mostly david ephgrave

I’m getting to the point now Fringe-wise where I could do with a little break. Today’s show was good, though the reaction was a little early morning-ish compared to the last few days, which isn’t surprising considering it starts at midday and we're only midweek. It’s easy for me to forget my show is almost certainly the first one people will have seen that day and their heads may not have adjusted to watching stand-up yet. How often do you watch shows at noon in normal life? The earliest you’re most likely to see is a mid-afternoon matinee, and the reaction to those is often pretty flat; I’ve always advised people against coming to see matinees of productions I’ve been in in the past. It was a shame today was a little quiet as I had my PR in, and you always want people you know to see your show at its best; that said, I’m being hypercritical as it was still a good one; it’s probably just my tiredness speaking. What’s great is my wife co...

The person who stole a suitcase containing half of my Edinburgh flyers from the stairwell of my digs gained a disappointing loot. It was due to my never-ending Wednesday (which ended eventually) that I’d left the case around the corner out of the way. I’d already carried one caseload of flyers up three floors to my flat, and as weedy as it sounds, I couldn’t manage a second one. Actually, it isn't weedy when you consider how much I’d already carried that day by myself (FEEL SORRY FOR ME). When I left for my first (no)show yesterday, the case was still there, and it was my plan to take it upstairs when I got back; that’s where I fell at the first hurdle, as in the sixty minutes I was sweating my little Jagger-like bum off running my show, someone decided to claim it for themselves. I find this surprising on two counts, as (1) the case was a cheap Wilkinson affair, and (2) it was heavier than dark matter. They must have lifted it for a m...

Today’s been another day of admin, followed by admin, followed by admin, followed by a tiny bit of writing. Amongst other things, I booked a few gigs in April and two previews at the Etcetera Theatre in July. I could still do with more of the latter in the diary, and would particularly like some at shows I don’t organise myself. For someone who offers other acts work all the time - he says like a comedic martyr - I don’t get many back myself, which is frustrating, as it would be nice to have a little of what I constantly give everyone else: the chance to try new material out to a sizeable guaranteed audience; if you enter people’s lives as a promoter, they’ll never see you differently. I’ve also spent today tinkering with artwork for my Bath dates next month, which are getting close enough for me to have to get a wiggle on with ordering the print for. I won’t need too many posters and flyers as hopefully the location of the venue and the nature of ...

Today’s been mostly concerned with ordering posters and flyers for my ‘Work in (Hope of) Progress’ dates at the Bath Comedy Festival next month. My double act partner Mr Doggett stepped up to the plate as ever to do the artwork, which is similar to that of last year’s Brighton and Camden show ‘…and Ephgrave’, only with a marginally less smug picture of me. What started as a photo I liked grew irksome over time, particularly once I’d seen it ‘in big’. The combined forces of my smarmy facial expression and the “as smooth as they come” quote conspired to make me look and sound like a bit of a dick, which may be accurate, but it still isn’t the best way to encourage an audience.   I’m keen to turn my attention fully to writing and rehearsing material now that most of the admin for Bath is done (except for writing the press release and booking my accommodation; there’s always something). The more stuff I can work into some semblance of bei...