It is nice to be getting offered gigs in far away (relatively speaking) places and see how different crowds react to the same jokes. I know my accent can be helpful away from Leeds (as this is the feedback I have had) and that it allows me to play about with the truth a little more, for example I have a bit about Sir George Cayler being (the guy who in vented seatbelts and gliders) from near Otley... he was from Scarborough!!
The other plus point from taking these gigs is that most of them are in front of proper comedy audiences. By that I mean that these are people who attend comedy regularly as all audiences are proper audiences and I suspect the arena comedy audiences do not attend comedy that often as they only want to see Peter Kay, Micheal McIntyre or Lee Evans (which is fine).
I guess I just want to be put in front of all audiences and try all gigs while I still tweak my set and continue to try and tighten it.
Gig 125
So this week I was off to Wincanton (near Bristol 420 miles from home) I set off at 1pm from Leeds and went into economy drive with no electrics running and not above 60mph... to quote the guy at Shell filling station Harrogate rd, fuel is expensive innit. After a long slow drive during which my bum died I arrived at a lovely little pub named the Nog Inn. There was a roaring fire in the main room and I stood by that warming up and chatting to fellow act Phil Cooper who arrived a moment after I did. This gig was one that used to be a fully pro night but as the pubs budget was slashed they now have 9.. yes 9, open spots and 1 pro act.
I had a lovely slot being on 1st after the 1st break and relaxed on finding out how many open spot acts there were too. I watched the 1st section which went well, including Phil going 3rd (or last in that section) doing a great job and a lovely callback to the previous act. The break seemed to last for ever as my standard pre gig doubts crept in. The MC, Kevin Sheppard, was awesome and seemed to be really enjoying himself. He did however forget my name twice during my intro and had to check his phone, this was great for me as it allowed me a chance to mock myself a little pretending also to not know my own name and needing to check my phone. This was cheap really, not comedy gold, but it was effective and got a bigger laugh than perhaps it deserved. I knew from that I could relax and just go through my stuff slowly, taking Mark Hayden's advice to breath and slow my pace..... what... Mark gives good advice! My new bit based around scuba diving went very well but the silent gaps spoke volumes as this crowd were laughing at anything. I moved away from the new bit and into my standard set and just enjoyed the laughter that filled the small room. They were very supportive and just went with it, I even noticed one lady creased over... ok I'm not that good yet but it was nice to see them enjoy it so much. All the acts following did a great job too although one seemed to have 'borrowed' some of his jokes as they were ones I knew I had heard and given how new this act was I cant imagine that they were his, nicked and put on Sickipedia or something but then I could be wrong these days given the way jokes are passed round.
Special note for the staff at the Nog who were so welcoming and friendly and the venue itself which is lovely. I had a great night and took loads from it.
Gig 126
This was the 2nd part of my 2 part appearance in a pro night doing 9 open spots in order to keep costs down. If there was any doubt about how good an idea this is then this pub gig in Barking should assist opinions. I was picked up from Barking station by the only pro on the bill Andrew Simmons, he was very chatty and amid the conversation we talked about quality of gigs, Andrew said he would be able to tell me if tonight would be a good gig within 5 mins of arrival... it took much less than that! We arrived at a beaten up looking pub with a door that had a smashed glass frontage, inside there was a speaker at each side of a sound system with a Mic and stand but no stage. There was no seating and the burberry cap brigade of punters were drinking heavily and chatting. It was clear this would be a struggle and so it proved. Andrew announced the gig would be taking place but this was met with 'banter' or abuse possibly a better word.
The time for starting the gig was put back but this and several announcements did not stop the chatting. So the gig began. Andrew did everything possible to bring about quiet and get a gig going... it did not work and the morons among the crowd just kept making jokes among themselves and talking shite. Omar Hamdi went 1st of the acts and was actually very impressive given how hard it was. He is a lovely guy off stage too and it was a decent start in comedy terms but really the talking never stopped and so the night did not really get going. Both the following acts did fine but who heard?? only the other acts I think plus a handful of others, one of whom was hilarious, so funny, you see when he was asked his name he said Fred... but it wasn't Fred!! brilliant!!!!.
I guess the Pub staff were trying as they did a bit of shushing during the interval but one lady sought to abuse them for this stating that she'd paid her fucking 2 paand and could do what she fuckin likes!!! classy bird that one. The Landlady did a school teacher style announcement in the Mic and no one gave a shit so the next section was just the same. The 3rd section was a tad better and I was on in that section but really this gig was best forgotten and during the drive back to London Andrew was muttering about how he was stll winding up doing gigs like that!! He was lovely enough to take me back to victoria bus station and offer a little advice although he prefers not to be an advice offerer as he thinks its condescending and he is respectful of peoples ability to do things their own way.
So another night over and another gig down, I can only take experience from that one though! next for me a week off!!
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