Skip to main content

Signing Off.


Yesterday saw the last Mostly Comedy of 2018 with 155 people squeezing into The Sun in Hitchin to watch Angelos Epithemiou, Barry from Watford, Rosie Holt and - to a lesser extent - us.

The fact we were full helped us see off the year in style despite the audience being sprinkled with work dos, which seldom benefits a comedy night. Sometimes, try as you might, you just can’t make an audience relax, particularly if they’ve not looked into what they’re coming to see beyond the main act, or are there with their colleagues; this seemed to be the case in the first half particularly, which was frustrating as everything happening on stage was good and easy to latch onto, yet the audience wouldn't get on board, stifling their laughs with their own self-awareness.

By the time the second half kicked in the crowd were with us, which was predictable, though at least it made Angelos & Barry’s show gain momentum. Once again Dan and Alex (the men behind the plastic bag and prosthetics) were on great form, showcasing character comedy at its best. You couldn’t really ask for a better way to draw this year’s gigs to a close. We also used a new sound tech for the first time who did a great job and is keen to stick with us next year, so that’s great. And that’s pretty much it for 2018 in a Mostly Comedy sense; the past twelve months have seen twenty-one shows in Hitchin and St Albans with some extraordinary names amongst the rosta; see below for the itinerary and see you next year for hopefully some even bigger ones.

Everyone who played Mostly Comedy in 2018.


Popular posts from this blog

Not The Bayeux One.

The Carole King album Tapestry has been my 'getting-ready-in-the-morning' soundtrack for the past few weeks.  It's been a favourite album ever since I was a student, which makes for a pleasantly gentle way to usher in the start of a day. I've always been a fan of a well-crafted song, which is something of a Carole King hallmark, ever since she started writing with her first husband in the early Sixties. Tapestry may be an unimaginative choice for a favourite LP, as it suggests I haven't delved that far into her career, but it's still an undoubted classic; anything with '(You Make Me Feel Like A) Natural Woman', 'Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?' and 'You've Got A Friend' on it can't really fail; if nothing else, it proves she likes writing songs with long titles.  Next month, she's set to perform the album live in its entirety for the first time at a gig in Hyde Park, which I would have loved to have gone to, if it weren...

Shakerpuppetmaker.

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...

Hitchin is Mine.

As of six o’clock tonight, I take over the Hitchin is Yours Twitter account for a week; a stewardship I’m anxious to get right. I’m proud of my hometown. It’s a great place to live, with so much going for it. I've always sold it to my non-Hitchinite friends; so much so, that a lot have gone on to move here. Any town expansion plans are partly my fault. Feel free to picket outside my house. I love its history and architecture. Take St Mary’s Church, for example. The building is beautiful inside and out, and huge for a town of our size. There has been a place of worship on site since the 7 th Century. Much of the present building dates from the 1300s. You wouldn't get that in America. (Don't forget the British Schools Museum too.)  Hitchin is a hive for creative people and a hub for the arts. It boast two theatres, two comedy clubs, a couple of art galleries, a festival for world music and a thriving music scene. This drew...