mostly david ephgrave

Some days, you inevitably use a press release you put together for the next show at your comedy club as a blog post; well, today is one of those days: read it and weep (as long as you also factor in booking tickets...) Press Release – 07.03.18 mostly comedy a monthly comedy club, at the sun hotel in hitchin March sees two instalments of Doggett & Ephgrave’s Hitchin comedy club Mostly Comedy at The Sun Hotel: while 30 th March’s performance of PHILL JUPITUS’ tour show JUPLICITY is officially sold out, returns can potentially be snapped up on the night; tickets for 22 nd March with Red Dwarf’s NORMAN LOVETT , however, are still available at time of going to press. NORMAN is a veteran of the stand-up circuit. He played the original Comedy Store on countless occasions - once supporting The Clash, which he sees as a personal career highlight. Television credits include his BBC2 Sitcom 'I, Lovett' and Paramount Comedy's '...

My mood brightened considerably today when I read that Peter Lilley is standing down at the next election. I have a natural dislike for politicians of the Tory persuasion - or politicians at all for the most part - but Lilley's a particularly unpleasant example, even when taking this into account. Just a quick look at his voting record reveals some particularly distasteful allegiances, having consistently voted against Gay rights, against raising welfare benefits and measures to prevent climate change to name just a few. He's a staunch supporter of leaving the EU and for a stricter asylum system that plays right into the hands of the Daily Mail contingent; in fact it’s hard to find anything he's done or the common good. This was no surprise to me, having crossed paths with him briefly when Glyn and I reluctantly appeared in a sketch with him at a Hitchin Rotary event in 2008.  I’ve covered it here before so I won’t go into too much detail , save to say that ...

One thing I did today - besides making the most of my new Fitbit (7884 steps and counting) - was put together a mailout to Glyn's and my mailing list, primarily promoting the extra Mostly Comedy date we're doing at the Broadway Cinema in Letchworth in March. Whilst doing this - which took far longer than it should - I also wrote compiled the press release, which was good as it technically means I'm now ahead on the game, as I usually send it out much later. I thought I'd share it below, along with the poster for the show; if you like the sound of show, you should come on down (and bring 399 friends so we can reach capacity). Press Release – 11.01.17 mostly comedy a mixed bill of some of the finest acts on the scene, hosted by doggett & ephgrave The duo behind Hitchin’s eight year-running Hitchin event Mostly Comedy ( DOGGETT & EPHGRAVE ) are delighted to present the first Letchworth gala version of the club at the newly rewor...

I've very excited about Mostly Comedy's latest coup: the fact that Rory Bremner will the club in October.  He's another act I've been a fan of for a long, long time - like with Paul Daniels, though their remit is hugely different - and someone Glyn and I hoped would play the club one day. You'd think we'd be used to high profile acts darkening our door, what with us having played host to so many, but the moment I received confirmation that Bremner would do it, I practically fist-pumped the air; if you're going to have an impressionist on the bill, you may as well have the very best.  It's amazing how far Mostly Comedy has come since it first started. I've said this before in reference to other acts, but if you'd told me at the club's first gig in 2008 (whose line-up consisted of close friends) that someone of Bremner's calibre would join us one day, I would have called you a liar and then slapped you in the face (I'm very 'handy...

Today saw my second Edinburgh show and my last preview.  I actually felt far better about today's performance compared to yesterday's, which was ironic in a way, as we went up late due to a waiting for five audience members who'd rushed to the door of the venue, thinking they could buy tickets there, to be redirected to the box office only to never come back; I have that effect on would-be punters. This late start meant I had to consciously pace things up and cut the odd line here and there to finish on time, which actually made the whole thing feel more cohesive; on this basis, I'm going to start tomorrow's show next Wednesday.  Amongst today's bijou audience was the technician from Glyn's and my first Edinburgh show The Balloon Debate, with his girlfriend, who we last saw in either 2010 or 2011, when we were up here with Mostly Comedy (and possibly our Meadow Bar show Big in Small Places; it's hard to remember which, as each year rolls into one).  A...

Tonight's preview at the Broadway Studio and Gallery was the best that I could wish for, giving me the bit of oomph I need to send me on to Edinburgh.  For the first time, the show started to make sense as a whole, and I got an idea of how to pitch it. You'd think I'd know this already, being that I wrote it, but it's surprising how that isn't the case. A lot of the show started life in this blog, which is obviously a different format to a performance, and there are certain aspects in the putting together of a stand-up show that can only be realised and finalised in front of an audience. Tonight, I had the luxury of a roomful of people ( literally ; it was busy and everything) who for whatever reason were just the right group I needed to be able to walk the line between concentrating on what was written and what wasn't, and what still needs tying together and what doesn't.  The room itself was a strong one for stand-up, despite being in the early stages of...

Predictably, I listened to tonight's episode of 'Doggett & Ephgrave: In Your Inner Ear' when it went out; primarily so I could tweet along the pictures that accompanied it. I always feel slightly nervous before the broadcast; mainly because I can never quite remember what was said, or if I was any good on it. The show's recorded so quickly, you barely have the chance to consider it - and when it's a been a busy week like this one, it fills such a tiny fraction of your time for you to barely even consider it as you're doing it. This can be positive, as the content often takes me by surprise when I listen back to it. Tonight, I genuinely laughed at a lot of it; not in a self-celibratory way; more because I didn't know what was coming next, bar the basic outline. There was the odd bit of cross-talk in places, which was frustrating, but funny lines frequently came up. I like the broad scope of our references (tonight's ranged from Pingu to...oh, I for...

I hate being called Dave. My dislike for it is, admittedly, inconsistent. I’m happy for some people to shorten my name, when others doing it will make me shudder. It’s a complicated and finely nuanced situation, worthy of a line chart. So here it is. (I spent the morning trying to draw that on Excel, before giving in. I went to WHSmith to buy a pad of graph paper, though, which shows commitment.)   It’s very complicated. You could say, loosely speaking, that my close friends call me David and my more casual acquaintances call me Dave, but even that doesn’t add up. My dad seldom uses my full name, for example, and I don’t mind that. My expectations vary wildly depending on my relationship with the person in question; so much so, it’s hard to keep up. When a woman calls me Dave it leaves me cold. Particularly when it’s carefully pronounced. Yet I don’t mind it when my mum does it. Freud would have a field day with that. I particularly hate Dave being used ...

I’d question whether a pub carvery in Woolmer Green is world famous. The village isn't that well known. It’s very familiar to me, but then it's been a part of my life forever. My dad grew up there, with my grandparents living in the same house until they died. My dad still owns the house to this day. While Woolmer Green is of major significance to the Ephgrave family, it’s had little impact on the rest of the planet.   (Earth's loss is our gain.) There are three pubs in Woolmer Green. My nan worked them all. Public houses played a big part in her life; she met my grandfather in one on the Isle of Dogs, while she was a barmaid and he was a heavily-drinking contingent of the Navy. Though she died when I was young, I still remember her vividly. We were very close. She once helped me make my own version of Rod Hull’s sidekick Emu, using a pair of old stockings for the head and the neck and a spangly green blouse for the body. It looked really good. She...

Last night I had a couple of dreams relating to mine and Glyn’s comedy club, Mostly Comedy . In the first the stand-up James Acaster was not a real person, but an actor playing a part – and in the second, the cockney legends Chas & Dave came up to Hitchin to play for us.  I’m now determined to make my dream a reality (the second one, that is). I watched an excellent documentary about them ( ‘Last Orders’ ) on BBC4 about a year ago. It was one of those programmes that you switch on by chance before bed, only intending to watch a few minutes, then find yourself engrossed. I’d never realized just how far-reaching their careers were. Did you know that Chas did stints in both Jerry Lee Lewis and Gene Vincent’s backing bands? He also jammed with Paul, George and Ringo at Eric Clapton’s wedding in 1983; the only time The Threetles ever played publically after John’s death. Also, Eminem’s 1999 breakthrough hit, ‘My Name Is’ is built around a sample that...