You and You and Me.

Tonight, I previewed my Edinburgh show to two people; well, three if you count my wife, who's already seen it enough to be my understudy.

Thankfully they were a nice couple, who didn't seem too intimidated by the prospect of being eyeballed by a comic for an hour. I'd usually not perform to less than five or six, or more than one group at the very least - any less and it switches from a performance to a hostage situation - but I've cancelled so many previews in the past few weeks, that I wasn't going to let the chance to do a proper run pass me by; particularly after carrying all the necessary gear to London to do it. 

The lead-up to the show was all kinds of disastrous. Before leaving Hitchin, I discovered that the screw thread of the hole on the base of mine and Glyn's new projector is smaller than the screw you use to attach it to our tripod, rendering the tripod useless. I had an hour to get to Argos to buy a new one (which didn't fit either) and then phone my friend Paul to ask I'd I could borrow the new (and hefty) projector stand he'd bought for Mostly Comedy, and pick it up from the venue. This put paid to rehearsing the show before I left for London. I went to wash my hands on the way out of the office; squirting soap on them before realising the water supply had been switched off because of a leak; such is the life and times of an Ephgrave. 

Thankfully, the show was useful. I could do with more previews than the two I have left, but at least I have a few days to tweak the material before the next show on Thursday. I'd like it to be as tight as possible for Friday's final gig before I leave for rainy Scotland. Fingers crossed. 

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