Hard Pressed.


I’m a little frustrated by the lack of interest in this month’s Mostly Comedy, both in the local press and in general.

Despite the fact the club's gone from strength to strength, there’s a sense that Glyn and I don’t get the credit for what we’ve built, and when we occasionally shine a light on our own work - as I am this week, by doing an extended work-in-progress set at Thursday’s gig - the local papers (whose job it is to run stories of local interest) - don’t cover it at all.

For nearly nine years, I’ve written press releases for every show and sent them to the papers, and as time goes by, our shows have been covered less and less. I know lot of this is no doubt due to cutbacks across the industry, with fewer journalists available to specialise in any given field, but I also know that good content is good content - yet some of the biggest names to play our club (whose coming to Hitchin constitutes a story) have been a secret outside of our mailing list and our Twitter followers (and their followers, when they retweet it) thanks to not being mentioned in the press; then, when it’s the opposite, and I build the press release around the fact a local performer is working up a show to take to Edinburgh, it’s also deemed unworthy of the coverage.

The saddest part of all is this proverbial radio silence has conspired to make this month’s show the lowest seller in two years, presumably due to a mix of a not so high-profile line-up (the last few months we’ve had Ardal O’Hanlon, Rory Bremner and the like) and the fact people don’t know it’s happening. So, in an attempt to rectify this, see below for the press release deemed too uninteresting to print:

 
Press Release – 01.04.17

mostly comedy
a monthly comedy and music club at the sun hotel in hitchin

With the Edinburgh Fringe looming on the horizon, most comedians turn their minds to putting together a new show. Consequently, April’s Hitchin Mostly Comedy will tip its hat to the time of year by hosting two extended work-in-progress sets from circuit comics TIFF STEVENSON and DAVID EPHGRAVE.

TIFF STEVENSON is an actor, writer, stand-up and a familiar TV face, having appeared on BBC2’s ‘Mock the Week’ and ‘Never Mind The Buzzcocks’, BBC3’s ‘Russell Howard’s Good News’ and ‘Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled’ on Dave to name a few. She also featured in Ricky Gervais & Stephen Merchant’s sitcom classic ‘The Office’ and in the West End run of ‘Celebrity Autobiography’ alongside David Tennant, Sally Phillips, Doon Mackichan and more.

Tiff's latest solo show 'Mad Man' was one of the best-reviewed shows on Edinburgh Fringe, receiving ten 4- and 5-star reviews including 5 stars from the Sunday Herald, The Mirror and Funny Women. That same year, The Times picked her as one of their top ten Fringe comics. Her radio credits include ‘Front Row’ (BBC Radio 4), ‘MacCaulay & Co’ (BBC Radio Scotland) and regular turns on BBC Radio 4 Extra’s Comedy Club. This will be her first appearance at Mostly Comedy.

Locally-based actor, writer, musician and comic (and back end of the duo behind Mostly Comedy) DAVID EPHGRAVE will also preview new material from his forthcoming Edinburgh show, following recent work-in-progress dates at the Bath Comedy Festival and before a handful on the Brighton Fringe in May.

Credits with Doggett & Ephgrave include eleven seasons with ‘The Comedy Project’ at the Soho Theatre, numerous shows on the Edinburgh, Brighton, Camden and Leicester Fringe, plus the Time Out-recommended version of Mostly Comedy at London’s Leicester Square Theatre. A notable D&E career highlight was reading an episode of their sitcom pilot ‘Nick & Joe’ in the West End alongside a cast that included Michael Barrymore and Norman Lovett (Holly in ‘Red Dwarf’). They also host ‘Doggett & Ephgrave: In Your Inner Ear’ on SG1 Radio.

David’s solo acting credits include playing Beatles legends John Lennon and Paul McCartney in the UK tour of ‘The Roy Orbison Story’, Buddy Holly in the UK / Ireland tour of ‘Buddy Holly and the Cricketers’ and Richard in the West End production of ‘Dreamboats and Petticoats’. He took his first solo show‘…and Ephgrave’ to the Brighton and Camden Fringe Festivals in 2015, his second, ‘Mostly David Ephgrave’, to London, Brighton, Bath, Leicester and Edinburgh in 2016, and his third, ‘Now Who’s a Comedian?’ to Edinburgh this year. He’s also kept a daily blog for four years at www.mostlydavidephgrave.blogspot.co.uk.

The gig takes place on Thursday 20th April at The Sun Hotel; doors open at 7:30pm with the first act on at 8:00pm. The show will be emceed by “polished, natural comedians” (Camden Fringe Voyeur) DOGGETT & EPHGRAVE. Tickets are £11 and are available in advance at www.mostlycomedy.co.uk. Other acts playing Mostly in the coming months include Mark Watson, Angelos Epithemiou, Richard Herring and Red Dwarf’s Hattie Hayridge.

Date:                Thursday 20th April 2017
Venue:             The Sun Hotel, Sun Street, Hitchin, Hertfordshire, SG5 1AF
Time:               Bar open all day. Doors at 7:30pm. First act on at 8:00pm               
Admission:      £11.00. www.mostlycomedy.co.uk

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