mostly david ephgrave

Yesterday, we released a new episode of More Than Mostly Comedy , featuring an interview with the excellent Tony Hawks , which we recorded a fortnight ago - our second new MTMC both in a month and since the club relaunched in 2023. That 'our' has been subject to a personnel change since Mostly was last a functioning entity. I now host the podcast with Dan Graham, who also now runs the club with me. I suggested resurrecting the podcast a few months ago to make the most of what, for me, has always been the best part of Mostly Comedy: the fascinating people it brings us into contact with. Why waste that opportunity by restricting it to a one-off gig in a room, when you can get something out of it that lasts beyond that date? (Don't respond.) Tony Hawks is undoubtedly such a person. I've been a fan of his books ever since my friend Ash recommended 'Round Ireland with a Fridge' to me while I gave him guitar lessons in the early 2000s. I instantly fell in love with To...

Last night, we recorded the discussion that will form the meat* of our 'F' instalment of The McCartney McAlphabet . The episode's been in the offing since August, though we kept postponing it, though the will to record was always there. But despite the long hiatus, it was great to be back, although I don't think I played my A-Game - or should that be F? - tonight. I wasn't on form though the edit will reveal if this reads (and if there's a subject I can bluff whatever my mindset, it's Macca). But despite my rustiness, it left me keen to get back in the swing of recording more episodes. I've been in the creative doldrums since I returned from the Fringe and desperately want to break the mental logjam with some new activity, and the podcast is a good start. It's an excellent way to stretch my mental legs (by which I mean 'the legs of my brain' and not some weird limb spasm). It's also worth noting the lovely boost we had when we released ou...

And so Mostly Comedy has closed. Our closure statement (26.04.2022). Arriving at this decision was difficult. It went against my natural-born instinct to keep things going at all costs. My brain has an annoying habit of defining what I do on the times when it isn't plain sailing at the exclusion of any evidence to the contrary, and this was no exception. But the fact is the circumstances we found ourselves in thanks to the pandemic were unprecedented and extremely hard to fight, particularly when you have so little money to start with and are constantly calling in favours from friends to make the shows run smoothly on the day. Pre-show audience at a Hitchin Town Hall Mostly Comedy (June 2019) The sad thing is I had visions of it carrying on long into the future, though if I could find a way to outsource some of the admin, that would've helped. I liked the idea of reaching our twentieth anniversary - we were already close to our fourteenth - as, for some reason, the idea that it...

Yesterday, controversially, was the first day in nineteen months with a Mostly Comedy at the end of it, which is the longest gap between gigs in our nearly thirteen-year history. Sharing a showbiz stance with Phil Cornwell. It's fair to say we had no idea how long we'd be closed when we cancelled our show planned for March 2020. If anything, we felt we might be being over-cautious. But little did we know what lay ahead. And while that still applies today, to an extent, it was at least good to take baby steps towards pre-pandemic normality. Now, we just need public interest and confidence to build to the point that we start to pull in enough punters to make a profit while being as Covid-secure as possible. For the most part, the show was like putting on a pair of comfy shoes once we got past a couple of tech issues which meant we opened late. While we only started approximately fifteen minutes after our advertised kickoff, the mad dash to the end of our soundcheck left me feelin...

I was sad to stumble across the news on Twitter that Lynn Ruth Miller - who up to then was the world's oldest working stand-up - passed away last week. Interviewing Lynn Ruth Miller for More Than Mostly Comedy (13.12.20) I'd only been talking to her via email in July when we rescheduled Mostly Comedy's reopening to September and moved her next appearance at the club to next month as a result. But sadly, that lineup wasn't to be. She was More Than Mostly Comedy's penultimate guest  back in December, and what an eye-opening it was. It's no wonder she made the Telegraph's obituary section at the weekend as she practically squeezed four lifetimes into one. And she was a picture of resilience, having picked herself up more times than a pin in a bowling alley. It sounds like a stock phrase, but she was truly inspirational, and the comedy world is markedly emptier and less colourful in her absence. Not to mention younger. It's not often you share a bill with so...

My main focus for the past few days has been organising and promoting the on-sale dates for July's proposed return of Hitchin Mostly Comedy (provided the Delta COVID variant doesn't keep us on ice) and editing the second and third episodes of The McCartney McAlphabet. Unsurprisingly, sales for Mostly have been cautious. I suspect they'll pick up once we know the Government's plans for 21st June onwards, but even bearing that in mind, the low take-up is concerning. I worry our seventeen-month closure could play havoc with a momentum we may never get back. And while we're prepared for our return to be a slow build, there's only so much we can juggle low figures when the club's not a cheap thing to run, and one too many loss-leaders will spell closure for us. (What a happy cheery chap I am.) The podcast, however, is lots of fun. Our first two episodes are now up , with number three being edited and four at planning stages. I'm really happy with how the fir...

We recorded our first More Than Mostly Comedy interview of 2021 last night with James Acaster, pulling the largest number of live viewers of a Zoom show to date. It's mad how far James' reach has extended since we first met at our second-ever Mostly back in October 2008. That said, if anyone from those days was going far it was him. He was a one-off from the start. While I get the impression he's a tough self-critic and would no doubt dismiss those early sets out of hand, his distinctive and now much-imitated delivery was there already. That unique turn-of-phrase, which must just be him, was well-established, as was his slightly formal dress sense. I've never known a chap his age own so many pairs of corduroys. (Says the man who just used the word, 'chap'.) What's nice is he's remained loyal to the club, despite his stellar career leaps, often returning when he can. So when I asked if he'd be free for an onstage interview in the autumn, and he wasn...

It's with no small fanfare - or at least with a faint anal parp - that the first episode of 'The McCartney McAlphabet' is out. I'm proud of it and am looking forward to doing more. The second episode's already in the can (not that there is a can) and needs editing, but it's good to at least have the show up and running instead of just a load of social media accounts with no product to push. And aside from a few syncing problems I had when I putting our conversation together, making it was an easy process. Recording our chat was fun and comes over well; as I've mentioned, the topic's not something I have to stretch to discuss and the whole thing's a labour of love. All that's left now is the hope people enjoy it. It's surprising how positive the online Beatles community have been. We've only had encouraging comments on the concept so far and I hope the content will live up to this. As with Doctor Who, I know that Beatles fans can be exact...

Yesterday, I found myself extolling the virtues of Macca's solo career to Mark Dolan on his drivetime show on talkRadio, after Royal Mail announced the imminent release of a set of post-Beatle McCartney themed stamps earlier that day. That's what happens when Paul Gambaccini has prior commitments. Chatting to Mark Dolan on talkRadio (06.05.21) It came about by chance after Mark dropped me a Twitter DM in the morning to see if I might be free to do it, having clocked the promotional posts for the McCartney McAlphabet this past few weeks. It just goes to show how you never know who's got their eye on you and will at least act as a spot of gentle promotion for the show. It also provided the ego boost of having Dolan bill me as a Beatles "Expert" which I'll happily accept in place of payment. Recording episode #1 with Clary Saddler. As for the podcast itself, I'm loving being a part of it. We've recorded the first two episodes now and I'm editing the f...

Planning Clary Saddler's and my new Paul McCartney-themed podcast The McCartney McAlphabet (which we start recording tomorrow) is proving to be a pleasant distraction from the norm. Artwork for the podcast, using a picture I took myself, no less (back when Paul didn't have a face). It helps that it's a subject I've engrossed myself in for a good thirty years, so I'd like to think finding something to talk about shouldn't be too much of a stretch. That said, I'm still slightly worried that I haven't done enough homework. The fact two of us are doing it inevitably brings on a form of "Are we doing Christmas presents this year?"-style panic. What if she's done reams of nuanced research and all I've got is a post-it note with "He plays bass" written on it? I think it's something we need to start to find out what needs doing. Most importantly it should be fun. Just the thought of a new project is exciting. I haven't looked...

The preparatory work I've done this week for my forthcoming McCartney podcast has been a pleasant diversion from my problems and has given me a glimpse of something to enjoy in the months ahead. I'm looking forward to starting to record it. It will ultimately be a slight flex of my creative muscles that I could do with. I want to have fun with it and find a way out of the personal mire of the past two years. As well as sharing notes for the first few episodes with my Macca conspirator Clary Saddler, I've also finished editing the Isy Suttie instalment of Glyn's and my More Than Mostly Comedy Podcast, which I'd abandoned for a few months due to a technical problem with the audio files that I've since resolved on a clear head. And the outcome is an interesting and funny conversation. And once I've edited our interviews with Lucy Porter and Lynn Ruth Miller, I'll be up to date and ready to turn my head to all things Macca. Hopefully, it will act as a palate...

I chatted with a friend today about a Paul McCartney podcast we're planning. The idea's all part of my kick to get some new projects going this year with different people to re-energise myself creatively and keep myself busy. Too much of what I do feels like a trapped narrative full of fatigue and resentment. And I recognise you sometimes need to shake out the metaphorical dustsheets to make space for something new. I currently have three new podcast ideas I'm keen to get going, with two - one on Macca and one on narcissistic abuse - about topics important to me, albeit for different reasons. Like Glyn's and my More Than Mostly Comedy Podcast, you need a passion for a subject for it to bear fruit, plus the depth of knowledge my collaborators and I already have on the subjects will, in theory, make putting together something of substance pretty easy. And the McCartney one would be a labour of love full of positivity on a theme I'm very confident about, which is half ...

I've had a small idea for a new podcast over the past few days that I may pursue, though I'm not entirely sure the best way to go about it. My main issue is who I should approach with it. I'd go to Glyn with the concept - partly as having a new project could breathe new life into our act - but I don't think it's necessarily suited to him even if it would ultimately be the most likely route to become a reality. There's no substitute for the shorthand that comes with years of collaboration, but if I'm honest, I feel like we may have run our course when it comes to brand new output. And I'd like to enter into any future joint projects with equal enthusiasm and a fresh slate. The other person I have in mind is probably more suited to it anyway, and we've talked for years about working together more directly. And while he's not a performer per se, he'd probably be more available and keener. So it's pretty much a no-brainer. And it's not li...

Pulling together a couple of composite images to summarise Mostly Comedy 's 2020 act roll-call - as I do every year - served to underline what a great bunch of people have either appeared at the club or guested on our podcast since January. Stills, taken from some of our Zoom-based More Than Mostly Comedy Podcast interviews this year. ...plus a few more. Of course, the year was nothing like we'd planned, with just two proper live dates in January & February thanks to COVID-19, but at least we managed to make a virtue of adversity by dipping more heavily into the podcast than usual, with ten new episodes already released and another three waiting to be edited; that's far more than we would have done had the club been open, so that's good. And even if we'd gone ahead with the onstage interviews we'd intended to do at the club this year, it's unlikely we'd have had such an impressive roster of guests; that's the advantage of being interviewing peop...

Hearing back the interview I did for my friend Clary Saddler's podcast Mouth-Off in July last night proved how the timing of chance events can be fortuitous, as it gave me a little spark of certainty and gentle self-confidence I haven't felt for ages. powered by Sounder I know my self-perception is often skewed by my depressive mindset, after years of negative framing that makes me feel I'm not enough, either as a person or a creative entity. But listening to our conversation a good few months after recording it helped me hear my thoughts with fresh ears and gave me a renewed, if tentative, conviction in my own voice and that I may even be allowed to feel a little pride in my achievements, such as they are. (There's a fine line between having some self-belief and commissioning a giant statue of yourself to front a flotilla down the Thames though, so I'll tread lightly.) It helped that Clary went all out when it came to content, bolstering the interview with audio...

Life's sent me into a bit of a mad panic over the past few days. I don't know how to create any stability in the current circumstances without the small income I take from Mostly Comedy, and with the vast majority of the money I inherited after my dad died being piled back into buying my mum out of his house at a price that shows no concession for who she's dealing with. My work is on hold until the COVID-19 situation eases, and I'm putting a lot of energy into our podcast in the meantime in the hope of creating a financial stopgap for the club (except it's currently making a loss). On top of this, I'm trying to process the events surrounding my dad's death and my mum's active decision to not fix them. Despite her frequent disrespect for personal boundaries and inability to discuss a different perspective, I always assumed ours was a protected relationship. But I was wrong. Her words during our final conversation when I suggested a path to repai...

I'm at the very early stages of planning a new podcast about narcissistic abuse, and I'm quite excited about it. It's a subject I'm still getting to grips with, though the act of reading up on it (and talking to other people who've experienced it) is helping me come to terms with it. Every day, I learn little details that put what's happened into perspective. And while I'm still delicate, there's been progress. Just today, I had a mini-revelation that took a little weight off. I was watching a video from a series recommended by a friend that was discussing toxic logic when the penny finally dropped on the common point that narcissists have no empathy and no rules apply to them. While I'd read that frequently and even remarked about it, I hadn't processed it, because it's such an alien concept when you  are  empathetic. So much of the pain comes from asking the question, "Why me?" and "Why wasn't I enough?"...

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 ...

Yesterday's podcast interview with Anna Morris was another nice one, with some lovely stories about fortuitous moments, where the universe just seemed to step in on her behalf. Stills from last night's ZOOMostly Comedy with Anna Morris. While I'm a realist, perhaps counterintuitively, I'm also a firm believer in following the moment without overthinking it too. When it comes to creativity, that's often the best route to take. The best ideas usually come quickly and almost of their own accord when you're not stretching for them, though that's not to say you don't still have to put in a lot of work to shape them afterwards. But there's a lot to be said for being open and ready for the moment when your subconscious dredges up something good. The best example of this for me was when I was still an active songwriter. Back then, only the moments that surprised me that felt worth pursuing. While I could churn out a basic song with a beginning...

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...