Dying for comedy Gigs 92-93

I had had a full week off from comedy for the 1st time since starting out so there has not been a blog for a while, but I was back in action in the week prior to Christmas with gigs 92 and 93

Gig 93 Denbeigh NorthWales

I often hear people say I am one of the hardest working open spot acts there is, well one guy works much harder and that is Adam Rushton and it is he who had booked me for his gig in North Wales. This would be my 1^st outside of England as I did not venture to Edinburgh in August. I thought long and hard about whether or not it was worth the long trip from Leeds on a Tuesday night in December, but I had agreed ... no actually asked to do the gig so I would not drop out it is hardly fair. I am glad I didn’t drop out, I have only missed 3 gigs this year that I had said I would do and all 3 due to circumstances out of my control, stage time is hard to come by and letting people down because its a long drive on a Tuesday night is not my thing. Another reason that I was glad I did not drop out was the gig itself... it was a lovely gig and well worth doing. Adam has built up a regular following at the gig and it is a nice intimate setting. Pete Phillipson would open with myself and Rachel Fairburn as middle opens and the wonderful Wes Zahurak headlining. I arrived after a nice traffic free drive although a Polish lorry driver did try and kill me by cutting into my lane forcing me onto the hard shoulder!! I nearly died in the name of comedy!. The room was empty other than Adam Pete and Rachel the latter 2 sat with their notes and Adam stood to greet me and Wes who arrived at the same time as I did. I had a nice catch up with Adam and he shuffled off to buy the acts a drink as I said my hello’s to the other guys before going to get changed. It was a tiny loo area that I was getting changed in and Adam came in to chat to me while I got sorted, he studies comedy and seems intrigued by every angle and approach and is very respectful of what every brings to the comedy table. I was glad to be doing this gig.

I found out as people were filtering in it was a tenner for a ticket and they get a buffet thrown in, given how close it is to Christmas and that we still live in times of austerity i was therefore impressed that around 20 people attended, this pretty much filling the room. Adam worked the crowd as much as he knew each person due to them all being regulars to the gig. The start was fairly subdued so when Pete Phillipson walked up to the stage it had seemed like he may struggle.... He did not!! It was a superb opening 20, he had the perfect mix of gags, stories and crowd work picking mainly on a guy called Tom that Adam had singled out for a little abuse of the good natured type. I was very impressed with Pete’s skill although not surprised. There was a short break before Rachel Fairburn went on, she looks like a 15 year old however is 32 and has some great lines about the things she says to men that she has slept with to freak them out!! Very funny and a little disturbing!! She also has some nice moments that have a personal touch and all in all a very good set. I was next, I had my watch primed ready but did not set it going and I’m certain I overran such was the fun I was having up there. I was not performing comedy gold nor was I at my best but I was definitely enjoying myself and the audience were lovely. I am not sure if I had done well or just ok but i felt content with what I had done.

Wes closed the night with his superb slapstick and visual comedy one man band style performance. It is not re inventing the comedy wheel but it has definitely put some new tyres on it and had the whole room in tears of laughter. There are few people that deliver a truly unforgettable comedy show but Wes in certainly one. And so ended a great night in Wales.

Gig 93 was Portion of Quips new act special, The idea behind this night was for me to have a bunch of acts at a similar level to me and have them compete for audience votes with the winner getting a paid spot at a future POQ gig. I hoped to raise enough door money to be able to buy some posters and flyers for next years 12 POQ’s so I needed the place nice and busy...and it was just that. Over 50 people crammed in to watch Amy Gledhil, Kahn Johnson, Daniel Nicholson, Dave Rivers, Rich Hodkin and Sally Jones do battle, but before that I had an opener/warm up act in the shape of the wonderful Ross Brierely. Ross came on to a cold crowd, I as MC had tried to work the room but I had not managed to find the level so Ross had to self adjust, but he is more than capable of this and arguably one of the best open spot MC’s going. He had a good go at getting them warmed up tonight but I thought it was particularly difficult for him as the room sussed out what was going on. He had a lovely joke about the German market which was the highlight of a typically energetic and engaging performance. The competition started with Amy doing as Amy always does... making everyone in the room laugh!! A great start, Kahn followed, his pace is slower which may have worked against him in the competition but once he got going the crowd warmed to him and he got some good laughs. Dan was next, he made an error at the start of his set and yet he recovered it superbly although a guy said to me on his way to the toilet, “this guy has terrible material”!! oddly he said this after Dan had only been on for 30 seconds!!! There was a break before Dave rivers opened the 3^rd section and nailed his stuff, as good as I have ever seen him. Rich Hodkin went next but while he did ok there was a bit of Rich’s personality missing from this performance and I have seen him much better. Sally Jones closed the show and she was on top form, she was a bit of a late booking as I wanted there to be at least 2 female acts on but had been a bit slow sorting out the second. I was impressed with everyone from Ross through to Sally as they all did their bit but the clear winner on the night was Dan who was closely followed by Amy and Sally sperated by only a couple of points and Dave Rivers only a couple of points behind them. It was a great night for all involved, the audience all seemed to have a great time and I hope to see them all back at the next POQ which will feature a car load from York including Johnny F Monatone and James Christopher to name just 2. Tickets have already started selling too which is nice.

Next for me and my 1^st gig in 2013 is Hull for a 1 off gig I believe that is charity. Have a great new year everyone!!

4 giggings and a funeral Gigs 88-91

It feels like a long time since I have been sat at my laptop writing out my gig blog, possible because life is hectic at the moment and I helped myself no end by booking in 5 gigs this week although due to circumstances beyond my control I had to give one a miss so this blog will contain details of only 4 gigs!!

Gig 88 was an odd one really in that its an open mic night run by 3 new guys to the comedy world. They are from York and so to give themselves more stage time have set up a gig, not a bad idea but they need to promote it a bit more I would say as I had 4 friends in the audience and car share buddy Amy Gledhil had around 10 or 12 mates with her which without these we would have had only 2 in the audience. They will get to grips with that as they progress as we all start somewhere.

The gig itself was like any other open mic gig in that there were some moments where people were trying new things and some worked some didn’t. Bruce diggerdink (I still think im getting his name wrong but hopefully not) MC’d the gig although he did a nice job of keeping the audience awake there will need to be a bit of work in the Mcing department but he knew that and was reluctant for the role so I cant grumble. Damion was confident and had a nice bit about porches and porch doors. Tom who did 2 sets on the night did his 1^st in character and the set heavily featured asking the audience about their ringtone, this lead to a very funny moment when someones phone rang.

Amy started the second section and gave the gig a little more structure, she was in electric form and lit the room up with her presence and joke rate. It was very much what was required and everyone enjoyed a wonderful set. I went next and opted to do my staple set rather than new stuff as I had friends present. I would say I have performed better but I was happy to get some timings perfected and stay match fit for the week. It was a nice night and I wish the guys luck with their gigging as they improve and move forward.

Gig 89 back to a place I gigged at early on in my comedy journey called long live comedy in Newcastle. Dave rivers booked the gig and coming along would be new act winner Callum Scott and Rich Hodkin who thankfully took driving responsibility away from me for once (tis rare i don’t drive)

Chat in the car on the way there centred around standard comedy anecdotes in the sense that we talked about gigs we had done etc, I also told Rich there was a small section of his set (about 1min 30 seconds worth) that I wish I had written for my Amsterdam bit and he duly handed this over... an odd feeling that I kind of purchased another guys material but I accepted the chance to use it as it really suits my set.

Arrival at the gig was delayed by us taking the full tour of Newcastle just trying to find a parking place... twice maybe 3 times round the block too!! Then we arrived to hear Chris Ramsey was performing at the stand, Mumford and sons at the Metro and a metal act who’s name I forget were at the o2 all tonight.... so we were without audience!!

Actually there was a nice audience in the end of around 15 or so and a gig was on. Kayvan Khazaee was on tonight too and went 1^st. It was nice to see him do more than a minute as he was gonged at Preston when I last saw him.. he was great tonight!! Rich Hodkin was also excellent tonight, relaxed and confident. Dave rivers did his usual in that he delivered in a relaxed style, even though he was trying new stuff he looked un-phased although the darker bits didn’t seem to suit him. Callum did what Callum does and just outshone everyone else on the bill. I tried all new stuff really. The work in progress sofa bit and a little bit about weatherspoons. It went ok but i have yet to view the video to be sure, all I know is I felt comfortable with it but not like there was laughs ahoy!.

Gig 90 was again in the northeast and again with Callum. I had driver duty this time and had to pratt about with the spare tyre on the car before being able to set off. I needed a hammer some patience and my dad!! I had two of the 3!!!!anyway I picked up Callum and headed to York to pick up the other 2 acts James Christopher and Chris Bootham who is also known as Sam J Brown, not a character act but a name change. We had a good chat about some new acts we all know who are not all that good and how we are all for giving new acts the benfit of any doubt but some just have no clue or self awareness.. it made for entertaining travel conversation. That and my faux pas asking if the gig had a headliner!! Oh.. it was James (i knew he was at that level i just assumed he was opener for some reason and we were all open spot middles!!) Arrival at the gig left an uncomfortable feeling of oh no we have come all this way for nothing... the footy was on and MC Nick Banks looked resigned to the possibility there would be few in. These fears were unfounded as in the end it was a lovely gig. There was a woman who was a bit mental but she was harmless and actually fun. A couple of guys who were sort of talked into coming and in the end seemed to enjoy it. I decided to go 1^st, Nick who we all agreed was a super Mc had done all he could with a small audience and to be fair he had done great,  I perhaps lacked a little energy or conviction... I was doing what I could to use the room and venue for jokes as well as my set and i guess mocking the bamboo feature got my biggest laugh. I didn’t die on my arse or anything so severe but I did not do brilliant however I was opening act and it is sometimes the case that it is a struggle. Sam went next, he was introduced as Sam so went with it. He set off like a freight train with nice anecdotal jokes and such but he did slow down a little I think when he went to his notes it killed his flow. I still would say he did better than I did though so don’t take that as me criticising in any way. Performance of the night from the opens though was Callum who again out shone. It was one of those gigs that even I thought he would struggle with but how wrong we were... he just nailed it and was in cruise control. What more can I say he is an excellent act.

James took to the stage with his sort of geek chic look and straight away had control. His set has an excellent joke about black tie diners and also a superb bit about losing his bank card in Scotland amongst other things. I really enjoy watching James as he is at a different end of the energy spectrum to where I would like to be yet I would like his ability to craft a joke. Always good to learn from the experienced acts. The night came to an end and I would say we all enjoyed it and had decent gigs each. I took a lot from the night going 1^st and struggling a bit and will learn from this.

Gig 91 final gig of the week was in Grimsby and I believe a 1 off gig. Simon Gutherless booked it and some familiar faces attended such as Jed who would headline, David McAndrew my car share buddy, Andy Woolston who would be doing his last ever gig (unless we can talk him round) and opener Steve Rimmer. Liam Smedley a radio DJ from Viking FM was to MC the gig and he was sat there with the other acts when I arrived. Driving along we talked about ghosts for some reason and told some freaky stories which culminated in talking about how i was actually dead... I died on stage several times in fact and there was no gig we were just going to my funeral!! we werent we were going to a pub gig!! The pub venue was small and divided into 2 rooms with a bar in the middle. This meant that the acts were in the back room out of the way and although able to hear through a dodgy speaker unable to see the other acts so I cant really comment on their sets. It sounded to me like Steve had done well and so had Andy although he looked like his mind was elsewhere after the gig. I went 1^st of the second section. There was a guy not paying attention and facing the wrong way so I used him to open and mocked him gently.. it worked although i nicked the taxi driver line from another gig. I was able to take my time going through my set once they were onside and was lucky really as it was a good audience who seemed to like me. Dave Mac says he thought it was the best he had seen me... I still think I did better at new act final but he was adamant I not be negative about my set. I knew I had had a decent gig though as I could sense a real desire for me to keep going as I ended and my confidence was sky high.

The only other acts sets i saw were Simon and the Jedliner who both stormed it. They both usually do and they had the whole room hanging on their every word. Dave Mac did well at the start but seems to think he lost them at the end, he told us after he came off stage grimacing and does that a lot these days!! Ha. He had us all in tears laughing back stage that is for sure!1 the guy is a legend!! I truly enjoy my road trips with him more than most other things I do (i would not say more than sex as I don’t seem to do that anymore!!!)

And so to a week off as we have bought a house and need to move and shit like that... next gig is 18^th December.