mostly david ephgrave

The nicest thing about tonight’s preview - aside from the fact it went ahead - was that some of my ex-students came to see it. I’d clocked their name on the booking list for the previous Actors’ Temple show, which we ended up having to pull, and wondered if it was them (their surname rivals mine for its unusualness) so I was particularly pleased they were able to make the rescheduled date; it’s lovely when someone goes to trouble of booking - let alone planning to travel into town specifically to see you - that you hate to be the reason it doesn't go ahead. They enjoyed the show, which was a compliment as they were always very funny themselves. They were the first to put their hand up for any improv game I set and they always made me laugh. Their class was full of talent, and the keenness they injected into proceedings made the job a lot of fun. The show was fairly good and was certainly very useful, even when putting tearful reunions to o...

Today was a classic 'me day'.  The big event was the preview I had booked in at The Actors' Temple on Warren Street; a preview I ended up having to cancel as I only had one person booked in. Some people can barely scrape an audience in double figures; I barely get more than just myself. To be fair, it's often the way with Edinburgh previews; there are so many going on that the market is saturated, and mine didn't have the intrigue of being part of a double bill that could draw in more than one fan base (I use the phrase 'fan base' very loosely).  I knew the state of the numbers earlier on the day, but went through the motions, in case they picked up. The biggest frustration was I had to find a way to carry all of the equipment I needed for it on the train by myself (my wife brought things with her as well when she joined me, but she couldn't leave for London until she finished work). It wasn't so much thaqt the equipment specific to the show that w...

Tonight’s work-in-progress show felt like a world of difference to last night’s gig; people laughed and everything. Dare I say it, I enjoyed it. It’s the first time I’ve performed a sizeable chunk of what will eventually become my Brighton & Camden Fringe show ‘…and Ephgrave’ in one piece. Tonight’s response made me feel that I’m at least on the right track. Being in an intimate venue with a comedy savvy audience makes the world of difference. It helped me scale down my delivery, to make it more conversational. I didn’t have to fight for attention. I still need to find where the laughs are in the material, so I can sit back on it, but the fact that there were laughs has given me a confidence boost. It helps that I’m sharing the work-in-progress dates with the lovely Peter Broughton-Rates (I’m a poet…etc). He has an exceptional knack for positivity. As we left, I apologized for the fact I’d only had two people turn up to watch, when h...

I’ve spent the afternoon putting together a promo image for mine and Peter Broughton-Rates’ forthcoming work-in-progress gigs. I started the process with a full head of hair. Now, I’m a bald man. Photo editing isn’t my strong point, if I'm honest. I’m not sure what my strong point is. I’m looking forward to finding out, hopefully with enough lifespan left to do something with it. Knowing my luck it’ll be a skill that’s been rendered defunct, like wattle and daub walling. (A good name for a medieval cop show, or long-dead married couple.) Considering my limited means, I'm pleased with the results. It’ll do the job. I used the open-source software GIMP rather than Photoshop, because I don’t like spending money. A friend of Peter’s put together his artwork, to which I did some cut-and-shut editing to fit our split-bill line-up. You'll only see the joins if you look closely; or if you’re Glyn, who’s the King of Poster Editing. Literally. He has his own poste...