This evening, I quickly knocked up/off - depending on which seems more appropriate - a press release for the extra Mostly Comedy we've squeezed in on 4th April with Tony Slattery, in the hope it's not too late to be featured in the Hitchin Comet this week.
It's more likely than not that I've missed the deadline, but I thought it was still worth giving it a go. Until very recently, I'd never missed writing a press release for a gig, but I don't think I've put one together since October last year, for the simple reason that shows keep selling out, making it less necessary. Plus I'd got bored of doing them; there's only so many times you can rejig the same information across a decade before you want to pull your hair out.
I've since realised my press release is far-from-perfect - I missed off one of the acts for starters - but here's hoping it helps give the show a push. Here's what I wrote:
It's more likely than not that I've missed the deadline, but I thought it was still worth giving it a go. Until very recently, I'd never missed writing a press release for a gig, but I don't think I've put one together since October last year, for the simple reason that shows keep selling out, making it less necessary. Plus I'd got bored of doing them; there's only so many times you can rejig the same information across a decade before you want to pull your hair out.
I've since realised my press release is far-from-perfect - I missed off one of the acts for starters - but here's hoping it helps give the show a push. Here's what I wrote:
Press Release – 24.03.19
mostly comedy
The duo behind Hitchin’s successful decade-old monthly club Mostly Comedy (DOGGETT & EPHGRAVE) will present a last-minute addition to their 2019 season on 4th April, featuring the Perrier Award-winning actor & comedian TONY SLATTERY.
Tony has appeared on British television regularly since the 1980s - most notably on Channel Four's hit improvisational show Whose Line is it Anyway? - and in films including the Academy Award and BAFTA-winning The Crying Game, and How to Get Ahead in Advertising.
He began his performing career at the University of Cambridge, discovering a love of theatre alongside contemporaries including Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, Emma Thompson and Sandi Toksvig. Encouraged to join the Cambridge Footlights by Fry, Tony won the Fringe First Edinburgh award in 1979 whilst still at college. Then in 1981, Slattery, Fry, Laurie, Thompson and Toksvig won the inaugural Perrier Comedy Award for their revue, The Cellar Tapes.
Tony joined Whose Line is it Anyway? as a regular guest in 1989. The show ran for years, making him a household name. Other TV credits include Have I Got News For You, Red Dwarf, Bad Girls, Ready Steady Cook, Grumpy Old Men, The Weakest Link, Kingdom and Coronation Street and film credits include To Die For, Peter’s Friends and Carry On Columbus.
New York comic SPRING DAY joins Slattery on the bill. Previously based in Tokyo, Day has regularly headlined at the Tokyo Comedy Store since 2002. She has written, produced and directed five solo shows on the Edinburgh Fringe since 2010, and has performed at clubs around the globe, taking in London, Manchester, Dublin, Los Angeles, New York, Melbourne and Paris. She was voted Brooklyn’s Best Comedian in 2016 and has been working as a comedy consultant on a BBC pilot to be broadcast in 2019.
The gig is emceed by DAVID EPHGRAVE - who has featured in the Daily Telegraph, Comedy Central, i News, Scotsman & Edinburgh Evening News' Best Jokes lists 2017/18 - with the first act on at 8:00pm. Tickets can be bought in advance via www.mostlycomedy.co.uk, where you can also book for other forthcoming gigs featuring SIMON DAY, DR. JOHN COOPER CLARKE, JAN RAVENS and more.
Date: Thursday 4th April 2019
Venue: The Sun Hotel, Sun Street, Hitchin, Hertfordshire, SG5 1AF
Time: Doors at 7:40pm; first act on at 8:00pm.
Admission: £12.50. Book at www.mostlycomedy.co.uk