mostly david ephgrave

A month since my last blog about September's Hitchin Mostly Comedy , we've nearly reached the limit of what we can do to keep the club afloat, which is pretty inevitable in the current climate. A video still of Doggett & Ephgrave performing at the first Hitchin Mostly Comedy (23.10.08) The sad thing is sales for October's gig had improved considerably in the week after our first show back. It was probably the simple fact that a gig went ahead after so many cancellations since Covid hit that had reinstilled people's confidence. But seven days later, in classic sod's law style, the faeces hit the air-cooling device. The main act pulled out for a better-paid gig and, because the other comic originally scheduled to appear had sadly passed away, the complete change to our line-up put us in a situation when we'd have to at least offer refunds to ticketholders first. Doggett & Ephgrave interview Phil Cornwell (far left) at the last Hitchin Mostly Comedy (23.09....

Today would have been the last performance of my Edinburgh show about my dad, Good Grief. While I'm sad that I couldn't do it this year, if there's a Fringe to go to in 2021, I'll be up there with it; I don't bow out of potential debt that easily. Joking aside, it's strange how it all turned out. Like many people, I've watched the content of my diary vacate en masse thanks to the pandemic. I went into the office for the first time in weeks on Thursday and consulting my wall planner was like enjoying a visual joke, as nearly everything I'd planned didn't happen; no Bath Comedy Festival, no Brighton Fringe, no previews, no Edinburgh, and only two Mostly Comedys since January. I might as well have not put it up and saved money on Sharpies and Blu Tack in the process (and we're talking big bucks). I know I'm not the only one that's facing uncertainty, but there's still so much up-in-the-air. We're currently discussing with Hitchin Tow...

With the current coronavirus crisis progressing as it is, it was nigh on inevitable that we'd cancel next week's Hitchin Mostly Comedy; it wouldn't have been responsible to go ahead, irrespective of whether the government's banning public gatherings yet. ( https://www.thecomet.net/what-s-on/theatre-arts/hitchin-mostly-comedy-night-postponded-1-6561683 ) The question is: what happens, from here on in? If the virus continues to spread, theatres, venues and the entertainment industry as a whole will grind to a halt, as may be necessary for public safety, but what might be a luxury item for the audience is a way of life for those who work in it. And in the same way that heightened terrorist activity or economic crises often lead to poor turnout, the fear of contracting COVID-19 could potentially decimate the number of people going out. Short-term, postponing next week's gig was the right thing to do all around. Firstly, ticket-sales were already down, presu...

I'm not having the best of times at the moment, as is evidenced by the radio silence, but it's fair to say that people's kindness has helped. The nature of things right now is such that when I just checked my email to see the guy I sold my dad's electric bike via GumTree (solely to raise money for Edinburgh) is still having problems with it so I'll need to refund the balance (thus lessening what's now been repurposed as the Edinburgh cancellation fund) I wasn't surprised, though at the same time I felt a little bit like pulling my hair out; the issue with the bike was entirely unintentional on my part, which he knows, but that doesn't mean I can leave it at that; when I'm down on money I still to pay for my cancellation my cancelled Edinburgh run anyway, it's a situation - albeit a totally unavoidable one - I could do without. But then I could do without it all at the moment. I'm still trying to process the loss of my dad and the fact I ...

It's with real sadness and frustration - though it's totally unavoidable - that I've had to cancel my Edinburgh Fringe run. As I've intimated on social media and on my blog, I'm in a punishing situation involving long-standing issues, which have proved too much to work around. Add to this the loss of my dad, the fight to get my PIP reinstated, plus my poor mental health and this final twist was the straw that broke the camel's back. Firstly, I can't thank everyone enough for the ridiculously high level of support I've had to raise the money I couldn't get to due to my dad's assets being frozen after his death. My JustGiving page raised £3120 of the approximate £6500 grand total, which was bloody incredible. I hope no-one thinks the money was pocketed & not used for the cause (said while wearing my gold lamé jacket). While it's true some was spent on things I wouldn't need if I'd known I'd be cancelling - train ticket...

I’m frustrated that the cancellation of last week’s Mostly Comedy has put me in an impossibly tight financial situation and fed up with the amount of work I put into something that can so easily be affected by pulling a date. On one hand, I kind of had the deciding vote when it came to the show not going ahead, so I feel responsible for it, which is all the more irritating now I’m out of pocket as a result. While we’ve yet to actually receive any complaints about the cancellation, this is unusual, as people are often very unreasonable about these things, which only compounds the frustration with the amount of work you put in for the amount of money you take out, particularly when cancelling a date is more involved than it going ahead; I can't imagine many of the people who moan about these things would have stuck with a project like the club for as long as Glyn and I did before we took anything out of it financially (we’re talking years here). It just so ...

I must have been tempting fate when I recently boasted of how in ten years of Hitchin Mostly Comedy we’ve never cancelled a show outright, as that was exactly what we had to do last night. In reality, that was the decision that had to be taken - and these things happen - but when you find yourself in a situation like this, you can't help but worry afterwards whether you made the wrong choice, however unavoidable it might have been. A few years ago we found ourselves in a situation where an agent we were dealing with attempted to completely change the terms of an agreement that had been signed off after the deal had been confirmed and the event had sold out, and this put us in the awkward position of having to fight our corner to protect the ethics and identity of the club. While knowing we were right to stand our ground, as if we didn’t, any aspect of the deal could be reneged on at any point, every fibre of Glyn’s and my being bristled at the fear we were making a ...

Today’s Mostly Comedy was strange in that it just sort of happened, despite a slow and disconnected set-up. Hal Cruttenden and Richard Herring; two comics in love. Part of the problem for me was I haven’t recovered from the shock of my dad’s sudden illness at the end of last week, which nearly proved fatal, to improve just as suddenly at it had hit (he says in a gross simplification for the sake of a simple paragraph). Now the adrenalin's settled, I'm feeling brain-shot and anxious, which aren’t ideal bedfellows for doing stand-up in a crowded room; consequently, it took a little while to adapt to the noise, which was a little overwhelming for my mind-state. Despite not feeling my best, I insisted on doing a couple of new bits, if only to start ticking things off the list. It's more for the sake of getting material in my head at first than seeing it if it works, as it’s all more likely to land well when it’s properly learnt. It was pleasing to see we were pret...