Mostly Fat Bob.


Tonight’s Mostly Comedy was a special one, not least because it featured John Thomson, an act who - like our other occasionally appearing turn Kevin Eldon - is synonymous with so many key comedy roles.

John only played the club once before, almost exactly four years ago (which happened to be the day before I went up Big Ben) and that gig's definitely somewhere in our unofficial top ten best shows; partly for the performance itself (which included a brief appearance from Thomson’s alter ego Bernard Righton) and partly for the interview we did with him afterwards for our More Than Mostly Comedy podcast. This interview ranged from discussing his early work with Steve Coogan to the film he made with Bill Murray, all of which he was more than happy to discuss and was genuinely a great sport about.

That night was also one of the first times I did an extended solo set, which Thomson was very kind about afterwards, though I do remember him saying, “Your hand was shaking, wasn’t it?”; not as a criticism, but as an act of support.

While tonight's show wasn’t as fun as that gig for me personally (more due to my mindset and the restrictions of the venue) it was still a great night for the audience who were on board from the off. It helped that we had Jenny Collier on the bill, who made her third appearance at the club this year with very good reason as she’s so good and nice with it. Then Thomson came on and did his thing to a very enthusiastic reaction, thus rounding the night off nicely, to paraphrase his former Jazz Club character.

While I was pleased with how the night went from the outside looking in, I was reminded of the frustrating issues we have with the room. Probably the most tiring is the lack of a proper backstage space and consequently the feeling you're never out of view. We don’t even have a toilet we can go to that isn’t the one the audience use, plus there’s no mirror to check we look okay than the one in the public gents’. This takes us back to what the gig was like in its first two venues, when the only place you could sneak off for privacy was a toilet cubicle with a broken lock and none of this is conducive to feeling match fit.

The other thing I don’t like (ironically when you consider the above) is the lack of attention you get as you host it. In many ways, Glyn and I put ourselves in the worst position by filling in the gaps where the room metaphorically shifts in its seat until we bring on the next act and that can be a little soul destroying as a performer when you feel ideas falling flat just because no-one’s seems to be listening.

Of course, it’s not all like that. We're very proud that the club is about to mark its tenth birthday. I’d just to like to make it better for us so we in turn feel better about what we’re doing. Putting that to one side, when you have acts on the bill like John Thomson and Jenny Collier, you can’t really fail.

Tonight's Hitchin Mostly Comedy line-up (left to right): Glyn Doggett, John Thomson, David Ephgrave, Jenny Collier.

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