mostly david ephgrave

By rights, a show to four people (with one from the Comedy Awards panel) shouldn't be fun, but today’s was, as well as being possibly my favourite so far (although the first show probably got the most vocal reaction). Mere seconds before I was due to start, it looked like I’d either have to cancel or do the show one-on-one to the comedy awards’ judge, which isn’t something I’d do in any other instance and would only have done today if (1) he’d been comfortable with it and (2) couldn’t guarantee someone from the panel would be able to come another day. I was just asking his opinion when the other punters suddenly appeared and saved the day, and what made it even better was they'd paid for their tickets and weren’t brandishing the papering comps I'd instructed my flyerers to hand out…so that’s money in the bank (albeit only just double-figures). Such a small audience is a tough proposition, particularly when they chose to sit close enough to the stage to force me into a...

Today I met my PR at The Ivy for a catch-up and to discuss our plans for this year’s Edinburgh. It’s great to work with someone I get on with so easily, who makes me feel positive about my ability and whose opinion I trust; there’s a definite sense we’re both singing from the same hymn sheet and while we didn’t get as many people in to see last year’s show as we would have liked, he still brought lots of positive attention to me while I was up there; more than I’d had in the past. Ultimately, you need someone to hand over the promotional side of performing on the Fringe to, as it’s too much to do yourself with any kind of authority. I’ve tried it in the past when working with Glyn and you never do yourself justice; too much is chased up too late and I suspect you may even end up being taken less seriously. It’s also nice to have a degree of separation from it all; you don’t always want to be the first port-of-call, nor do you necessarily want to read your reviews if you can help ...

The level of care the NHS achieves despite having Jeremy Hunt at the helm and such terrible funding is exceptional. They're vital, and yet the press and our Government abuse them; what’s more important to us than the heath of the people we care about? My dad went into hospital yesterday with a condition that escalated rapidly while I was by his side in A&E and on the ward, and the kindness and efficiency of every doctor, nurse or staff member we came into contact with was something else. This is the fourth occasion I’ve been witness to a situation like this - though yesterday’s was the most extreme - and the story’s been the same each time; this extends to when I've been a patient too. This consistency only reinforces what an exceptional service the National Health provides; for me, my dad's treatment was obviously of paramount importance, yet our hospitals see a never-ending stream of people in need, with friends and family to whom...

Today, my PR set me another Q&A assignment for a potential forthcoming piece in the Scottish press about my show. I generally enjoy these tasks as it’s an excuse to write something, though this time my enjoyment was swiftly nixed when, for some reason, the file completely disappeared from my computer after I’d saved and closed it (thus having the opposite effect to what saving it should do). I tried a little online detective work but couldn’t resurrect the piece from the dead, so in the end I just had to write it again. Thankfully, I remembered what I’d written pretty much word-for-word, though this didn’t make it any less irritating to revisit it. After writing the piece for the second time, I phoned my PR to ask what he thought of my preview on Saturday (this being the first chance I’d had to speak to him about it). I was delighted to hear he enjoyed it, and was very happy with where it is at this stage, which was exactly what I needed, as - ...

One thing you'll often do when promoting a show is filling in questionnaires from journalists looking for straightforward copy for their website, newspaper or magazine. Today, I did just that, answering a few questions about my Brighton Fringe dates that start next week , for the Brighton & Hove-based paper The Argus. See below for what I said, which immediately follows what they said, as that’s how the dynamic of an interview works. Could you briefly describe you show to those who know nothing about it? It’s like a Jive Bunny-style megamix of my life, without the ‘being at a wedding in the late-1980s’ aftertaste. For three nights, I’ll be zipping through a load of new ideas, most of which started out in the blog I’ve kept up almost daily for four years; my wife’s got a salary. What was the inspiration behind your show? Can you pinpoint one particular moment or idea? It mostly stems from my obsession with small detail and ho...

I’m a little frustrated by the lack of interest in this month’s Mostly Comedy, both in the local press and in general. Despite the fact the club's gone from strength to strength, there’s a sense that Glyn and I don’t get the credit for what we’ve built, and when we occasionally shine a light on our own work - as I am this week, by doing an extended work-in-progress set at Thursday’s gig - the local papers (whose job it is to run stories of local interest) - don’t cover it at all. For nearly nine years, I’ve written press releases for every show and sent them to the papers, and as time goes by, our shows have been covered less and less. I know lot of this is no doubt due to cutbacks across the industry, with fewer journalists available to specialise in any given field, but I also know that good content is good content - yet some of the biggest names to play our club (whose coming to Hitchin constitutes a story ) have been a secret outside of our...

Today’s show was the most fun one yet. For the first time, the thing as a whole started to make sense, which was a pain when I had press in yesterday. That said, there was an industry presence today too, so at least they got to see it when I was going at it a fair lick. (That sounds inappropriate, so I’ll leave that image there.) Today's audience were very on-board with what I was doing, which was great. It was noticeable how different their approach was, compared to the last two 2for1 days. It may be a coincidence, but I felt the people who were there today were on the same page as me, and knew what they’d come to see - or maybe the wind was just blowing in the right direction; you can never tell with the Edinburgh Fringe; it’s a changeable beast. There was some concern before we kicked off, as only one of the PA speakers was working. The in-house technician was still trying to fix it minutes before we were due to kick off, whi...

Tonight, for the third Friday running, I went to London's Prince Charles Cinema on Leicester Square for one of their "beer and pizza" screenings; this week's film was the subtle mockumentary classic 'This is Spinal Tap' (I'd include the umlaut above the N, if my phone would let me.) Spinal Tap, like Withnail and I, is infamous amongst the touring actor / musician scene. I'd heard most of the quotable lines long before I'd actually seen it. I can remember my long lost actor friend Richard Doubleday, who I haven't seen in ages, schooling me in how to look up at the flies in disdain as the tiny sign reading 'Rock 'n' Roll Heaven' flew in at the end of the show of the same name ,which was my professional debut, in tribute to the Stonehenge sequence. It was unprofessional, but if we hadn't done it, it would have been an opportunity missed.  It's a strange film to see amongst an audience, as the dialogue's so subtle and...

Five words, uttered nonchalantly by the Etcetera Theatre’s Duty Manager after tonight’s show that put the fear of God in me: “You had three press in” . What made her comment more alarming was there were only nine people in the audience. The ‘crowd’ watching my show this evening was one-third reviewers. There was a journalist for every pair of standard punters. I think I’ve made my point. Me, with sign, tonight. It will be interesting to hear what they think, particularly now the show starts with a brief dissection of my unfavourable Chortle review. Will this win friends or gain enemies? I’ll have to wait and see. Hopefully they came from different sources, for variety. I'm delighted to have such a great journalistic turnout (the best I’ve ever had), daunting though it may be. The show was okay for a first night. I was a little flustered by the get-in and took a little while to relax. The audience were quiet in places, which makes more s...