Mostly Norman, Nat & Nish.


Today, we had the second Hitchin Mostly Comedy of 2014. 

All in all, it was good. We had Norman Lovett, Nathaniel Metcalfe and Nish Kumar on the bill; three great acts and lovely people. 

(Sorry: I’m gushing more than a geyser at Yellowstone National Park.)

We interviewed Norman and Nish for our podcast, but sadly didn't have time to speak to Nat as well. This wasn't a disaster - we only uploaded our last interview with him a couple of months back - but it was a shame to miss him out. 

Norman's very easy to talk to. He's not afraid to state his opinion (you would expect this, from someone who's spent so many years in the business), but he does it with grace. He's also one of the most supportive acts we've ever booked for Mostly; never afraid to hit the retweet button to help us out. 

He also has a pet pug called Elvis, which earns him instant extra marks. 

We talked a little about the sitcom pilot he is filming for Channel Four. I hope it gets a series; he deserves to be back on television. 

We also had a nice chat with Nish, recounting lots of Mostly memories. He's played every venue since the club began: The George, Croft, Queen Mother Theatre and Market Theatre in Hitchin, plus the Counting House in Edinburgh and Leicester Square Theatre in London. Christ, we get about.

He was on sparkling form on stage. He closed the night, which meant following Norman (who inevitably most people had come to see), but he coped perfectly. You'd expect this from Nish.

Our performance wasn't our best but also wasn't our worst. We got a good reaction, but I felt we didn't give enough attack. 

You can't get it right every time. Not if you're us, anyway.  

Popular posts from this blog

Shakerpuppetmaker.

Image
Have Parker from Thunderbirds and Noel Gallagher ever been seen in the same room? The resemblance is uncanny. So much so, I think something’s afoot. If my suspicions are correct, I've stumbled across a secret that will blow the music and puppet industry wide apart. In the mid-60s / mid-90s at least. It doesn’t take long to see the signposts. There’s the similarity between the name of Oasis’ first single, Supersonic, and Supermarianation, Gerry Anderson’s puppetry technique. The Gallagher brothers would often wear Parkas . Live Forever was clearly a reference to Captain Scarlet and Standing on the Shoulder of Giants to the size difference between Noel and his bandmates. The more you think about it, the more brazen it gets. It’s fishier than Area 51, Paul is Dead and JFK's assassination put together. The only glitch to the theory is scale . According to Wikipedia, Anderson’s marionettes were 1’10” and Gallagher is 5’8”. How does he maintain an illusion of avera...
Read more

Stevenage: A (Tiny) River Runs Through it.

If ever a river was mis-sold, it’s the Roaring Meg in Stevenage. I just walked past it on my way to the retail park that has taken its name. They’re similarly uninspiring. The river is less of a roar and more of a dribble; cystitis sufferers produce greater flow. The retail park is soulless. What was once a thriving enterprise is nearly devoid of atmosphere, save an underlying essence of emptiness and despair. With a Toys R Us. When it was first built I was excited. Back then, the thought of a bowling alley, an ice rink, a Harvester and a Blockbuster Video within a small surface area was enticing. I celebrated many birthdays on site. There was an indoor cricket pitch there for a while where I once had a joint party with a friend. Why someone with an almost pathological fear of sport would agree to such a venture is beyond me, but I did it. Now, there’s very little at the Roaring Meg of note. The river would be a metaphor for the shopping ce...
Read more

Hoo-ray and up She Rises.

So much has happened since my last post in March that this blog risks sounding like an itinerary. The main news is that Hitchin Mostly Comedy will return in the summer at a new venue, the Queen Mother Theatre . The road to this decision was convoluted, though enough fell into place en route to leave me optimistic about this new start. The catalyst was a survey I ran via our mailing list a few months back, in which I asked, "If the club returned in the current climate, with tickets still around £15 (and with similar line-ups), would you still attend?"; the response to which, in simple terms, was a resounding yes. Nearly 250 mailing list subscribers responded in a single week, with around a hundred also taking the option to leave some feedback. And only two people were abusive, which counts as a win when you consider they posted their comments online anonymously. Imagine how many more insults we would have received if the comedy club was a woman. Particularly if she was Diane ...
Read more