Hal-lo, Goodbye.


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 Special at The Sun, which was our first gig at the venue). He’s always had a great way with intricate surreal stories that build, then break for a bit, then build again, and as a result is quite different to a lot of acts that play the club as there’s another level to what he does; he’s also great with visual comedy; the set piece he closed with was a perfect example and was very funny.

Me, powering a small marionette.
Glyn and I played safe in the first half with the Beard Board, which we haven’t done for quite a while, but it still got a good reaction. I also did ten minutes of predominately new material at the beginning of the second half that went well, which bodes well what with it being the starting blocks for this year’s show. Now I just need to knuckle down to get more stuff finished for my extended work-in-progress set at next month’s Mostly; this takes place the week after my dates in Bath, so whatever happens, it will have at least been vaguely tried out already; Bath’s loss is Hitchin’s gain.

Last night's agenda.

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