Skip to main content

Mostly Boiling.


I’m pleased to report last night’s Mostly Comedy was a resounding success - yes: resounding - with my Mac repaired in time for me to get back to Hitchin and play co-host with all technical bells and whistles in fully working order.

Angelos Epithemiou and Barry From Watford at Hitchin Mostly Comedy (24.05.17)

I arrived at The Sun at 4pm to find Glyn and Paul in the midst of setting up the ballroom, which was nearly as warm as its Yellow Dwarf namesake. Entering was like stepping from one sauna to another, with the second one marginally more sauna-like than the first; not the ideal end to a frantic dash across London in stupid heat.

Thankfully there were no problems tech-wise, so we were ready in time for Alex (Barry From Watford) and Dan’s (Angelos Epithemiou) arrival. Dan turned up first, who we’d never met, though we'd watched him at the recording of an episode of House of Fools a few years back. I’ve been a fan of his work for a while and had tried to book him for Mostly in the past, so was delighted when we managed to confirm him and Alex as a job-lot. He was very nice from the off and was genuinely interested about the club’s history. It’s always a relief when someone you like is easy to talk to.

Alex arrived soon after and together we worked out how to fit their fairly prop-laden show into the relatively small performance space. There then followed a quick soundcheck, before we struck everything ready for our other act, Katie Pritchard, to do a line-check too.

I first met Katie when we did Dreamboats and Petticoats together in 2010. She coincidentally started doing comedy soon afterwards, leading to us gigging together off and on ever since. She also depped on a few Glad All Over gigs, which was when she first met Glyn; it’s always nice to see a friendly face. She arrived with mutual friend (and Mostly Comedy regular) Paul Harry Allen, who she’s currently working with in a comedy play written by him, that came about partly thanks to my recommendation; not that I want to take credit, though I hope my commission cheque’s in the post.

Me, last night.

The show itself was great. The venue was packed - it's our fourth sell-out out of 2017's five shows to date - with a crowd that were up-for-it despite the oppressive heat. Most of them had been lured in by the promise of seeing Angelos & Barry (a quick straw poll at the top of the second half revealed the majority had never been to club before), yet they were still on-board for everyone else. It was a good gig, even if I lost a stone in weight in the process; in a hot venue, who needs SlimFast.  
Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

Not The Bayeux One.

The Carole King album Tapestry has been my 'getting-ready-in-the-morning' soundtrack for the past few weeks.  It's been a favourite album ever since I was a student, which makes for a pleasantly gentle way to usher in the start of a day. I've always been a fan of a well-crafted song, which is something of a Carole King hallmark, ever since she started writing with her first husband in the early Sixties. Tapestry may be an unimaginative choice for a favourite LP, as it suggests I haven't delved that far into her career, but it's still an undoubted classic; anything with '(You Make Me Feel Like A) Natural Woman', 'Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?' and 'You've Got A Friend' on it can't really fail; if nothing else, it proves she likes writing songs with long titles.  Next month, she's set to perform the album live in its entirety for the first time at a gig in Hyde Park, which I would have loved to have gone to, if it weren...
Read more

Shakerpuppetmaker.

Have Parker from Thunderbirds and Noel Gallagher ever been seen in the same room? The resemblance is uncanny. So much so, I think something’s afoot. If my suspicions are correct, I've stumbled across a secret that will blow the music and puppet industry wide apart. In the mid-60s / mid-90s at least. It doesn’t take long to see the signposts. There’s the similarity between the name of Oasis’ first single, Supersonic, and Supermarianation, Gerry Anderson’s puppetry technique. The Gallagher brothers would often wear Parkas . Live Forever was clearly a reference to Captain Scarlet and Standing on the Shoulder of Giants to the size difference between Noel and his bandmates. The more you think about it, the more brazen it gets. It’s fishier than Area 51, Paul is Dead and JFK's assassination put together. The only glitch to the theory is scale . According to Wikipedia, Anderson’s marionettes were 1’10” and Gallagher is 5’8”. How does he maintain an illusion of avera...
Read more

Hitchin is Mine.

As of six o’clock tonight, I take over the Hitchin is Yours Twitter account for a week; a stewardship I’m anxious to get right. I’m proud of my hometown. It’s a great place to live, with so much going for it. I've always sold it to my non-Hitchinite friends; so much so, that a lot have gone on to move here. Any town expansion plans are partly my fault. Feel free to picket outside my house. I love its history and architecture. Take St Mary’s Church, for example. The building is beautiful inside and out, and huge for a town of our size. There has been a place of worship on site since the 7 th Century. Much of the present building dates from the 1300s. You wouldn't get that in America. (Don't forget the British Schools Museum too.)  Hitchin is a hive for creative people and a hub for the arts. It boast two theatres, two comedy clubs, a couple of art galleries, a festival for world music and a thriving music scene. This drew...
Read more