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 1st 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 1st. 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 1st, 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 1st 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 1st 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 18th
December.
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