mostly david ephgrave

I’ve been looking forward to the latest installment of ‘Take it Away: The Complete Paul McCartney Podcast’, which became available today, as it covers the album 'Flaming Pie' - an album I have great affection for that kicked off a bit of a late-career resurgence for Paul - and while I’m only halfway through Part One and am intrigued by the polarized feelings it's evoking, one comment really stuck in my throat, when one of the hosts said, “It sounds depressed and tired to me”; well yes: his wife was dying. I know it wasn’t intended callously; it goes without saying that they have a lot of love for the man - they wouldn’t devote so much time to discussing his music if they didn't - but it still surprised me, perhaps partly because it’s so different to my perception of it. I’m not saying the album’s perfect; there are definitely a few low points on it, but there are also some gems, and if there's a tiredness lurking beneath the surface, this could stem from the b...

I’ve spent the afternoon editing together an audio clip of me performing stand-up, to send off to a comedy competition. This was a useful exercise, considering my recent doubts about my ability. In doing it, I was forced to watch a number of videos of my gigs, to work out what to send. While some of it made me cringe, a lot didn’t – and what shocked me most was there were laughs . ...quite a lot of them, in fact. Far more than I remembered. For some reason (*cough* Chortle review *cough*) I’ve convinced myself that there weren’t. It’s surprising how much you can reinvent something in your head, from a distance. That’s why recording my stand-up sets can be invaluable. It gives me the chance to experience them from the outside looking in, rather than the inside looking out. One thing I noticed was that the bits that came across the best had more attack. This was probably because they were in a club - and not a show – setting. It made me think that I’ve have been sitting ba...

Last night I watched about half an episode of a prime-time sitcom that was so broad I had to turn it off. Naming the programme would be petty, so let’s just say the title falls somewhere between ‘Citizen Smith’ and ‘Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan’.  A couple of friends had already given me the heads-up that I probably wouldn’t like it – but like a moth to a flame (or a voyeur driving past a car crash), I was drawn towards it against my will.   The problem may be more to do with me than the programme; it's possible that I take comedy too seriously and have a far too high expectation of what it should achieve. I’m not completely sure that is the case, though: I don’t watch something new hoping it will fail; I really do want to be entertained. It’s also not meant as a personal attack on the people involved; I understand that they are writing and performing to a format – and that this sort of programme has its place. I do understand that there...