David Carnt Be Trusted.


I committed a musical crime at last night’s Mostly Comedy.



It was as I was clearing Mark Morriss' guitar, pedal and leads from the stage in the interval after his excellent acoustic set that I was struck with the idea to do it. On posting the video to Twitter (and tagging him in it) I instantly regretted it; the last thing I wanted was him to think I thought that song was the sum-total of what he’s about, particularly when we’d booked him as a solo artist, but he’s a good humoured chap, so I thought, “Sod it”.

Doggett, Morriss, Monkman and Ephgrave at Mostly Comedy (22.06.17)

Outside of stealing Bluetones’ members' instruments, it was a splendid night. I was pleased that the atmosphere was nicer than at Mark’s last appearance, which was very early into us running the club at the venue, when a late start-time, a boiling-hot room and an hour-long show in front of his set made things feel a little tense. This was our fault as we hadn’t programmed it right; Mark was a gentleman and still played brilliantly, but Glyn and I both felt frustrated with how things turned out.

Mark Morriss at last night's gig, before I tarnished his guitar with my very presence.

Last night’s crowd were far more savvy and clearly relished the opportunity to see him in an intimate space. Our sound guy Paul mixed things perfectly so it sounded great - and, as before, Mark was witty, on good form and happy to chat with his fans and with us. Yet again, it reminded us of how we’d like to reintroduce more music acts to the night like we used to, as it makes things interesting and really works.

Quincy, last night.

Mark wasn’t the only act to grace the Sun's rickety rostra last night; we also had sets from two Mostly Comedy favourites, Quincy and Paul Harry Allen, with the former doing a customarily warm stand-up spot and the later presenting the first performance of his two-hander farcical comedy The Blade of Barrington with the equally charismatic Katie Pritchard. In a way, Katie and Paul had the rougher end of the deal, as doing a full show after Mark was a hard ask when things had pushed late (and when some of the audience perhaps hadn’t taken on board they'd be seeing anything other than Mark that night) but they still did a great job. Their show was bursting with different characters and good gags; I'll look forward to seeing it properly in a theatre space.

Paul Harry Allen and Katie Pritchard in 'The Blade of Barrington'.

Glyn and I pulled out our Top Ten ‘Take a Break’ Headlines for the first time in ages (e.g. “My Baby Had No Eyes, But I Thought He Was Sleeping”) and I did some new material that got some laughs, which was good, as it suggests it’s something else I can slip into my new show. So all in all, it was a success, acoustic-pinching endeavours notwithstanding.

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