mostly david ephgrave

Today's the first day this week that I haven't set myself the task of editing one Glyn's and my podcasts, though I've still got one to do to clear the way for the others ahead. While I'm pleased to be recording them, I can't shake the background noise of "Why am I doing this?" in my head. "What's the point?" and "It's not like they'll bring in any money" also jostle for attention in my subconscious. I know it's all part and parcel of bridging the gap to Mostly Comedy being a going concern as opposed to just a growing one, but it's another example of putting in far more work than the money I can take out. And more importantly, I want my career to move on , after years of relentless self-generating without the support of the right agent; being honest, I haven't had good representation since my first agent retired in 2004ish. Even the nature of the interviews themselves can serve to remind me I'm no...

I spent much of today registering this year's Edinburgh show, although I kept being sidetracked by other things that need doing too. I was mainly distracted by the renewal of Glyn's and my public liability insurance, which expires at the end of March. We're in a frustrating situation as regards cash flow, which is being exasperated by a long line of bills that need or needed settling over the last few weeks. The main culprit that's made everything so tight was the hire fee for the Town Hall for July's Dr John Cooper Clarke date; a show that's selling excellently, but the fact the venue costs had to be met in advance long before we receive settlement hasn't helped us. Add an accountant bill, web space and domain-name renewal, a string of extra expenses for last month's Mostly Comedy plus the usual office rent and act fees, and suddenly we're brassic; everything will ultimately settle, but not without carefully moving some money about. The fine art...

There's nothing like walking your dog through the most affluent part of town - past mini-mansion after mini-mansion - whilst squeezed into a jacket you've outgrown due to recent weight-gain and can't afford to replace, for firmly putting you in your place. (Poet.) (Don't know it.) To do this was the psychological equivalent to spending the morning underlining the words 'you're a shitshow' in red pen. Being out with the dog was pleasant - it always is - but when you're in an area that's drastically at odds with your current financial situation you can't help but feel fraudulent, like a toddler clambering about in their parents' shoes, pretending to be an adult. It didn't help that I had a letter this morning summarising last year's earnings that practically blew a raspberry at me as I opened it. The fact my clothes barely fit and I spend much of my time juggling next-to-no money about only compounds this. Consequently, I found ...

I’m frustrated that the cancellation of last week’s Mostly Comedy has put me in an impossibly tight financial situation and fed up with the amount of work I put into something that can so easily be affected by pulling a date. On one hand, I kind of had the deciding vote when it came to the show not going ahead, so I feel responsible for it, which is all the more irritating now I’m out of pocket as a result. While we’ve yet to actually receive any complaints about the cancellation, this is unusual, as people are often very unreasonable about these things, which only compounds the frustration with the amount of work you put in for the amount of money you take out, particularly when cancelling a date is more involved than it going ahead; I can't imagine many of the people who moan about these things would have stuck with a project like the club for as long as Glyn and I did before we took anything out of it financially (we’re talking years here). It just so ...

I must have been tempting fate when I recently boasted of how in ten years of Hitchin Mostly Comedy we’ve never cancelled a show outright, as that was exactly what we had to do last night. In reality, that was the decision that had to be taken - and these things happen - but when you find yourself in a situation like this, you can't help but worry afterwards whether you made the wrong choice, however unavoidable it might have been. A few years ago we found ourselves in a situation where an agent we were dealing with attempted to completely change the terms of an agreement that had been signed off after the deal had been confirmed and the event had sold out, and this put us in the awkward position of having to fight our corner to protect the ethics and identity of the club. While knowing we were right to stand our ground, as if we didn’t, any aspect of the deal could be reneged on at any point, every fibre of Glyn’s and my being bristled at the fear we were making a ...

Will “I’m white, middle-class and male” do it? That type of joke is appropriate this week, what with it being the 100 th anniversary of (some) women being given the right to vote; how can an event like that still potentially be within living memory? Yet, while we may be a century on from that momentous occasion, there’s clearly still along way to go, what with all the terrible stories of men abusing positions of power - or simply being paid far more than their female contemporaries - that have been in the recent press; equality’s still an aim that's yet to be met. It’s not just sexism that’s the problem, but racism and class inequality (the first two parts of my triple punchline). They all crop up in comedy too: I read an article the other day about how the exorbitant cost of taking a show up to the Edinburgh Fringe means the scene inevitably becomes stagnated with acts from the affluent, cossetted middle-classes; after all they’re the onl...