Mostly Comedy, Mainly Business.

Tonight, Glyn and I met with Mostly Comedy's technical assistant, Paul, for a catch up / loose business meeting to discuss the general running of the club, and our plans for next week's gig with Rory Bremner.

It was nice to have a get-together, and to talk about everything in a less fraught and stressful situation than the day of the gig. We don't set out for it to be this way and often say we'll meet before, but inevitably, life gets in the way. We'd intended to have a chat before our first show back after our summer break, but ended up back-footed by last month's gig, when the line-up was only confirmed last minute. Either way, tonight was good.

Halfway through our meeting, we were joined by our long-term friend (and many-time director) Glen, with whom I had a long chat about my Edinburgh run, my frustrations with my PR situation up there, and my doubts and frustrations with the gigs I've booked since. Glen's a good sounding board, who understands what we're trying to do and our comedy style. I'd hoped to have him direct my Edinburgh show, but for various reasons, we didn't get it together; hopefully, I'll be able to bend his ear more next time around. Tonight, he gave some sound and encouraging advice (which you sometimes need to hear, when you've can't see the wood from the trees and have forgotten what you were trying to achieve in the first place; what was that exactly?).

Shakerpuppetmaker.

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...

Comedy That's Worth a Letch.

Today, I nipped to Letchworth to meet with illustrator (and one-time - two-time - comedy poet) Mushybees, to discuss an event Mostly Comedy will act as surrogate parents to as part of Letchworth’s Arts Takeover in a couple of weeks. Months ago he got into contact to see if we’d be up for co-organising a comedy stage as part of Letchworth’s weekend of arts-based attractions in July; something I’d provisionally said yes to, before things got hectic in the lead-up to Edinburgh and we didn’t take it any further. Despite not getting down to the nitty-gritty straight away, we managed to pull a line-up together in a back-and-forth of emails yesterday, leading to me getting Glyn’s blessing and us deciding we’d officially go ahead with it (whatever ‘officially’ means in this context). In reality, it’s not complicated: from 12pm until 6pm-ish on the 22 nd July, Glyn, Mushybees and I will host four Edinburgh previews from four acts (including me), before Nor...

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...

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