New Opening.


I snapped up a short open spot at a new material night tonight. I very nearly didn’t go, as I wasn’t in the mood, but I’m glad that I did.

I need to get used to turning up to gigs on my own. Until recently, I’ve never done this. The closest I came was playing the odd solo acoustic gig after my band spit up due to my then-constant touring. Even with that, I had an accomplice: my guitar. The banter in-between songs was loosely comedic, but this wasn’t the main focus. The music was the important bit. If I made the audience laugh that was a bonus.

I made the gradual transition into comedy with Glyn by my side. I thrive on the connection we have creatively, and on being able to make each other laugh. We aim to please each other first. We’ve worked together in one way or another for so long that sharing a stage is like putting on a comfy pair of shoes. It’s easy to get back into a rhythm.

Performing on my own is a different kettle of fish  (to use a surreal cliché). The comfy shoes have been wrenched from my feet and replaced with insufficient footwear. There’s no-one to cajole me into being funny, or to fall back on onstage. I don’t even have a slideshow to maintain structure or pull focus (in a good way).

Today was one of the first times I enjoyed it. The material was rickety in places and needs work, but there’s an end in sight. This time last week, I took a friend with me for feedback and moral support. Tonight, I turned up on my own. I was anonymous. This suited me better. I had a nice chat with a couple of the other acts too, which relaxed me. The organizer was lovely and said nice things about my set, which gave me a little boost.

While it’s good to experiment with the solo stuff and try something different, I’m looking forward to Doggett & Ephgrave's forthcoming projects. We’ll soon be hosting a radio show on a small online station. I can’t wait. I’ve always preferred our off-the-cuff stuff (like The Buddy Tapes and our Edinburgh video diary) to our more formal writing. It’s more fun. It’s also less effort, which gets a big tick from me.

That’s enough late-night rambling. I’m going to reward myself by watching the Simpsons episode where Homer adopts a lobster. How’s that for a wind-down? 


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