No Yogurts

The festive period is in the mid Christmas and New year lull and I have managed to remain busy although sadly not always gigging as gigs have been difficult to come by despite hundreds of emails. I put this down to the fact that there are more acts than spots, that I am not quite good enough for certain promoters liking yet and that promoters have their minimum standard which I understand, but it does read a bit like 'Act required who is good enough to pay, for unpaid spot'. That sounds bitter but I am not, I will keep plugging away and hopefully become bookable for all promoters. The paid work is coming in on a weekly basis now too so I really can't grumble.

The day after my last blog I took to the road to take part in the Kenilworth Gong show, an annual Christmas gong show where Hilarious comedy look at the newer acts out there. Kenilworth is near Coventry so the 2 and a half hour drive may not seem worth it for a gong show but my theory is I am still learning and any gig is a gig, I had actually given up doing gong shows but I need them (annoyingly) and can see the benefit to doing them where some comics do not, this is not to say they are wrong, just that they work for me occasionally.

Hilarious are a midlands based booker that run some pro and amateur nights around Birmingham, Coventry, Wolverhampton Walsall and such areas. I have seen that there have been some disagreements between some of the acts in the Midlands and Hilarious, however, while I am aware of this, it does not concern me and i am not sure why this has happened.
Upon arriving at the gig I was greeted by a couple of other acts and we chatted about the prize at steak, a paid gig at one of Hilarious' pro nights, the reason why some 6 months ago now, I booked in for this.
Phillip who books for them arrived and immediately engaged in conversation with the acts present and was good enough to thank me for making the journey from Leeds. He also explained why this gong show exists, basically stating that we need not win, just impress and do our best. I felt this was a fair statement as they use this annual gong show to look at new acts they may not otherwise get to see.
I moved from my spot at the bar to the room where the gig was to take place and immediately saw my chances of winning take a hit (i had not assumed to win anyway) as stood at the bottom of the short stairway was Pat Draper, it is odd to see an act i like and really enjoy watching and yet think 'oh no'!
There were other great acts there too, Pat may be one of my favourites but quality like Jo D'Arcy and Mister Andy among many many others were also taking part. Mister Andy for anyone who does not know him is a blind comedian who has his guide dog with him, the relevance  of this to me will be revealed later.

I also took part in another gong show recently, Worcester gong, one of Spiky Mike's gigs. Worcester a very long drive from Leeds, however, with Dave Marshall, Si Finnigan and Dave Rivers on board for the journey it was as much about car share conversation as it was the gig. As it happens the gig went well for me, my 5 mins interrupted 3 times with applause from a very receptive audience. The winner Jack Campbell we all identified as the best act long before the vote, but once again in a clap off with Spiky Mike I feel like I had been a little overlooked when the audience had given me a very warm applause (the Sheffield gong the last time this happened) a small niggle but nothing major to worry about.

Other gigs I have done include a boxing day trip to Darlington and a superb fun Panel show in Bawtry which really got my comedy ad lib muscle working (if that is such a thing)

I have had a lot of success lately getting booked for gigs from the Facebook comedy forum which is nice, but one thing I have noticed is its the same people post regularly on the forum and often mention the silly stipulation 'No Yoghurts'! now this is intended to be a lighthearted way of saying don't apply for paid work if you are not ready, or don't apply for a 20 spot if you have only 10 or similar such ideas. It seems however, that some acts are using this to intimidate in a way, lesser experienced acts. It's only a small numbe of people and I'm not convinced they are even aware they are doing it, that said I did a gig with an act w few gigs ago and the act in question looked at a poster of forthcoming nights and proceeded to state how 'shit' all the acts lined up are. There is no need for this and I feel that this, and when acts alienate other acts (something I find amusing when they have material claiming to stand up for the little guy) is just a self esteem issue that is smoke and mirrors when they suffer self doubt. I guess all I'm saying here is i think that newer acts need to take this with a pinch of salt and more experienced acts should consider how they come across sometimes.

Another thing I experienced this month was a Christmas function with friends I have not seen for a while. during this night I had numerous chats with my non comedy pals about how the comedy is going. They all told me their favourite comedians, things I should put in my set, that my comments on the evening 'weren't funny' all standard, annoying but harmless. One thing that came up was when asked who my favourite acts were I listed several. All actsI have gigged with, none famous and all very very funny with great futures. 2 names among the list are Amy Gledhil and Harriet Dyer and no less than 6 of the blokes I chatted to said "i just don't find women funny" Seriously!! I know there is sexism where comedy is concerned but I had no idea that it was so blatent. It is almost always a case for me spend the 1st 2 mins trying to win an audience over, but all I am fighting is the audience thinking, is he any good? It seems that females are in some instances fighting the, oh god its a woman thing! really harsh but I am no authority to speak any more on this as it's the 1st time I have seen such gender discrimination up close.

So going back to Kenilworth gong, the night had been going badly for some really strong acts, the audience were subdued and were not shy at gonging off anyone for just one bad joke. When it came to my turn the mood was still somewhat dull, the vibrant buzzing atmosphere that you can get at the frog or one of Spiky's was not there but they were a lot more forgiving when I was up in front of them than it seemed. My set was going ok, not brilliant but they were laughing, however, the key moment for me was when I setup a gag and mid punchline the guide dog stood up and shook like a wet dog diverting most of the attention very briefly, enough to ruin one of my best jokes. It was frustration but funny and it seems my flippant response to this (just a simple line about being heckled by a guide dog) got me the nights only real applause break. This piece of luck was enough to allow me a win, although not total win as Pat Draper was of course in superb form as ever (seriously if any bookers are reading this... book him!!) and a comic from London who embarrassingly I forget the name of both took joint victory with me and we will next year all 3 of us take a paid gig from Hilarious. Phillip stating that if we do well there we could gain more gigs so I hope to have some good form next year.

This year I have done 211 gigs, next year I aim to do 250 and get somewhere with one of the bigger promoters, lots of work to do and my 1st gig of 2014 will be in Amsterdam for an American company so I hope to start the year with some improv proving I am capable! (I may not be) I may even head to Edinburgh in 2014 and my solo show (which i think needs work) has been booked by JH Events, a company that usually promote music, and pushed for a mini tour!! not something an act of my level should do?? well they asked me and its worth trying.
I may have some other exiting things to get stuck into in 2014 as an event planner for a comedy festival has been in touch too although i made him aware of my level as an act and I may not be what he is looking for, he still seemed keen to have me involved after seeing my show at Hull comedy festival, so that could be fun too. Another thing for next year is to try cut the swearing from my set, its a new act tick that I don't need and can try iron out, not to say that swearing does not have its place as it does, but I'm going to try go without.

I really hope 2014 is a busy year and trust me I will go all out to make sure it is and will continue to try improve.

Have a great new year everyone!!