mostly david ephgrave

There's little that can match the unbridled joy of discovering you’re next to Dave Benson Phillips in the Brighton Fringe brochure. Dave Benson Ephgrave.   I wasn’t aware of this strange quirk of fate until I flicked through the copy I picked up from Brighton Station last night, on arriving in town to do a spot at a comedy night. On balance, it isn’t that bizarre an occurrence - this is how alphabetical listings work - but it’s still a moment to savour; anyone who thinks I'm not a success will now be laughing on the other side of their face (which isn't healthy). It’s not the first time I’ve rubbed shoulders with celebrity in a festival brochure sense. In 2008, Glyn and I had an advert in the Edinburgh Fringe brochure on the same page as one for a show featuring the drummer from Dodgy. As a low-level fan, I’d noticed this instantly, but had it neatly underlined when I happened to bump into him flyering on the street. He spoke to me like he knew me and ...

Today's been a good day, but a busy one, with a gig in Brighton to round things off. I caught the train into London this afternoon to meet a potential PR for Edinburgh at The Ivy (he said, as if this was an everyday occurrence). Before arriving, I'd had visions of being turned away at the door for being insufficiently important; I was so unsure as to the club's rules for admittance that I meant to ask a friend who'd been in The Mousetrap at the theatre over the road if I needed to wear some sort of blazer-and-cravat combo or learn a special handshake. Thankfully, i needn't have worried, as a mention of the chap I was meeting didn’t provoke confusion or a punch in the face; in my life, you can't ask for more than that.  The meeting was encouraging - and that, combined with me having watched a video of my set from last week's Mostly before leaving for London and enjoying the content gave me a much-needed shot-in-the-arm of...

Today didn’t contain much in the way of writing, though I got to see my friend Rob, who came to Hitchin for one of our not-as-regular-as-we’d-like catch-ups. It’s always great to see him, particularly now we don’t get the chance to work together like we did when I was knee-deep in actor / muso work. Those gigs were far more bearable whenever he was in the band, particularly when we did the Buddy show together. I first met Rob in 2006, on my second Buddy tour. I did the first one the year before and hated it as - outside of the rhythm guitarist and drummer - it had a horrible atmosphere, with a band that didn’t click. Despite playing Buddy and being at the centre of the show, I was constantly undermined onstage by the emcee, who didn’t trust my ability and would consequently talk over me. He did this with good but misguided intentions, but it was tiring to always be backfooted by someone who was jaded with the show anyway, and didn’t consider how it...

They say the show ain’t over until the fat lady sings, but in the case of this series of University Challenge, it ain’t over until another team winds up facing the wrath of Wolfson Cambridge, AKA Team Monkman. It’s well known how much humour the man can inject into such a potentially dry and joyless show; every small utterance is delivered with comedic gusto, except you know that no writing was involved. He’s an natural in his unnaturalness and a human antidepressant; I laughed nearly every time he spoke. See below for my mostly Monk-themed tweets; there’ll only be more to follow when he returns next week. Emmanuel Cambridge Vs. Wolfson Cambridge (27.03.17) 8:03pm: Monkman: a God Amongst Monkmen. ` 8:04pm: Monkman's made special effort tonight with his hastily scissored fringe. 8:05pm: Monkman has the look of a man who's delighted to be sitting on his spike. 8:07pm: Thomas Moore Moore Moore...how do you ...

It’s worrying when someone tries to amalgamate you and your double act partner into one person. It’s particularly concerning when the people who choose to do this are a bank that you’ve been with for years. You’d think they’d have it on record that we’re two individuals, but apparently not; this all bodes well for the safety of our online identities and our money, when a simple thing like remembering our names is overlooked. Outside of stumbling across post addressed to a pushmi-pullyu version of my comedy partnership, I took my mum out for breakfast this morning to mark Mother’s Day and did some writing in the afternoon, returning to the material I’d aborted the say before, when it wasn’t coming together. As I suspected, it sounded better on fresh ears, but still needs a lot of work. I made a point of not doing too much today anyway, as I didn’t want to overload myself as I’m prone to do; I want to be up in the morning to chastise the postman ...

Tonight, I watched the fifth film in the Carry On series ‘Carry On Regardless’ for the first time and really quite enjoyed it. I’m surprised that I’d never seen it before or even heard of it. It’s more of a prototype sketch show than anything, with very little in the way of a through-line plot, but the performances in it are excellent, with lots of lovely little comedy set pieces to drive things along. It’s still in the early stages of the Carry On format, so isn’t brash and gaudy like some of the later ones, but as ever the cast are great when it comes to making the most of the subject matter and wringing the comedy out of it; Kenneth Connor, Joan Sims and Sid James in particular stand out for their gently understated comic turns. I’m a little bit in love with those three, all of whom are vastly underrated. Sid gets less to play with in this one, but Connor and Sims have a bit more meat. Connor is at the top of his game, managing to get a laugh ou...

I managed to do a tiny bit of writing today, but I wasn’t really in the mood. I hate it when I have a day to myself when I could be working on material, but don’t get much done. I’m the sort of person who’s never happy with my productivity, and very quickly dismiss what I’ve achieved as not enough. It’s an irritating aspect of my personality that I’d love to eradicate or soften, so I don’t run myself into the ground when I never meet my expectations. I made a start on an idea that’s been on the back-burner for a while, but haven't yet seen through. I got a little caught up in the mechanics of the slideshow that will accompany it and, as a result, lost the joy in it a bit. I did manage to make a recording of a rough outline though, so I’ll come back to it tomorrow on fresh ears. Sometimes, you need distance to see the worth in what you’re doing, particularly when you’re not in the right mindset. On the plus side, my Edinburgh show went o...

The reaction to Hal Cruttenden at this evening’s Hitchin Mostly Comedy was one of the most vocal I remember. Doggett, Cruttenden and Ephgrave after March's Hitchin Mostly Comedy (23.03.17) He was great. Prior to tonight, I was more familiar with his appearances on panel shows and on 'The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice' than of his stand-up, but it was his warmth that drew my interest and made me think he’d be great for Mostly, but even I wasn’t prepared for how good he would be; his crowd work was super-sharp and - as cliché as the this may sound - the laughs came thick and fast. Joey Page at tonight's show. The night was a very strong one anyway. Joey Page took the first half after us and did a great job. He’s a lovely guy and one of our most regular go-to acts, having played every venue we’ve run in Hitchin, London and Edinburgh, bar the Summer Specials at the Queen Mother Theatre (though he did do the Summer Sp...

Today I had a reasonably productive day, which included finishing off and ordering artwork for my Bath ‘All Work, No Progress’ dates (which are practically three weeks away; shit-sticks), rehearsing some new material for tomorrow’s Mostly and having a quick look at some of the other blogs I’m likely to work into stand-up. I’ve got quite a few spots over April to try stuff out (including my Bath shows and an extended work-in-progress set at Mostly the week afterwards ) but the only sticking point is the material I think shows my strongest suit involves projection, which I’m less likely to be able to use at these gigs. The dates will still be useful, as there’s always stuff I can work up, but I don’t like not performing at my best - and while I’ve definitely got better at telling straight stand-up stories, my experience with slideshows from Glyn’s and my live act inevitably makes for punchier content; I instantly feel more comfortable and in control with ...

Today’s been another day of admin, followed by admin, followed by admin, followed by a tiny bit of writing. Amongst other things, I booked a few gigs in April and two previews at the Etcetera Theatre in July. I could still do with more of the latter in the diary, and would particularly like some at shows I don’t organise myself. For someone who offers other acts work all the time - he says like a comedic martyr - I don’t get many back myself, which is frustrating, as it would be nice to have a little of what I constantly give everyone else: the chance to try new material out to a sizeable guaranteed audience; if you enter people’s lives as a promoter, they’ll never see you differently. I’ve also spent today tinkering with artwork for my Bath dates next month, which are getting close enough for me to have to get a wiggle on with ordering the print for. I won’t need too many posters and flyers as hopefully the location of the venue and the nature of ...

Unfortunately, I’ve missed the last few episodes of University Challenge due to a hectic schedule (correction: I just happened to have a string of gigs on Mondays), so in many ways, I feel like I’ve fallen out of the loop. The biggest disaster of all thanks to this was missing an extra performance from this year’s internet sensation, the truly wonderful Monkman. The chap is as puzzlement even to himself, though he should at least rest assured that he’s the epitome of the sort of person you expect to see on television’s most socially awkward quiz show; the man expels so much nervous energy for me to worry he will burst. Still, what we lost from no Monkman was counteracted nicely by the presence of Goldman, who’s like a robot when it comes to answering questions, while seemingly deriving no pleasure from it. His joyless tone was my main focus on Twitter tonight, though my comments weren’t appreciated by everyone; it’s not like I sought him out person...

I did a short spot at an open mic gig in Finsbury Park tonight, which is becoming a habit; primarily as it's so near to home.  There was a real sense of luxury when I came out of the gig and it was only half eight. This makes me wonder why on earth I put myself through something if I'm that pleased by the realisation that I'll get home early; is this normal? Does everyone get that excited at the thought of finishing whatever they've set out to do? I know many people see work as a means-to-an-end and aren't defined by their job, but isn't performing meant to be different? You certainly don't do it for the money (unless you were one of the central cast of Friends or Frasier, when I imagine the massive episodic fee was a pleasant by-product).  That's not to say that I didn't enjoy tonight; it's a nice little gig, and was useful as a chance to try out a couple of stories I haven't told in public before - but ...

My plans for what I was going to write tonight were scuppered when I caught the breaking news that Chuck Berry died today. The man was a legend - a word that’s often overused but never more justified - and one of the biggest driving forces in rock music, who was still out gigging to the end. His riffs, sound and lyrics were the root of rock & roll, inspiring Buddy, Elvis, The Beatles, The Stones, The Who and pretty much anyone who's picked up an electric guitar. Not only didn’t he almost single-handedly invent the genre he worked in, he was the first to write for it with real wit. He wove intricate stories into his songs like no-one else; least of all anyone writing around the twelve-bar blues. He’d become infamous in recent years for some questionable sexual habits and for regularly touring without a permanent band (he’d often just opt for local musicians without any rehearsal), but before all this, he lay the groundwork for a style of mus...

I had another good day of writing today, which makes me feel like I’m starting to move up a gear with my preparations for this year’s Edinburgh. That’s not to say I’m not still at the early stages (there’s a lot of nots in that sentence), but there’s a sense that things are picking up. I haven’t learnt much of it yet - it’s just a series of slideshow & Evernote recordings at the moment - but I can slowly see things starting to take shape. If I can keep momentum up for the next week or so, I can hopefully get a few more slideshows recorded, so I can begin to get it in my head in time for my first work-in-progress dates in Bath next month. I won’t say much more tonight as I’m struggling to stay awake; this could be the influence of the cat that’s nearly always asleep on my lap. I leave with a final thought: on popping to the shop this evening for some emergency chopped tomatoes, I saw a number of CDs on sale at the counter with the title ‘Now Tha...

I had a moment of reassurance tonight when I listened back to a few little recordings of bits of material I’ve been working on with a view to going in my show and they actually made me laugh. I’ve been doing everything in fits and starts of late, that I haven’t been able to get a handle on what’s been done and whether it’s any good. I’d hoped to use this week to really get down to it, but inevitably, things kept getting in the way. I didn't have time to do anything today until late, so I decided to take stock of what I’d been tinkering with recently, rather than start anything knew - and the benefit of having had a little space from it all helped to put things back into perspective. I’m actually enjoying the slightly more robust style of what's coming out, partly as a result of being more faithful to the blogs I’ve written, while using projection to punctuate them. There’s still a lot of work to do, but I feel heartened by what’s coming together, o...