Yesterday saw the
second sold out Mostly Comedy in a row, though this time we were
playing host to a line-up who’ve all performed at the club in the past; one of them, very regularly.
(The bill - in case you're wondering - was Lucy Porter, Phil Kay and Brodi Snook.)
I think it was
inevitable yesterday’s show would be more relaxed than the day before, as we
had less to prove by nature of the fact we knew everyone on the
bill, and the gig hadn’t had the same dramatic ‘selling out in fourteen minutes to be cancelled and then reinstated’ lead-up. That said, there’s always a risk
you’ll keep telling yourself it will be easier for you to be too laid back and
make mistakes.
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| Phil Kay, on top form last night (23.11.17) |
The glaringly big
difference was I was hosting alone, as Glyn was in Wimborne,
kicking off the adult panto tour he company manages every year. On paper, this
shouldn’t have been too much of a challenge, as I was turning up to a room that
had been set up the day before and didn’t have the pressure of meeting acts who’d
never been to the club before to therefore not know the score. That is a little bit of a
simplification though, as it’s always easier when we're both there to share the load of the mundane bits and pieces that have to be considered when
you run a gig, like banking, briefing the staff and
rearranging chairs (which had been turned into barricade-like carnage the night before as people
left), to the more obvious responsibility of performing.
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| Lucy Porter was effortless at last night's gig (23.11.17) |
Thankfully, I
needn’t have worried, as the hosting part was a lot of fun. During the day, I’d
looked through a video of last year’s solo show to pick out some material I hadn't done since then to kick the second half of with, plus I reminded myself of a
routine from this year’s show, which I did at the top of the gig. I was concerned that tiredness - mainly due to my constant vertigo - would make me feel more
vulnerable and less in control, but it was clear from the off that the audience
were on board and enjoying it, which led to me probably doing one of my better
solo performances at the club (my friend and long-time Doggett & Ephgrave director Glen
Davies gave me some lovely confidence-building feedback after the show to this effect) - and while
I’ll always prefer to be leading the gig as a double act, it’s good to know I
can do it alone when I need to, when Glyn can’t be there.
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| The excellent Brodi Snook (23.11.17) |
What truly made
yesterday so good was the other acts, who were all on top form. Lucy Porter is
one of the nicest, most disarming comics you could meet, as is Brodi, who
has amazing onstage control, and Phil Kay is officially / unofficially my
favourite comedian. He was on absolute top form yesterday and left me literally
crying with laughter; it was the tonic I needed after a difficult couple of
weeks.