Bath Artwork.


Today’s been mostly concerned with ordering posters and flyers for my ‘Work in (Hope of) Progress’ dates at the Bath Comedy Festival next month.



My double act partner Mr Doggett stepped up to the plate as ever to do the artwork, which is similar to that of last year’s Brighton and Camden show ‘…and Ephgrave’, only with a marginally less smug picture of me. What started as a photo I liked grew irksome over time, particularly once I’d seen it ‘in big’. The combined forces of my smarmy facial expression and the “as smooth as they come” quote conspired to make me look and sound like a bit of a dick, which may be accurate, but it still isn’t the best way to encourage an audience.


 
I’m keen to turn my attention fully to writing and rehearsing material now that most of the admin for Bath is done (except for writing the press release and booking my accommodation; there’s always something). The more stuff I can work into some semblance of being performance-ready, the more I’ll benefit from doing the shows in the first place. I’d like to strike a balance between being polished enough to feel vaguely cohesive, while still allowing it to be a work in progress. It doesn’t all have to succeed from the off, instead being a breeding ground for ideas that will. I really want to keep this in mind, rather than pressuring myself into being super-slick. Everything has to start somewhere. It’s not going to start immediately though, as I’m currently watching ‘Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home’ on Channel 5+24; it’s the comedic one of the franchise, so perhaps it will offer some inspiration, as well as...a few...Shatner-like…pauses.

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