mostly david ephgrave

I went into the office today with the intention of doing some work to promote next month's performance of my solo show, but ultimately, I couldn’t find the enthusiasm to do it. It’s not that I don’t have faith in the show itself (though like any creative person, I flit between thinking what I do is good or awful with alarming speed and frequency). It’s just that today, for whatever reason, I wasn’t in the mood to big something up for what seems like the millionth time, to no apparent interest. I know that sounds a little maudlin and self-pitying. The last bit’s also not strictly true; it’s just how it feels today, at this present moment. Working alone is hard; there’s no two ways about it. You only have yourself to depend on, and if you start feeling negative, this feeds laziness and apathy, which in turn, makes you feel worse. I’ve never been good at maintaining self-belief, particularly when no-one’s investing in what I do, or cajoling me on ...

It may be oblique, but I can’t hear the song 'My Sweet Lord' without thinking of Paul Daniels. This bizarre mental association came about as a result of a conversation I had with him when he played Mostly Comedy last year. We were walking from our then-venue the Market Theatre to our new venue, The Sun Hotel, to record our podcast, when I brought up the subject of George Harrison. I try to find common ground whenever someone new plays our club, particularly when we're interviewing them for our podcast. Invariably for me, this tends to involve The Beatles when it can (e.g. when interviewing Kevin Eldon – who had their music as his Mastermind specialist subject – and Phill Jupitus – who’s friends with Neil Innes of the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, who were in the film 'Magical Mystery Tour'); it’s often tenuous, but it works. I was aware that Harrison used to live in the same town as Daniels – Henley-on-Thames – and asked Paul if he’d eve...

There's something about the autumn that finds me constantly tweeting along to the TV. It probably looks like I’ve nothing better to do with my time, though in a way, it’s a time- saver , as it indirectly gives me a bit of a break from finding things to discuss here; I’ll often abandon my usual prose-based blogs, in favour of a summary of my Twitter ramblings on whichever show was on that night; it’s not my fault that University Challenge, Strictly Come Dancing and The Great British Bake Off all air at once. Tonight’s Bake Off was a pastry-case in point. See below for what came to mind whilst watching this evening's show. At the risk of a spoiler, it was a shame to see Rav go. Did you also know that Bruce Willis was dead in Sixth Sense? When it comes to spoiling people’s fun, I’m the best. 8:02pm: I'll probably tweet along with # GBBO for a bit; apologies to the uninterested. 8:04pm: Just a few minutes in, and I miss Va...

All that needed to be said about tonight’s University Challenge was summed up in my first tweet of the evening: “Well…Regan’s a twat.” Queen's - Belfast Vs. Birmingham (26.09.16) Admittedly, it wasn't very subtle, but then neither was Regan’s get-up. He chose to make his début on the show dressed as a gimp. To be fair, he’s not the first; there have been many unfortunately-garbed contestants on the programme before this evening’s episode and there’ll be many to come. He was just in the invidious position of being the most eye-catchingly attired of the night, though he brought this attention on himself and therefore only has himself to blame. Still, what right have I to judge? You should have seen how ridiculous I looked at his age; I went to my drama school's graduation ball as a First Year in a pair of black and grey stripy flares; I didn’t even have the era as an alibi: it was the Nineties, not the Sixties. Regan-bashing to on...

Some days you don't have much to report.  I was meant to be going to watch the wrestling in London today (as you do), but I ended up cancelling, as my labyrinthitis decided to do its worst this morning, meaning it would be better not to go. Instead, I popped to the shop to pick up some croissants, so my wife and I could enjoy breakfast in bed, which was far preferable to watching a load of men pretending to fight each other in their pants.  In the afternoon, I briefly popped into town to do a little shopping, and to go to the office, so I could send a couple of emails and run some material for tomorrow's gig. Frustratingly, I seem to have made the same mistake I made last year, and have sailed too close to the deadline for the Leicester Comedy Festival, meaning I probably won't be taking my show there next year. Yet again, I'm irritated by this, as I hate missing opportunities, and - while I'd intended to take my current show there next year for its last airing be...

I didn’t tweet along to yesterday’s Strictly Come Dancing, as I was watching Jaws 2 at the cinema – that old excuse – but tonight, I was BACK. While I didn’t see yesterday’s show live, I watched it this morning, and while there was some good performances in it (I hate to say it, as he gets under my skin, but Ore Oduba was pretty sound), nothing grabbed me particularly. That wasn’t the case tonight, when there was a lot of potential on display; Louise, Daisy and Will spring to mind. Even Ed Balls did a good job, and not what I expected; I hope he gets to stay for a few weeks to give him a chance to improve, and isn’t given a raft of ‘amusing’ dances, to (1) be entertaining and (2) to get rid of him. Below, you’ll find this evening’s tweets. Hopefully, they’ll make sense out of context. 6:32pm: Tonight, I'll be keeping a tally of how often Len Goodman says, "You came out." 6:32pm: Cue the on-beat handclapping. 6...

Tonight, I went to see 'Jaws 2: The Wrath of Khan' at the Prince Charles Cinema. My favourite bit was when William Shatner screamed "SHARK" at Ricardo Montalban, really encapsulating his frustration at the latter's vendetta against him. I also liked when Walter Koenig caught fire after biting the massive underwater electrical cable Roy Scheider enticed him onto; he deserved it for that despicable accent.  As far as sequels go, 'Jaws 2' is pretty robust. The acting is understated for a mid-1970s blockbuster; there are a few too many teenage boys with exactly the same face wearing the same Bob Dylan caps in it, but that's par for the course for the era.  It was one of the PCC's Beer and Pizza Nights, where cost of admission includes a can of beer and a slice of pizza (you would never have guessed it). Every so often you'd hear the satisfying click and fizz as someone else opened their drink; after a while, this made me envious, as I had the dr...

Tonight's Mostly Comedy was a lovely way to usher in our Autumn season, but of course it would be, when you have Kevin Eldon on the bill.  Kevin Eldon at tonight's Hitchin Mostly Comedy (22.09.16)  Photo by Gemma Poole.  I can't understate how much I rate him as a performer; something I know Glyn would definitely agree. I still remember how excited we both were the first time he said yes to playing our club. I said in his introduction tonight how just about every time a one-off character in a sitcom or sketch show sticks in your mind, it's almost certainly played by him; he was the laughing guy in the lift in I'm Alan Partridge, for Chrissakes. Not only that, but his performance as Bill Kerr in the excellent Radio 4 series The Missing Hancocks was spot-on to the point of being eerie; to call him an unsung hero of UK TV comedy of the past twenty years would be a conservative understatement.  The line-up for tonight's show was a great one, even after ...

Today's was another cracker of a Bake Off, with more than enough to keep me interested; let’s face it: any programme with cakes in it will have me hooked to the screen.  See below for today’s unnecessary Twitter #GBBO bitching. I’ve tried to keep myself reigned in enough that it doesn’t become too controversial:   8:02pm: "A Danish classic": Sandi Toksvig. 8:03pm: Val: you may be outside, but could you use your inside voice, please? 8:07pm: "I'm bashing it out while my dough rests". Too easy. 8:15pm: The # GBBO mixers, when their beaters are up, remind me a little of the creatures in Alien. Don't I know you? 8:18pm: Val's "a bit soft in the middle." 8:23pm: Paul Hollywood's grey shirt complements his salt-and-pepper hair perfectly. 8:26pm: Bakewell tart or Bakewell pudding? The people of Derbyshire will be KICKING OFF. 8:30pm: My favourite Top of the Pops danci...

I'm trying to remind myself today that I shouldn’t be disappointed that September’s instalment of our comedy club has sold slightly fewer tickets than usual. When you organise a regular event, it’s easy to forget the bigger picture; you get so caught up in the facts and figures for each individual date, you forget how things have been going overall. This has definitely been the case this month, when finalising our remaining 2016 line-ups; I’ve been so distracted by what’s ahead , I’ve overlooked how successful the rest of the year has been and how fortunate we are as a result. Booking bills for a comedy club is a juggling act. It’s like fishing: you repeatedly cast your line in the hope something good takes the bait and gets hooked. To stretch the analogy, you have lots of rods on the go, instead of relying on one. You’re always on the look out for the best possible outcome; I can't help but feel that by mixing my imagery, I’ve clouded my original point. We’re v...

Just when we thought we’d seen every University Challenge possibility, Wolfson Cambridge’s Monkman came to save us. Wolfson - Cambridge Vs. SOAS (19.09.16) He had all the requisite tics and quirks of an eccentric UC contestant, with a few extra thrown in for good measure; so much so, I refuse to believe he’s a real person. He was like a incantation brought about by a bunch of nerdy Ouija users; a Weird Science for the weird science student. I was so taken in, I barely paid attention to the rest of the show that was happening around him. See below for tonight’s Twitter outbursts; here’s hoping at least one of next week’s contestants can give Monkman a run for his money. I wait with bated breath. 8:02pm: Monkman rehearsed that smile. Nothing is spontaneous. 8:03pm: Monkman is clearly the # UniversityChallenge unhinged hit of the evening. 8:04pm: For a split second, Henry Edwards forgot what he studies. 8:04pm: "THE BONGOS": my future...