Isolation.


Tonight’s Mostly Comedy was stupidly good - insanely stupidly good - but at the same time it was a little terrifying, as I spent the whole show in a metaphorical vacuum, barely able to hear a thing.

I should explain: for the last week or so, my right ear has been purely ornamental, due to a mix of a low-level infection and an unnecessarily large wax quota. This actually started when I was in Edinburgh, when every so often I’d feel like I was in an aeroplane waiting for my ear to pop; usually it would clear eventually; that was until the last week, when it’s actually closed shop…and has done nothing of use since except hold up my sunglasses.

I went to the doctors on Monday, who gave me some ear drops to help clear things up, but sadly these haven’t quite kicked in yet; consequently I spent tonight feeling like I was using in-ear monitors, as all I could hear was my own voice uncomfortably close and nothing else.

I did a set at the top of the gig, which Glyn insisted went really well, but it was hard for me to pass judgement, as I could barely tell if I was talking over a laugh or timing things well. I guess this was where my month in Edinburgh came into play and saved me, but it was still a very surreal experience. It felt so extreme that I came off stage practically burning up thanks to the intense vulnerability of doing stand-up with one of your leading senses failing you.

Putting my aural situation to one side, tonight’s show was undoubtedly one of our all-time best. Reginald D Hunter absolutely stormed it (despite performing on crutches due to a broken leg); as did Neil McFarlane: a lovely guy and an exceptional comic, who hasn’t played the club in five years due to some sort of administrative oversight; we promise it won’t happen again. It was so good, we even had a small yet potent standing ovation, the like of which we haven’t seen since Rory Bremner in October of last year. It was all a bit surreal really but it was a lovely thing - and it was another show to put Mostly Comedy on the map.

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