Opening the Fringe Floodgates.


Today’s show was a promising way to kick off my Fringe run, with a small, yet lovely audience who were pretty vocal and certainly seemed to be enjoying themselves.

It was reassuring to hear a lot of laughter at the top, what with all my worrying that the subject matter might make people think it wasn’t comedy. It certainly added a spark of energy to proceedings, though I only felt a step ahead of myself at times, what with it still being new. When you’ve been working on a stand-up show for a while, it easy to forget there are even laughs in it, so it was nice to rediscover that there were (occasionally in places I didn't expect).

One thing’s for certain: I’m going to sweat a lot this month. The mix of material and music doesn’t let up for long, though hopefully I’ll settle into it in the coming days and eventually find time to catch my breath.

Today’s audience was bolstered by my flyering team who came along to get a firmer idea of what they’ll be standing in all weathers for for the rest of the month. They seemed to enjoy it too, which was a relief, as it would be pretty grim to promote something you didn’t like yourself for the foreseeable future.

I don’t expect every small crowd to be so up for it; I’m sure some will be put off by a mostly empty room. I’ve written before about the psychology of watching comedy and how it doesn’t matter how big an audience is so much as how big they feel. If you’re Fringe-savvy you’re used to seeing shows with a small house and aren’t put off by it, but if you’re not, you can wind up feeling self-conscious, plus it can be hard to build an atmosphere in a large space if everyone is spread out; I may have to nudge the front of house staff to suggest people sit together as this usually helps.

While I enjoyed today, there’s still work to be done, particularly in the second half, which felt a little ragged. I had to cut out a whole section and edit my closing song to finish on the dot at 1pm. I plan to look over this over the next few days, possibly cutting a song entirely to give the show room to breathe. Speaking of breathing, I can let out a sigh of relief now I’m finally up and running; only another twenty-one shows to go.

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