Tonight we waved
goodbye to Mostly Comedy’s Hitchin venue for the last three years and two
months, The Market Theatre, at our final show of 2015, with Sean Hughes and
Katharine Ferns.
Occasions like these are bittersweet. The theatre is close to both Glyn’s and my heart; not least because it’s where we met, working front of house and doing lights and sound, back in 1999. If you’d told us then that we’d (1) form a double act and (2) run a comedy club in the studio we’d spend most of our time hoovering, we would have laughed in your face, then asked you to unplug the hoover from the wall so we could retract the lead without walking across the room first.
While it’s a shame to leave a great performance space, the fact the event has grown so much since we’ve been there has made the move inevitable. More frequently than not, we’ve turned people away due to being sold out, which is ultimately a great position for the club to be in. It’s also the fourth time Mostly has moved since it started in 2008, so we’re less inclined to worry that our audience will come with us – and any reservations we had about the Sun Hotel Ballroom as a venue for comedy were put to bed by the Summer Special we staged there in July.
Last night’s line-up was a good one to finish on. It was great to see Katharine again, having shared the bill with her at a Laughing Horse Pick of the Fringe show in Brighton back in May – then a train journey with Mackenzie Crook afterwards (though he clearly wasn’t with us). I love the frank honesty of her material and her delivery, and that she’s prepared to take her act to a dark place and extract laughs from it. I’m a little embarrassed that I didn’t recognise her when she arrived though, because she wasn’t wearing glasses; my ‘fail’.
Occasions like these are bittersweet. The theatre is close to both Glyn’s and my heart; not least because it’s where we met, working front of house and doing lights and sound, back in 1999. If you’d told us then that we’d (1) form a double act and (2) run a comedy club in the studio we’d spend most of our time hoovering, we would have laughed in your face, then asked you to unplug the hoover from the wall so we could retract the lead without walking across the room first.
While it’s a shame to leave a great performance space, the fact the event has grown so much since we’ve been there has made the move inevitable. More frequently than not, we’ve turned people away due to being sold out, which is ultimately a great position for the club to be in. It’s also the fourth time Mostly has moved since it started in 2008, so we’re less inclined to worry that our audience will come with us – and any reservations we had about the Sun Hotel Ballroom as a venue for comedy were put to bed by the Summer Special we staged there in July.
Last night’s line-up was a good one to finish on. It was great to see Katharine again, having shared the bill with her at a Laughing Horse Pick of the Fringe show in Brighton back in May – then a train journey with Mackenzie Crook afterwards (though he clearly wasn’t with us). I love the frank honesty of her material and her delivery, and that she’s prepared to take her act to a dark place and extract laughs from it. I’m a little embarrassed that I didn’t recognise her when she arrived though, because she wasn’t wearing glasses; my ‘fail’.
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| Katharine Ferns at December 2015 Mostly Comedy. |
Sean was clearly
a cracking act to end on. It’s his third visit to the club, and every time he’s
come, we’ve sold out. He’s lovely and very generous, and his sets are a master
class in stand-up, and often as moving as they’re funny. If you didn’t get to
see last year’s touring show, Life Becomes Noises, buy the DVD, and you’ll know
what I mean.
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| Sean Hughes at December 2015 Mostly Comedy. |
I tried out some
new material tonight to a pleasing response, which is good, as it gives me
something to build on. Mine and Glyn’s set went well too, plus we showed a
video clip of my finest moment on The Market Theatre Studio stage; perhaps
ever. It seems a fitting place to end this blog post; P.S. I do all my own
stunts.