Feeling Average.

I was a bit frustrated with how tonight's gig turned out. 

My wife, who was there, assured me it was good, but I was unconvinced. It's the first time I've done my solo show since returning from Edinburgh, and my first gig (I had two others booked in, but one was cancelled due to a poor turnout and the other I cancelled myself), but despite having felt pretty good about it when I've been running it in the week, tonight just didn't gel.

It didn't help that I had to take a lot of the tech with me. I managed to streamline things down to two suitcases, a bag and the projector stand between the two of us, but it was still too much. I got a bit stressed during the set-up and didn't settle out of that mindset. There were a decent number of people in - far more than I'd expected - but everyone was sat too far from the front, which added to the sense of detachment, and I felt like I was fighting for attention. I also wasn't happy with how things sounded, but didn't have time to do anything about it. This added to the sense of a lack of impact and rhythm which may have been more in my head than anything, but it meant I didn't enjoy it.

It's annoying when things don't land as you'd like, as you start to doubt everything. There's no time to take a deep breath and reset. There's nothing worse than playing to what feels like a tired, slightly disinterested audience and trying your hardest to win them over. That said, maybe I'm imagining this, as my wife told it was getting a good response; maybe we were both at different gigs. I don't know; it's a mystery. 

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