, the 1st time I have ever left before the end of
show but not the last I imagine.
Gainsborough Gig 67
I had been told by
people who have done this that it is a nice gig..... they were not wrong. I
travelled with Dave McAndrew as usual and driving through the rain we got a
little lost on arrival in Gainsborough, stopping to ask for directions we
happened to find Bob Carolgees (minus spit the dog) who pointed us towards what
looked like a church. In the entry foyer was a guy with a guitar, this was
Elliot the MC, he recognised I must be Jim and greeted me showing me into the
theatre... Theatre!! Yes it was a converted church into a 200 seat beautiful
theatre. Elliot showed me the green room while Dave had a smoke... exited
much!! I was warned however it might not be too busy. I went back out to find
Dave and i was buzzing... I’m an open spot I don’t do theatres!!! Dan Bland one
of the 2 Pro acts had arrived too. Dan was to open and we all chatted in the
backstage... yeah backstage green room. The running order was to be Dan 20
mins, break, me 10 min Dave 10 min then Sol Bernstein 30 min headline. Elliot
who was a very welcoming and pleasant guy came to call Dan in for the show to
begin, its busy too he said, i went to sit in the theatre and noted around 100
people. Dan has a slow paced set, the jokes come from no where, the audience
were loving it. Elliot had done a song to warm them up that he was worried
about but it worked a treat and Dan was keeping the laughs going at a nice
pace. I was suddenly worried, Im not professional enough to do this gig!! Shit!!
All through the break and right up until going on I was shaking!! Steve who
plays Sol Bernstien had arrived and was chatting away, a really nice and humble
bloke, but it didn’t set me at ease.... Dan was great how can I follow... about
to find out.
I walked out and
dropped my distinctly average opener, a small laugh. I moved to chicken, a few
more laughs, I went through the hometown stuff and family bits which are the
bits i hate the most from my set, they giggled a little. But I was shocked at
how much they loved the big Julie story... they were howling!! Wow i felt
great! I came off buzzing! Dave Mac next. Dave was straight into his stride....
he was a lot more comfortable up there than me but not only that his jokes were
landing exactly as they should. He was storming it! A great performance.
Steve was waiting to
go on, he was now in costume as Sol. He had been very complimentary of Dave and
I and having seen his set I felt very humbled... he was brilliant! So professional
owning the stage. He got an en core that was fully deserved, it was 30 mins of
brilliant comedy. Amazing and ending a superb night.. well almost ending, as
usual the drive home with Dave included additional comedy.. he was talking of
his ex wife which included some notes she wrote him on how he should behave
which was hilarious!! And that ended one of my best night in comedy so far.
Driffeild gig 68
Andy Woolston put this
gig on but like with my George gig and Baby Jupiter it was without support from
the landlord. England were playing San Marino on the night too and there was a
feeling in the car on the way there that this may not be a great night. It
actually was a nice room and I enjoyed the gig although i tried some variations
on my set and a new bit none of which were all that good! I travelled with
HOWL, Jon Newall coming along to support. Andy was MC with Steve Rimmer and
Live Naked idiots also performing. Jed was there to support too. The night kind
of started on a misogynistic note and ended on a homophobic one. Some acts have
materiel like this i’m not sure how ok it is? Andy seemed a bit down about how
the night went but despite losing money on the gig he still paid our fuel to
the tune of £20 which as stated by Si was a classy move. It was not as well
attended as hoped but I still enjoyed the gig and having the opportunity to
play with my material.
Hartlepool gig 69
I arrived in
Hartlepool on a Saturday night expecting a choca rib ticklers gig run by Nick
Banks, it was however not so busy due to a beer festival. There was enough in
to enjoy myself though. Nick was waiting in the bar when I arrived as was
Headliner Naz Osmanoglu (oz-man-oh-low). Naz had been on Russel Howards good
news recently something I hadn’t twigged at 1st and given his
pleasant welcome i though i must have gigged with him before? Then I saw the
poster... ah no, i know him offof the telly!! Bobby Murdoch opened with a nice
set following on from Nicks MCing. There were about 15 people in so it was a
nice atmosphere and a nice audience.Nick strange went 1st after the
break with a quick set then it was me. I did my best 10 and had a nice
reception, I enjoyed it. Following me was a Lady with a guitar, i feel awful as
I cant remember her name but she was excellent. Naz took the final section and
showed a professional extra bit of class. The energy he put into his set and
the delivery of each line daft tho they were was superb. A nice bloke and a
great act!
Gig 70
Frog and Bucket World
series Manchester.
World series is the
title but it was just local acts 4 heats of 8 looking for a place in the final.
Daniel J Kennedy was my lift there the mega bus was my lift home... an hour late
tho it was!!!
Manchester is a bit
clicky if you don’t know anyone. They are not unfriendly when chatting to them
(them being the Manchester acts) but they are not inclusive. This is ok and
normal but It did not help my nerves, for some reason the gong format of the
night had put me on edge. Performing in order were Freddy quin finalist, Catherine
Scott 2min 35 gonged Elaine Stewart gonged 2.05 Daniel Kennedy BTF and was
awesome Break Me BTF but was ropey.. I was very ropey, rushed my set too much didn’t
chose my jokes well and really did not deliver properly. But i beat the frog...
into submission almost!! David Stanier was next gonged at about 2.45 i think
Clarence frank finalist was superb and then Jack Evans who made just over a
minute but was harshly gonged really.
So I felt like I
learnt again, don’t worry about other acts you think to be better than you
(Stanier, Evans) the trick is to just do your stuff and wory not about the uncontrollable
such as the gong or the other acts. Another lesson learnt in the north west!
Up next Cradley Heath
No comments:
Post a Comment