Gig 6: Magical Animals @ Sandbar, Manchester – 12th July 2011

There was an argument (in my own head) that this could have been gig 5c (see gigs 5a and 5 b), as it wasn’t a comedy night, but I’ve already got bogged down in nomenclature as it is.  Anyway, it’s my decision and it’s officially gig number 6. (Yes, I realise that I’m arguing with myself here, what of it?)

Anyway, I was asked if I wanted to do 4 minutes at Magical Animals, a spoken word (mainly poetry) night and I immediately said yes.  I then had to work out what stand up material I could do in 4 minutes. I realised that there wasn’t any, and so thought it was the perfect opportunity to try out some of my “short plays” that I’ve published on The World of Sherby57.  I’m a quick thinker, so I’d decided all this within about 30 seconds of accepting the spot.

It had been exactly 3 weeks since gig 5 until this, so I was unexpectedly nervous when I arrived at the venue.  Luckily, the plays were written down, so I didn’t have to worry about forgetting them.  I was also second on, so I didn’t have too long to worry about it.

I had practised performing the 3 pieces (yes, 3 plays in 4 minutes.  I told you that they were short) and I’d been able to do it only glancing at the paper, so was able to act it out pretty well.  In reality, I think nerves took over a bit and I was far more reliant on reading.  Also, I wasn’t entirely sure where to look when I was doing them.  I wanted to engage the audience, but also the characters had to be “looking at each other”.  I think this element of the performance would improve with a few more goes.

The plays got some laughs and I enjoyed doing them.  The last one in particular worked well and I think I’ll give it a try in my stand up set.  I also got some good advice about how it could be improved.  I won’t tell you what the play was about, so I won’t ruin its majesty for you.

Most of the other performers were poets.  I guess I had been a bit pre-occupied with my own performance, because I didn’t really consider what everybody else would be doing, but, wow, they were really good.  I’m certainly no poetry expert, but the standard was really high – both in content and delivery.  I’ve never been to a poetry event before, and was surprised by just what good performers they were.  Yes, me being surprised just highlights my ignorance, but at least I’m man enough to say so.

Most importantly, there were free cupcakes.  Poetry and free cakes.  What more could you ask for from an evening’s entertainment?

Related articles

• Gig 1: SAS Comedy, Lass O’ Gowrie, Manchester – 14th May 2011 (poursomegravyonme.co.uk)
• Gig 2: Comedy Balloon, The Ape and Apple, Manchester – 8th June 2011 (poursomegravyonme.co.uk)
• Gig 3: SAS Comedy, Lass O’ Gowrie, Manchester – 11th June 2011 (poursomegravyonme.co.uk)