Skip to main content

Mostly Kay.


At last night’s Mostly Comedy, Phil Kay complimented us on our material. He also briefly referenced it in his set. That's something I'll store in my head for a rainy day.



Having him on the bill still excites me. The first time I watched him (in 2008, during our first Edinburgh run), he blew my mind. It was painfully funny. Literally. I laughed so hard and uncontrollably that my whole body ached, and I felt like my soul might escape through my mouth. It was the cleverest, most intelligent, most perfectly-constructed-while-being-off-the-cuff set I’d seen in my life. 

His Hitchin Mostly Comedy debut was a turning point. He was the only big, established act we’d approached up to then who we didn’t know personally. Just the thought of him arriving was intimidating. Thankfully he's lovely. He performed to one of our first sold out crowds for well over an hour and left them wanting more. He’s been back many times since. We’ve also interviewed him for our podcast.

Yesterday’s show was good all-round. We had a nice-sized audience who were very responsive. They liked mine and Glyn’s stuff. I also made my solo stand-up debut (which, thankfully, Phil wasn’t there to see. I didn’t need the extra pressure). My set was short but well received. Doing it felt strange yet satisfying. It was great to make a start. I’m looking forward to trying out some more.

Not only did Phil say nice things about us last night, he also used my harmonica. The important thing to remember when booking him for a show is to hide everything.
Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

Shakerpuppetmaker.

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

'...I'm Gonna Look at You 'til My Eyes Go Blind."

Over the past week or two, I’ve been on a bit of a Sheryl Crow kick, largely thanks to rediscovering her cover of one of my most-liked Bob Dylan songs. She has one of my favourite female voices, yet despite this, I only own one CD and that’s just a single (her '97 release ‘Hard to Make a Stand’); on that basis, you can only imagine how much of her back catalogue I’d own if I hated her (it would fall into minus-figures). Dylan, conversely, takes up more of my collection than anyone else, save The Beatles and Paul McCartney’s solo work. He’s one of those artists who, when you get him, you really get him - and once I’d tuned into his style as a student, I'd time and again be blown away by his lyrics; he’ll have more jaw-dropping imagery in one track than other people fit in a whole career. These days, I mostly listen to music in the morning when getting ready, and more often than not, this will consist of a suggested YouTube playlist when I’m in the bath, r...
Read more

"Speaking Words of Wisdom, Let it Shine."

Tonight saw the second instalment of BBC1’s latest advertise-a-musical-for-months-and-then-cast-it-with-performers-too-inexperienced-to-do-it-a-thon ‘Let it S̶h̶i̶t̶e̶ Shine’ (or as I call it: ‘REAL AUDITIONS ARE NOTHING LIKE THIS’). I didn’t watch it (clearly), but being reminded of how angry seeing just five minutes of it made me last week caused me to mull over what I would call a musical based on the band’s songbook, if I was responsible for it. Here are a my suggestions: IDEAS FOR TITLE OF A TAKE THAT MUSICAL: Barlow! Dirty Fat-Dancing Orange! A Million Love-changes-everything Songs Owen! Howard's End Pray Misérables Mamma Marka! Babe (with a pig as the lead) …BUT MY FAVOURITE HAS TO BE: Jason & His Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat. "It was Orange, Orange, Orange, Orange..." (TAKE) THAT’S ENOUGH OF (TAKE) THAT.
Read more