mostly david ephgrave

Last night, I had what was supposed to be the penultimate preview of my new show before I jet (or 'train') off to Edinburgh, but - for a variety of reasons out of my control - ended up being the first. Me, during last night's show at Hitchin Town Hall (21.07.22) I'm pleased to report it went well, though there's still a lot of work to be done. While I'd intended on doing an hour, the distinct lack of opportunity to spread the stories I wanted to try across several dates made me decide to split the show into two halves so I could throw a few more into the mix without rushing them. It also gave me more time to regroup in the interval, which is useful when you're road-testing new material. Plus, it gave the audience a welcome break*, which was helpful, not least when the room was as hot as it was. Going through my notes, pre-show. All in all, the results were encouraging. I've found it hard working in such isolation this year, particularly on the back of al...

And so Mostly Comedy has closed. Our closure statement (26.04.2022). Arriving at this decision was difficult. It went against my natural-born instinct to keep things going at all costs. My brain has an annoying habit of defining what I do on the times when it isn't plain sailing at the exclusion of any evidence to the contrary, and this was no exception. But the fact is the circumstances we found ourselves in thanks to the pandemic were unprecedented and extremely hard to fight, particularly when you have so little money to start with and are constantly calling in favours from friends to make the shows run smoothly on the day. Pre-show audience at a Hitchin Town Hall Mostly Comedy (June 2019) The sad thing is I had visions of it carrying on long into the future, though if I could find a way to outsource some of the admin, that would've helped. I liked the idea of reaching our twentieth anniversary - we were already close to our fourteenth - as, for some reason, the idea that it...

Yesterday, controversially, was the first day in nineteen months with a Mostly Comedy at the end of it, which is the longest gap between gigs in our nearly thirteen-year history. Sharing a showbiz stance with Phil Cornwell. It's fair to say we had no idea how long we'd be closed when we cancelled our show planned for March 2020. If anything, we felt we might be being over-cautious. But little did we know what lay ahead. And while that still applies today, to an extent, it was at least good to take baby steps towards pre-pandemic normality. Now, we just need public interest and confidence to build to the point that we start to pull in enough punters to make a profit while being as Covid-secure as possible. For the most part, the show was like putting on a pair of comfy shoes once we got past a couple of tech issues which meant we opened late. While we only started approximately fifteen minutes after our advertised kickoff, the mad dash to the end of our soundcheck left me feelin...

Unfortunately, we're unable to reopen Hitchin Mostly Comedy this month as we'd hoped, as we can't meet the current COVID-19 restrictions in a way that makes the event viable. Our official stance (with legs widespread). Fortunately, Hitchin Town Hall is  very keen to get us up-and-running again, as are we, but at the moment, too many problems stand in our way: the biggest being that the venue's current capacity is lower than our breaking-even point. While we're prepared to shoulder some losses just to get going again, it's just not practical if we can't cover our costs even when we're sold out. The event would also have to be run cabaret-style, with chairs & tables instead of rows to assist social distancing, but the smallest booking we could take is a party of six, which would limit interest immediately, which we can't afford when we're already on the backfoot. The good news is we're already discussing ways to make it work as soon as we c...

Finally, five years on from our last instalment interviewing Paul Daniels and Debbie McGee in a conference room at Hitchin's Sun Hotel before their set at The Market Theatre next door, we have a new episode of our More Than Mostly Comedy Podcast available. This time, the comedian and impressionist Kate Robbins and standup and star of Red Dwarf Norman Lovett were in the spotlight; almost literally, in that we interviewed them onstage during the second half of February's Mostly Comedy at Hitchin Town Hall. It just so happened this was the last show before the coronavirus lockdown prevented live performances from taking place and it already feels like an age ago. I look forward to when we can return for many reasons; not least because it was great to make what was usually my favourite point of the evening - the chance to interview such fascinating people - part of the show. And though this first attempt at chatting informally in front of an audience was a little nervewracking...

We've had so many lovely messages from everyone who's donated to protect Mostly Comedy through its enforced break. At the point of writing, fifty-eight people have contributed to the fund , raising £1340, which is enough to pull us through the current crisis for a good few months at least. Without it, the risk of closure pressed worryingly, which put me in the frightening position of losing my income overnight. As it stands, I won't be paying myself for a while, but I can at least reimburse a few of the running costs I've been covering from my pocket. But it isn't just about the money, though that's important. It's the evidence of how many people care about the club and would be upset if it went. We knew it was popular as it usually sells well, but as it's grown and its audience has changed through the years, you start to assume it's just a commodity that serves a purpose at time-of-use and that's it. And if it closed, people would make...

For the second time in a year, I've turned to JustGiving to help me through a financial plight; last time it was to contribute to the funding-hole left for Edinburgh when my dad's estate was frozen after he passed away; this time, it's to bolster Mostly Comedy through the coronavirus situation. Like so many industries, the COVID-19 pandemic has thrown live events into crisis. Suddenly, the future of venues & gigs looks worryingly unsustainable. Sadly, that's the case for Mostly Comedy too. Glyn and I run the club as self-employed performers on a low income. As it stands, Mostly makes just enough money to sustain each consecutive event and our running costs, but its survival relies on (1) the gigs going ahead, and (2) our taking little money from it. And when the money isn't there, we plug the gap. Until our shows can continue, the club has no money coming in (our ticket provider holds all funds until a week after each show). Meanwhile, our running c...

It's been a while since I've posted a Mostly Comedy press release in place of a blog here. And as our next Hitchin gig's just thirteen days away, now seems as good a time as any to do it: Press Release – 04.03.20 mostly comedy a monthly comedy club at hitchin town hall On 19th March, Doggett & Ephgrave’s popular monthly club at Hitchin Town Hall, Mostly Comedy, will play host to the Olivier-nominated comedian, writer, broadcaster and all-round British institution ARTHUR SMITH , who will both perform and then be interviewed by the duo for their More Than Mostly Comedy podcast. Arthur is best known for his appearances on BBC's Grumpy Old Men , QI , Have I Got News For You and The One Show , plus hosting BBC Radio 4 Extra’s Comedy Club and BBC Radio 2’s Smith Lectures . He is a Spirit of The Fringe award-winning Edinburgh Festival stalwart and the Olivier-nominated writer of An Evening With Gary Lineker . He started out as a member of the 1980s’...

Tonight we attempted a social experiment by doing the first-ever live version of our until-recently-mothballed More Than Mostly Comedy podcast, interviewing Kate Robbins and Norman Lovett onstage during the second half of this month's gig. As with most Doggett & Ephgrave projects, it was a day of multitasking with scant preparation, but then, why change what comes so naturally to us? Stress-management is our collective middle name (with clunky double-barrelment). Despite this, we came out the other side reasonably happy with how it went and with the sense that it was something we can build on in future. Most importantly, it gives us a chance to stamp our identity back on the club at the point it most risks turning into the type of faceless comedy night we never wanted it to be; I'd much rather pull a thoughtful comedy-literate crowd than a rowdy stag-party any day. Ironically, it's the size of our current venue that risks the club's identity changing the mo...

The dust has barely settled from last week's Mostly and we're already promoting the next one; this time, headed by the member of musical comedy royalty that is Neil Innes. See below for the press release for it: Press Release – 20.10.19 mostly comedy a monthly comedy club at hitchin town hall Hitchin’s comic duo DOGGETT & EPHGRAVE celebrate the eleventh birthday of their successful monthly club Mostly Comedy on 3rd October by hosting a cracking line-up at the Town Hall, headed by honorary seventh member of Monty Python, NEIL INNES . Innes is a British writer and musical comic best known for playing in the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band and The Rutles. He studied at the Norwich School of Fine Art, from which he was thrown out around 1963, allegedly for "spending all day playing music, instead of making things". In the period 1962-65, Innes and several other art school students started a band which was originally named The Bonzo Dog Dada Band after...

Tonight's Mostly Comedy saw the club sink just that little bit more comfortably into its new home of Hitchin Town Hall with a suitably busy gig (with just over 200 attending) and a suitably big name to close in the form of Reginald D Hunter. Reginald D Hunter at Hitchin Mostly Comedy (19.09.19) The point hammered home was how nice everyone at the Town Hall is and how easy setup is compared to all our other bases. We're still getting used to not having to do as much as previously, but it's a lovely problem to have, particularly when our time together's so tight; I arrived a little before Glyn at 4:30pm and we were still long done by about 6:45pm, which was unheard of back-in-the-day; I even had time to get changed and eat, which was a bonus. The show itself went well too. Both Lynn Ruth Miller and Reginald D Hunter were great and charming in their inimitable way and the audience reaction was fantastic. Admittedly, the gig loses intimacy in a room this size, but s...

Today I changed the ink pad in the Mostly Comedy hand-stamp for the first time in eleven years; it's fair to say we got our money's worth. Stampy-wampy, catchy-monkey. If I could be bothered, I'd dig out some graph paper and work out a rough tally of how many hands it's stamped, although it wouldn't take into account people who snuck in without being branded, of course. It's probably best I don't anyway as it would be a dull endeavour, although I'm sure the grand total's still impressive. That stamp has travelled from venue to venue and somehow managed to stay intact. You could even say it's a little iconic on a local level at least. When I wasn't replenishing my ink stocks - euphemism - I was prepping equipment for tomorrow's show to make life easier on the day. Our get-in is super-tight so the more ready we are, the easier it will all be. It's another busy one too with 200 or so people coming, so it's good to not ...

Press releases are a means to an end (that end being, "to hope to draw an audience"). There's no guarantee this will work, but when you're hosting an act like Reginald D Hunter, you'd expect to get a fair amount of interest. See below for the press release for our next Hitchin show a fortnight today, then book: Doggett, D Hunter and Ephgrave, backstage at a one-off Mostly Comedy at Royal Airforce Museum London. Press Release – 05.09.19 mostly comedy a monthly comedy club at hitchin town hall The duo behind Hitchin’s successful long-running club Mostly Comedy, DOGGETT & EPHGRAVE , kick off their Autumn 2019 season on 19th September at their new home Hitchin Town Hall in the company of TV favourite, REGINALD D HUNTER. Reg is one of the comedy scene’s best-known performers and is a regular on such primetime shows as Have I Got News For You, QI, 8 Out Of 10 Cats and Live at The Apollo. He was born in Albany in Georgia in 1969 and initia...