mostly david ephgrave

Wednesday afternoon's interview with Josh Widdicombe was the relaxed, easygoing chat I hoped and expected it would be and will make for an entertaining episode, I think. Us and Josh, during last night's Zoom interview (15.07.20) It's funny as, from the outside looking in, he's one of the bigger names we've interviewed, although the way we came into contact with him makes this feel less significant, as regards intimidation at least. Not only was he one of the club's regulars during its earliest days, but we also shared a Free Fringe venue with a split-bill show of him and James Acaster with them in immediately after us, so we were relaxed with them both. It helps that, like James, he's just a nice guy with no arrogance, who's remained that way, irrespective of his success. And as far as I'm concerned, those are the best people. So this allowed the interview to flow with ease and without pretension. Plus it was great to catch up. And it's ...

There was a point about halfway into Friday's ZOOMostly Comedy interview with Bobby Davro when it suddenly hit me how special the whole thing was. Bobby Davro, joining us via Zoom for our More Than Mostly Comedy Podcast (12.06.20) It was probably partly because Bobby's such a giving performer who throws himself into his work wholeheartedly, jumping from impressions to gags to anecdotes with a scattergun approach. And I mean that positively. It also helped that we were joining him live through the magic of the internet as he sat at the stool of his baby grand piano in his glamourous house, like he was giving a remote award acceptance speech or a prerecorded message for This is Your Life. That - and the fact the conversation was packed with great stories and a lot of laughter - put us in a privileged position, and one we would never have been in if it weren't for the current lockdown; you've got to find the positives, however small they may be. Me, during the ...

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 mo...