mostly david ephgrave

It’s hard to fathom, but today sees the third anniversary of Paul Daniels’ appearance at Hitchin Mostly Comedy; a night that will hold the title of our Most Memorable and Exciting Gig forever. The evening was wonderful from beginning to end, with Paul and his wife Debbie McGee being both low-key and hands-on from the off; happy to be a part the night and to throw themselves into the spirit of it. It also happened to be of huge significance to me personally, as before I was an actor, musician and comedian (and wicker-bottom chair repairer) I wanted to be a magician, and it was the Paul Daniels Magic Show that sowed the seed of my becoming a performer (which Daniels refused to take the blame for when I told him). While that show would have been special regardless, it became all the more marked when Paul sadly passed away just four months later. I’m grateful I got to meet my hero, though I would have of course loved it to have been the first of many times he darkened our doors (whic...

It’s hard to fathom it, but Paul Daniels appearance at Mostly Comedy was two years ago today. Nothing will ever top that gig for me. We’ve been fortunate to play host to some truly fantastic acts in our nine years, but when your childhood hero performs at your club and you get to spend a good few hours in his company, you have to sit up and take note. I can clearly remember the huge smile that crossed my face when I walked down to the venue, knowing what was ahead  “I’m just going to enjoy today”, I thought to myself, and enjoy it I did. I met Glyn this evening to discuss our plans for our two shows this week, and the subject of our Daniels-iversary inevitably came up; it was a benchmark for the both of us. We also talked about how pleased we are about Debbie McGee’s reinvigorated popularity as a result of her clearly knocking Strictly out of the park (despite ending up in tonight’s dance-off). At risk of feeding the cliché, she really is lovely and deserves to be ce...

My favourite line from Channel 5’s ace (no card-pun intended) documentary on Paul Daniels last week was, "It took twenty years for Paul to become an overnight success." That’s a statement most people in the performing arts industry can relate too, and a sobering reminder of just how much work and commitment is required to sustain a long career. These things don’t just come overnight, and if they do, that’s not to say they’ll stay. It’s a fickle and often-thankless world to be a part of, save for those few moments when you’re onstage and things fall into place. But Daniels career is testament to the fact that hard work does pay off; in his case, the years of effort he put to the cause prepared him for the success that followed. What underlined this for me while watching the programme was seeing footage of one of Paul’s earliest TV appearances, on the variety show The Wheeltappers and Shunters Social Club in the mid-1970s. He kicked off his set with exactly the sam...

My day’s been floored after reading Sir Bruce Forsyth has passed away. The man was a legend; a word that’s bandied about too often and too easily in many instances, but not in this case. He came from a stock that has long since departed: the all-rounder who could act, sing, dance, play piano, do comedy, host shows, do anything. He even managed to mock contestants on his game shows in a way that didn’t make you like him any less, which was a talent in itself; I would have paid good money to be on the receiving end of a put-down from Bruce. When I interviewed Paul Daniels and Debbie McGee with Glyn for our More Than Mostly Comedy podcast, we mentioned Paul’s stint on Strictly and our mutual love of Sir Bruce; unsurprisingly they were both in complete agreement. They spoke with awe of the extensive audience warm-ups he’d do before each show and Paul called him "The Master"; high praise from a man who was pretty exceptional himself. I ...

Last night’s eighth birthday Mostly Comedy was pinch-yourself ridiculous. Doggett, Bremner & Ephgrave at Hitchin Mostly Comedy (20.10.16); photo by Gemma Poole. If you’d told me when we started we would eventually play host to Rory Bremner, I would never have believed you. He was one of my comedy heroes growing up (without wishing to make him feel old), who played a (John) major factor in my awareness of current affairs. It was largely thanks to his sending up of the cut-and-thrust of the news that I learnt about the key players in world politics. While Glyn and I were hugely excited about having Rory on the bill, neither of us were prepared for just how lovely, low-key and undemanding he was. Meeting your heroes can be risky, particularly when you book them at your own event and have to shoulder responsibility for their evening. It turns out we had nothing to worry about; from the moment he arrived and we helped him park to when he left ...

It may be oblique, but I can’t hear the song 'My Sweet Lord' without thinking of Paul Daniels. This bizarre mental association came about as a result of a conversation I had with him when he played Mostly Comedy last year. We were walking from our then-venue the Market Theatre to our new venue, The Sun Hotel, to record our podcast, when I brought up the subject of George Harrison. I try to find common ground whenever someone new plays our club, particularly when we're interviewing them for our podcast. Invariably for me, this tends to involve The Beatles when it can (e.g. when interviewing Kevin Eldon – who had their music as his Mastermind specialist subject – and Phill Jupitus – who’s friends with Neil Innes of the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, who were in the film 'Magical Mystery Tour'); it’s often tenuous, but it works. I was aware that Harrison used to live in the same town as Daniels – Henley-on-Thames – and asked Paul if he’d eve...

I've very excited about Mostly Comedy's latest coup: the fact that Rory Bremner will the club in October.  He's another act I've been a fan of for a long, long time - like with Paul Daniels, though their remit is hugely different - and someone Glyn and I hoped would play the club one day. You'd think we'd be used to high profile acts darkening our door, what with us having played host to so many, but the moment I received confirmation that Bremner would do it, I practically fist-pumped the air; if you're going to have an impressionist on the bill, you may as well have the very best.  It's amazing how far Mostly Comedy has come since it first started. I've said this before in reference to other acts, but if you'd told me at the club's first gig in 2008 (whose line-up consisted of close friends) that someone of Bremner's calibre would join us one day, I would have called you a liar and then slapped you in the face (I'm very 'handy...

Today's been overshadowed by the sad news of Paul Daniels' passing. I was on my way to meet Glyn for breakfast when he text me to tell me the news. When I joined him we had long chat about the night Paul played Mostly Comedy last November; reminiscing about how excited we were to have him on the bill, and how bowled over we were by his and Debbie’s easygoing nature that night. Meeting your heroes can be a risky business; they have so much to live up to and so far to fall. We needn’t have worried in this instance. We were concerned the backstage facilities we could offer were lacking (our then-venue, the Market Theatre, has no dressing rooms), but they didn’t mind at all; we mucked in together, with Glyn happily chatting away with Debbie and the other act on the bill that night, Bec Hill, in the tiny auditorium that adjoins the venue, while Paul prepped his props on stage. We received a call from the Hertfordshire Mercury and BBC Three Counties today, who’d pi...

My mood has been affected today by the sad news that Paul Daniels isn't well. He’s a hero of mine and one of the biggest influences in my choice of career. I may not have ended up a magician, but my fascination with magic enabled me to take my first steps toward being a performer, taking in music, acting and comedy along the way. I was obsessed with him as a child, and would tune into his magic show every week. Then, last November, he performed at Glyn’s and my comedy club; stepping from childhood fantasy into reality, shaking my hand as I welcomed him on stage. Everything about the gig was perfect; Paul and Debbie were charming, both on-stage and off. Before he went on, he asked me to set his props, which felt like a privilege. His performance was a master-class from someone who was still as sharp as a pin and at the top of his game. Everyone watching knew it; people fought to sit at the front or be pulled up on stage. It was a wonderful, unforgettabl...

I’ve just finished editing episode twenty-one of the More Than Mostly Comedy Podcast; or, to borrow the parlance of the sitcom Friends, ‘The One with Paul & Debbie’. Listening to it reminded me of how lucky we are to interview the people we do. The conversation with Daniels and McGee takes up a sizable portion of the podcast - a good thirty to forty minutes – and covers a lot of ground. It was a privilege to talk to them in such detail, bringing up subjects and asking questions that have been on our minds for years. I, for example, was able to tell Paul about visiting Television Centre as a child to watch him film an episode of Wipeout, and share an anecdotal joke about it that made him laugh. If you’d told the younger version of me that I'd get the chance to do that, I would never have believed it. In many ways, the podcast is the best and most useful part of Mostly Comedy. It gives us the chance to have a proper chat with the acts, briefl...

Tonight’s Mostly Comedy was one of the most surreal and exciting gigs of my life. Paul Daniels at tonight's Hitchin Mostly Comedy (photos by Gemma Poole ). I never dreamt I’d share a bill with my childhood hero Paul Daniels; least of all at my own event. I never thought I’d make him a cup of tea ( milk and sugar), share a laugh backstage with the genuinely lovely Debbie McGee – and get to interview them with my equally ecstatic double-act partner, and then watch Paul perform a trick just for our benefit. The evening was packed with pinch-yourself moments; so much so, the ten-year-old inside me didn’t know what to do with himself. Paul Daniels and Debbie McGee onstage at Hitchin Mostly Comedy (19.11.15) We’ve played host to a lot of big names at Mostly Comedy, but somehow, PD trumped them all. The atmosphere in the room when he was onstage was electric; the roar from the audience when he let a “Not a lot” slip towards the end of his set nearly took the roof...

Today was completely overshadowed by booking Glyn’s and my childhood hero Paul Daniels for November’s Hitchin Mostly Comedy. So was yesterday, to a certain extent. It was from then that we knew he might say yes (Paul). I was on tenterhooks until noon today, waiting for the confirmation email. When it came through, I didn’t know what to do with myself (other than text Glyn so we could share our excitement). It was genuinely thrilling – and a solid reminder of how much Mostly Comedy has grown since it started in 2008. Paul Daniels was one of the main reasons I decided to become a performer. That’s no exaggeration. Before I set my sights on being an actor, comedian or musician, I wanted to be a magician. I was obsessed with conjuring as a child, snapping up every book or trick I could find. While my junior school friends were busy wrestling with their Rubik’s Cubes, swapping Garbage Pail Kids cards or attempting to create some semblance of a discernib...

Today, I’ve tweeted twice about Wizbit. I don’t know why this Paul Daniels-fronted vehicle for kids' TV has been on my mind. There’s no rhyme or reason to it. Perhaps I walked past something conical. I was a big fan of Wizbit as a kid (is it odd to idolize a geometric shape?). I was obsessed with magic. It all started after receiving a Paul Daniels Magic Set one Christmas. My mum actually gave it to me a couple of days before Jesus’ official birthday, to soften the blow after my pet rabbit died. I now wonder if these two events were linked. Did the Son of God have an alibi? Being omnipresent, He must at least have witnessed it. Like a drug addict switching from pot to coke, I soon craved bigger tricks. I’d use my pocket money to fund my habit, buying new effects from Davenport’s each week. I'd read all the books on the subject that I could find. I subscribed to Abracadabra Magazine and joined a local conjuring club. Whil...