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 most, while at the same time upping the potential for profit once we've covered the cost. Gone are the days when a show would sell out on its presale date, as the Town Hall's capacity offers more opportunity to snap up tickets. In a sense that's good, though greater availability increases the likelihood of performing to people who aren't on the mailing list and who therefore might not have grasped the nature of the event they've booked for (i.e. a mixed-bill night and not a set from the best-known name). Plus it costs us more now to run it.
The other thing that risks us being swallowed by our own event is the lack of opportunity to write new material. These days, it's not just scarcity of time so much as the absence of inclination; we haven't sat down together to work on something new for years, and I can't see it happening now either. This is a shame as whenever we revisit old material - as we did tonight with the Beard Board - it still lands well, which still gives me the sense that our double-headed stand-up could have been the thing to get our foot in the door of the industry if we'd ever stayed in the right line-of-fire for long enough to make an impact. But to do so would take a combined effort we're collectively unable to give, despite still scraping along as a double act fifteen years later.
At least the podcast should help us remain vaguely on the scene while keeping us loosely linked to the people we've interviewed in the process, so that's a little shrewd cunning on our part.
We certainly picked the right line-up to do our first live podcast with. Norman and Kate are lovely people who are easy to talk to and are more than happy to share a story or two, which helped us maintain the relaxed informal atmosphere we were so keen to keep. This was ably assisted by the furniture we'd bought for the interview - three comfy leather chairs and a low-slung coffee table (all tax-deductible) - and the fact we were all wearing head-mics. And despite a technically fraught soundcheck, the sound during the performance was pretty clear (though I've yet to hear back the recording to be sure of the quality).
It was also great to see how enthused the audience were to the idea of submitting their own questions via Twitter (which they could do by using the hashtag #MTMCpodcast). Plus the interview itself was a lot of fun too, so the positives definitely outweighed the negatives; I just hope we can make it financially viable too, as it's already taken a surprising amount of additional investment. But what it gives creatively it gives in droves, and that's ultimately why we've ever done anything.
It was also great to see how enthused the audience were to the idea of submitting their own questions via Twitter (which they could do by using the hashtag #MTMCpodcast). Plus the interview itself was a lot of fun too, so the positives definitely outweighed the negatives; I just hope we can make it financially viable too, as it's already taken a surprising amount of additional investment. But what it gives creatively it gives in droves, and that's ultimately why we've ever done anything.