Davro Day.


I never thought I’d say this but chatting to Bobby Davro is such a calming influence.

Bobby Davro storming it at Hitchin Mostly Comedy (23.05.18)

I shared the bill with him tonight at Mostly Comedy, marking the first time I rolled out an extended set of the material that will eventually become my new show, which I had expected to be a little difficult, what with me being such a comparatively unknown entity. While I was genuinely delighted when Bobby agreed to do the gig, I didn’t know if I’d painted myself in a corner by adding him to same bill as me, as I didn’t know if his crowd would be attuned to a younger act trying out some sketchy work-in-progress.

The afternoon was inevitably stressful as I watched the time I’d set aside to run my set disappear into a vapour in favour of the endless admin that goes with setting up the club. However hard you try to take it in your stride, there comes a point where the day starts to proverbially bum you; you’re no longer steering, you’re trying to gain control of the vehicle.

The landslide began with me running for the bus with a suitcase full of equipment, to arrive at the venue, sweaty and flustered. I then went to the bank to change up the float to be stuck in a queue for the only cashier available, behind a woman who seemed to be setting up a new mortgage. I stood there with my shirt clinging to my body like a low-grade Mr Darcy clutching a handful of tenners, feeling every bit a dick; imagine Gollum paying in the plunder of a pawned-in ring and you’d have the mental image about right.

Me, "acting".
I checked my phone while waiting to spot a missed call from Davro. When I finally left the bank, I called him back and within seconds he’d put me at my ease. He told me he was looking forward to watching my set.
“Do bear in mind I’m doing very new stuff”, was my caveat-filled response.
“Don’t worry about that”, he replied, “so am I. We’re all frightened of change; we just need to turn the fear into excitement.”

It was such a lovely way of putting it that it reframed my mindset.

In the end, I needn’t have worried, as people got on board with my half pretty quickly and didn’t seem to mind that I was - as I put it - a Thames Barrier-like breakwater between them and Bobby. Apart from a paralytic heckler (and I use that term generously, as he wasn’t so much heckling me as making vowel sounds) who was ultimately ejected (which was pretty entertaining) the punters were definitely up for it. By the time Bobby came on they were practically frothing at the mouth. His set was a masterclass in energy and all-round entertainment from a consummate performer, and our chat around the show was as lovely as it was fascinating, taking in anecdotes about everyone from Neil Sedaka to Mickey Rooney. He was a joy and so honest and genuine with it; a fair few less experienced performers could take a leaf out of his book.


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