"Bless him."


The first thing the MC said after I walked off the stage tonight was "Well, he tried".

This made we walk straight out of the building. Saying it was unprofessional and unpleasant. Without wishing to sound like one of those people, in all the years that Glyn and I have run and MC-ed a comedy club, we've never once put an act down, however their set went. It's not an MC's job to pass comment; you pick things up and keep things moving, but that’s it. You’re never negative about what’s onstage around you; after all, they’re as much a part of the show as you.

The irony was it didn't go that badly. It wasn’t my best work, but it wasn't my worst. The audience’s reaction was polite, but there were still some laughs. Even if there hadn't been, the comment was unnecessary. It was patronising while pretending to be supportive, and served to set in stone with the audience that it hadn’t gone well, regardless of what they’d been thinking in the first place. 

I’m quickly learning that a Friday or Saturday night ‘pub comedy night’ crowd is not the one for me. To be honest, I knew this in the first place; I barely fit into a being-out-at-the-weekend scenario in real life, let alone when I’m gigging. There were three stag dos in the audience tonight who - while actually being quite restrained - were never going to be in the mood to listen to gentle stories about my personal ineptitude or my dad’s hernia. I need to be in a space where my performance can feel more like a conversation and less like a brash public announcement; either that, or I need to start doing more cock jokes. I only hope I don’t run out of rooms where I can do it.

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