Gong shows are a topic
of debate amongst open mic comics, some hate them some love them some prefer
not to do them some only do them, for me they are a great way to gig in front
of a crowd as usually gong shows have better attendances than open mic nights.
In the past I have
participated at Mr Bens with the intention of winning but tonight I just wanted
to beat the gong as I was doing ‘new’ material. Now I know that as a comic who
has only been gigging for just over 6 months all my material is new but this
was the result of my breakdown the other week and some of my writing since then
I had crafted into a set using an older narrative to bend the material round.
Beating the gong would not be easy with my worry not being unfunny (it would
help if people find it funny) but forgetting my material, and to make matters
worse I arrived at the club to find I was going on 1st so no time to
sit and allow it to sink in.
Opening tonight would
be the wonderful Julie Jones and the insane Mark Hayden so at least I knew they
would be warmed up, that and the fact that Sully O Sullivan was at the helm
meant I would know what the level of the room would be as sully is excellent at
finding that.
I sat on my own and desperately
made last minute notes on a piece of paper and the back of my hand to help me
through the set, another act was sat next to me but I barely acknowledged him
as I nervously went through my set... I was shaking!!! Silly arse!! Why am i
shaking?? What a dick!! was it because I havent eaten? what kind of excuse is that? I haven’t been this nervous since my 1st
week of gigging, I was so self involved I barely looked away from my paper
during Julie and Mark’s sets.... and now before I knew it, it was time!
Sully selected the
card bearers, the audience members with the power to decide if my new stuff was
shite. It was full and not all students so a good crowd to gig to, I have no
idea why I was so worried about doing a new set..maybe the setbacks of a few
weeks ago have me doubting myself more than usual or maybe i’m just over
reacting and should man up!
I walked on to the
stage when hearing my name, I had not seen where the cards went but I looked
round and spotted 2 of them. I tried to keep an eye on the card bearers as I
went through my set steadily. Whilst laughs were not aplenty they were fairly
loud and I knew at grace I was doing ok which settled me into my stride a bit.
My latter part I had performed already on 2 occasions so now it was not as new
as the earlier part it was my 1st time ever performing (the 1st
3 mins all never before done) I beat the gong... I have no idea if any cards
went up but I had done it and I was chuffed, especially as so many people I
respect were there such as the HOWL guys and some of Pigeon Hole, these guys
all young intelligent talented and I wanted to be on a par with them.
Following me on was
Loz Whittaker who went about his set slowly building into better jokes, as with
most acts straight after me I didn’t take it all in but even with an additional
card holder added he went through uncarded, George Stride followed, i like
George having seen him twice before and thinking he looks so natural for
comedy. Tonight he did the same set but was a cut above. He was sharper, the
set tighter, easily through the gong. Joseph Tarpey went next, he set himself
up for a fall slightly with the way he tackled racism but I think it may have
been the audience reaction that didn’t help, I would imagine there was better
to come from him but tonight he was gonged. Our final act of section 1 had
gone!! He just disappeared so an audience member who is also a magician came to
the stage and performed in his place for a giggle, he ws not in the gong but
did a lovely job.
Thom Milson opened the
2nd section, Thom is a finalist in the new act of the year
competition for winning the gong show twice (my regular readers will realise
that this also means I too am a finalist...Nov 26th be there support
all the acts (not just me)) with this i mind Thom too was trying things out but
he was never able to get his rhythm as there was talking then a drunk girl
kicked over a bottle both on her way to and then from the bar. Thom of old may
have let that bother him but Thom of today knows he is a quality act and was
able to rise above it and beat the gong despite not being in full flow, I would
not wish to sound condescending but Thom has really improved his self belief
making him such a better act. Tash Rebuck followed, a London act and to use her
words ‘token vagina’ she had an odd set but odd tho it was (yet more racism references)
she nailed it, milking the fact she was different from the testosteroney
previous acts. It was very enjoyable to watch and she seemed to be having fun
which made it even better. Jacob Rawcliffe followed, its often tough to follow
an act that has just done well but Jacob is the type of guy that can just
handle things. He likes football but looks like he shouldn’t, kind of a walking
antistereotype although that word does not exist and im not even sure what I
mean by it! Jacob is definitely a very talented comic though, intelligent
articulate and funny..very funny, and he casually nailed his set. Awesome! Dean
Mavros was the penultimate act, i like Deans stuff, I like his thought process
and I like his lack of fear. Dean has an aggressive persona on stage but warmth
flows from the jokes making his punch lines stronger. He was comfortably
through too leaving only one act to go.
Jon Newall..... I need
not repeat past comments about Jons wonderful brain and writing, He was doing
great tonight too but he was heckled by the same drunk girl who gave Thom a
clinky accidental heckle. This was no accident! It was direct and when jon
dealt with it she just fired again which threw him off and sadly he never
recovered despite the subject of women in 50’s clothing being cleverly worked.
The winner was a joint
effort from Jacob and Tash, both getting great cheers from the crowd at the
clap off.
I had already had a
great night and was back feeling good about my comedy when I got two boosts,
one being Sully recommending me to a gig booker which is awesome and I’m hugely
grateful and the other being the nice comments from some of the other acts and from spectator on
the night Mickey Sterret. It was nice to know i’m going in the right direction.
I’m happy with the
night but under no illusions i’m anywhere near good enough or able to stop
working as hard. Luckily I have another gig on Weds where I can work the new
material as the baby Jupiter night returns under new stewardship and not
connected with HOWL. Anthony Murray has taken control and i will be doing a
closing 10. (this is not a headline or anything and my CV will not read ‘headlined
baby jupiter’) i am looking forward to it nonetheless.
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