Mostly Watson and Hill.


Tonight’s Mostly Comedy was one of those effortless gigs where everything fell into place.

A selection of shots of tonight's line-up, featuring us, Mark Watson, Bec Hill and a bonus pic of Glen Davies.

After the show, there was a definite sense between Glyn, our tech Paul that it was a night we should be proud of. Mostly’s one of those things that can comes gently in and out of favour in your mind, what with all the organization and the fact our identities get lost in the midst of an event people forget we’re the originators of. You also start to take for granted the level of line-ups we have as a matter of course, which are really quite extraordinary.

This week is a case in point. Tonight was the first in a three-day-straight of Mostly Comedy shows, with Mark Watson and Bec Hill tonight in Hitchin, Richard Herring and Hattie Hayridge tomorrow in Hitchin too and an extra bill of five previews in Letchworth tomorrow topped by Norman Lovett. Any of these dates on their own would be of note, yet this week, we managed to cram in three of them - and the two dates at The Sun have sold out; the first time two gigs in a row have done that. This Thursday and Friday will see over 300 people crammed into the Sun Hotel Ballroom, which is a number we would never have dreamed of when the club started nearly nine years ago. It’s a hell of an achievement at a time when money is so tight.

Mark Watson on stage with wine in hand.

It helped that tonight’s bill was excellent. We’ve been after Mark Watson for years (which isn’t a threat) so it was a delight to finally have him. He was so nice and was on top form. The first half of his set consisted of him trying to find the owner of a pint one of the bar-staff gave him as he came upstairs, with the proviso that it was “for someone in the room”. This didn’t round things down, and though it took a long time to finally be claimed (and when it was, it was clearl by someone who didn’t order it) the resulting chaos put us all at ease.

Bec Hill, previewing her new show Out of Order.

One of favourite acts - and one of the nicest - Bec Hill previewed her new show in the first half which was lovely with a great premise, with the audience choosing the order of play by selecting Post-It notes off an easel with prompts written on them. It was a great way to kick off the gig, with set full of invention.

I also did a little bit from my show in the second half which was well-received and Glyn and I did a short set at the front of the gig which went well too. Here’s hoping tomorrow’s show is just as fun, even though we’re bound to be markedly more tired for it.

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