Gig 35: Open for Laughs @ Bar 1:22, Huddersfield – 16th February 2012

February 19, 2012 Leave a Comment

Open for Laughs was my fourth gig in 8 days, and, stupidly, the fourth different routine. As I’d already performed at this gig in October (Gig 18) and January (Gig 25), doing similar sets at both, it seemed like a good opportunity to give an airing to the new material from Gig 27. I didn’t exactly have a lot of time to prepare, and I was increasingly knackered as the week went on, but I felt I knew the material well enough to not cock up, but with enough of an element of doubt for something interesting to happen.

My opener was going to be my Roy Walker joke, previously described as “a long (90 seconds-ish) jokeless, serious story capped off with a fairly lame punchline.” This description doesn’t exactly sell it, but I definitely know what I wanted to achieve with it and how it might be funny. Starting with such an inherently risky bit, however, did mean that I was going to have to play it just right or I’d just look like I was just terrible. My main concern was if a high percentage of the audience were too young to know who Roy was, then it would just be a long, unfunny story and it would be almost impossible to make work. My plan was to poll the audience at the beginning and if the consensus didn’t know who he was then I’d sulkily go into my joke book as an alternative.

As the show started the MC (Lovely Lee Moore) talked to a table of 4 seventeen year-old lads sat at the front. They didn’t know who Roy Castle was – despite him coming from Huddersfield – so I didn’t hold out much hope for their knowledge of Mr Walker. I was third on the bill, so I had a little time to decide what to do. The majority of the audience probably would have known enough about RW to give the bit a go, but because the lads’ youth (and lack of 80s pop culture knowledge) had already been discussed, I felt like I would have to address it. I concocted a plan where I would spend so long talking about the fact that they wouldn’t get it, that I wouldn’t have time to actually do it and faux-exasperatedly be forced into to an abridged version. And making a big deal out of how the abridged version would make even less sense than in full. I didn’t know whether it would be funny, but I was excited to see how it would pan out.

Just before I went on, three guys arrived and sat at the back. They gave a somewhat prickly response when Lee spoke to them, and they gave off the vibe of being unimpressed by what was going on. I thought there was a chance they would heckle (they didn’t), and I was a little distracted with what approach I would take should they interrupt. I don’t really know how much of an effect this distraction had on my performance, but I was conscious enough of it to mention it, so I think it must have done something.

I kicked off by explaining what I had planned to do, but that the youngsters were making me think twice about it. I sneaked in a Roy Castle reference which got a laugh – but obviously not by the teenagers – and I felt in control of this bit. I wasn’t necessarily getting loads of laughs, but I was taking it in the direction I wanted to. I then
complained that I’d have to do the abridged version of the bit and was too bumbling in trying to work out which bits I needed to tell and which to drop. In many ways, bumbling could really have worked here, but just not the way that I did it – this is something I can’t really quantify. Although a few people laughed at the rather lame pay-off to the story, I think perhaps I hadn’t made it clear enough that it was being done on purpose. I do like to do bits which intentionally have a component of incompetence, but I’ve found that I really have to underline the intention in order to keep the audience on-side.

After Roy Walker, I launched into “personal bit”, followed by the new “personal bit 2″. Although there were decent laughs peppered throughout the rest of the set, I never really felt like the audience were with me. It was a startling contrast to when I had done “personal bit” only a week earlier at Gig 32 – and indeed to the previous times I’d performed it at Open for Laughs. This means I now really don’t know which bits really work out of either of the two personal sections. Is the material weak but I can sometimes make it work through performance? Is the material fine, but sometimes I blow it by how the rest of the performance goes? Is it just one of those things that sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t, depending on the audience? I really don’t know.

In hindsight, I should probably have done the Roy Walker bit as originally intended, and then made the deal out of how the lads wouldn’t have got it after I had finished. I think this would have declared my intent more strongly.  I think I need to ensure that if I’m going to persist with material that could easily be interpreted as unintentionally shoddy (and I am), that I make sure the audience know that I know what I’m doing – even if they don’t actually like it. There’s just so much to learn to get this right.

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Gig 32: Radio Fallout Comedy Night @ The Railway Venue, Bromley Cross, Bolton – 9th February 2012

February 10, 2012 4 Comments

Some of you (and by “some of you” I mean “me”) may remember my infamous Gig 8a; a night with so few audience members that it didn’t count as an actual gig.  Last night looked like it was heading the same way. At 8:15 – the scheduled start time – there were two people in attendance. The comics all braced themselves for the prospect of performing for each other; something none of us really wanted to do. Then, due to the good grace of some crazy comedy god, it turned into a lovely gig of the loveliest proportions. It appears miracles can (and do) happen.

My preparation this week was relatively lax. I’d decided to go pretty much with the same set that died on its, and my, arse in Winsford (Gig 30); the only change was that I’d open with “stretched cat” instead of “I’m sat at a desk…” My reasons for sticking to it was partly because I had a busy week lined up (and so couldn’t face sorting something new), and partly to try and prove to myself that it did work as a set. I only had time to do a few run-throughs while driving about, so hadn’t timed myself. I knew this might be a slight issue as my re-jigged “incomplete joke” had lengthened quite a bit. This made me think about keeping an eye on my watch – something I don’t usually do – and assessing the points in the set where I could potentially drop bits. This is a skill I definitely need to learn – the more you improvise and mess around, the more your timing goes – so it was a good place to start as any.

The other thing I wanted to concentrate on, with regards to performance, was to make sure that I took my time and that I really sold it. I don’t know how much the failure at Gig 30 was down to me getting rattled and then rushing and not committing to the material.

So, it was showtime and there were two fellas in the audience. Two of the comics had travelled all the way from Newcastle and so were understandably dismayed with the prospect of effectively playing to the other acts. It wasn’t something that I was particularly thrilled with either. It seemed like a no-win situation given that my last couple of gigs hadn’t gone well, but the organisers had been good enough to give me a gig and, like the others, I was committed to giving it my best anyway.

The decision was made to delay the start – as seems traditional at comedy nights – and eventually a few more people trickled in. It got to a point where there were about 10 audience members, which is pretty much the minimum for giving it a go. I was a little concerned at this point as these 10 people seemed to cover every possible demographic and I wasn’t sure quite sure how it would play. Then, from seemingly nowhere, there were about 30 people in attendance, and with the venue being perfect for comedy – raised stage, low ceiling and the audience all tucked in tight – it looked like we had a gig after all.

The show was effectively split into 4 sections: two acts in the first three followed by the headliner. I was on second in the third section and by that point it was clear that the audience were really warm and very receptive to different styles of comedy. So I did my stuff and it went really well (sure, this sentence is a bit of an anti-climax, but screw you). I really took my time with it and made sure I didn’t talk over the laughs (yes, I got enough laughs for that to be an issue). As a result, I totally over-ran and had to end up ditched the part of “personal bit 2″ I was going to do, and “One Day in Liverpool).  But, I felt I was it control of droppping the material, so that was a win.

An excellent night was capped off by headliner Lewis Charlesworth, who literally blew the roof off the place (not literally). And so we all went home happy.

Ah, isn’t it great when you’re not rubbish?

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Gig 31: Beat The Frog @ Frog & Bucket, Preston – 1st February 2012

February 3, 2012 5 Comments

So it was time again for Beat The Frog – the superior frog-based, comedy gong-show.  Last week I successfully lasted the full 5 minutes at the Manchester BTF (Gig 29), but this was my first return to Preston BTF since September last year (Gig 12).  If you want to know the format of the night then follow either of those links.

I had decided to do pretty much the same material that I performed in Manchester, but with a few minor tweaks; I removed a joke that was based on a 1980′s reference and added in a stupid impression (more on that later).  I had the running order sorted and it was all material I was familar with, so I felt confident that I knew what I was doing, even though I wasn’t confident of beating the Frog.

The venue was already bustling when I arrived and on an initial scan of the audience I thought there was a good chance that my stuff wasn’t going to play particularly well.  The vibe was one of people out for a general night out with a bit of free entertainment thrown in, rather than one who had specifically sought out comedy for the love of it.  I’m not currently at a level where I can convince this sort of crowd that my penchant for jokes that appear to be bad and\or that fail is done on purpose rather than through ineptitude.  My instincts seemed to be proved correct based on the reaction to the first few comics on (who were non-gong), and which of their material the audience went for (and, more pertinently, which bits they didn’t).

Although I thought my chances of success were slim, I didn’t let it deter me and just went for it as I normally would. I started my set with some of the usuals: “stretched cat”, “this really shifty looking bloke came up to me” and “can’t fight the moonlight”. There was a mixed reaction – as is often the case – with some people were going for it, some sitting blankly and with a few people “ribbiting” in an attempt to get me gonged\frogged off.  The next bit I decided to do was something I hadn’t tried since Gig 2, where it didn’t really work, but  it was something I thought I might be able to sell better now. This is the bit that got me gonged off.  As I’m unlikely to perform it again, I’ll reproduce it in it’s entirity to allow discussion:

(Normal voice) I’m going to have to lighten the mood now, so I’m going to do some impressions. Everybody loves impressions. I’ll be honest, I’m not an expert, but I’m going to give it a go. Who is this?

(Bruce Forsyth voice) You were only supposed to blow the bloody doors off. (pause). You’re a big man, but you’re out of shape…but didn’t he do well? (pause). My name…is Michael Caine….alright, my love?

(Normal voice) It was Michael Caine. As I say, I’m not an expert…

And that was that (they didn’t say how long I lasted but I would guess between 2 and 3 minutes).  Now, you know the bit doesn’t really work when your girlfriend asks you “what the fuck was that bit about?” So, you know, I’m happy that the audience made the right decision. To clarify the intention of the “joke”: I thought it would be funny if I did an impression which was supposed to be one person but just had the voice of someone else.  It made me laugh, anyway.

I don’t blame the audience at all for my demise, I just wasn’t giving them what they wanted. The questions that arise from this are: a) am I able to give them what they want, and b) do I actually want to give them what they want?  Undoubtedly I have a long way to go in my development as a performer and my material can get much stronger, but barring a drastic change in direction, will doing this kind of gig help or hinder my development?

I’m next booked in for Preston BTF on March 7th.  I’ve no idea how I’m going to approach it, but it should, at least, be interesting.

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Gig 30: Buzzin’ @ De Bees Music Bar, Winsford – 29th January 2012

January 30, 2012 6 Comments

I’ve had a string of really successful gigs recently, so I knew that I was well overdue to die on my arse. And, boy, did I ever die on my arse last night. Obviously, this isn’t the greatest thing to happen, but it should, at least, make for a slightly more interesting blog post.

Preparation for the gig was fairly relaxed as I was largely performing tried and tested material, which I know like the back of my hand (or so I thought). There were a few tweaks to a couple of bits, but overall I was pretty confident with the set list, which was:

1. “I’m sat at a desk..” Previously only performed at Gig 25.
2. My “this really shifty looking bloke came up to me and pointed at my wrist…” bit (previously know as “the joke that unjusticely got me gonged off at Beat The Frog” (Gig 12))
3. The “Can’t Fight The Moonlight” bit.
4. The “Arnie\Controversial-Incomplete Joke” bits that have been in pretty much all my straight stand up sets.  There was a bit of a change to the ending of the “incomplete” part, inspired by last week’s tweaked version for Beat The Frog (Gig 29).
5. New joke “So she lost her job…” Although this was new I’d tried it out on a couple of people and felt confident that it would get some kind of laugh.
6.. My “Personal” bit, plus a bit of “Personal Bit 2″ from Gig 27.  On doing a timed run through, I needed a couple of extra minutes and decided that the first part of “Personal Bit 2″ would fit nicely.  There are a few points in it where there are quite natural breaks, so I could always drop bits depending on how time was running.
7. Short play “One Day in Liverpool.”  This has worked really well in Gig 26 and Gig 28, so I thought I’d give it a whirl in a straight set.  It seemed a nice way to finish.

I got a bit nervous on the afternoon of the gig – I think because it was a gig I’d never done before and there was the element of the unknown. I’d calmed down by the time it came to perform, though, and was really looking forward to it.  There wasn’t a huge audience, but the first three bits went down OK – not great – but I felt it was fine given the audience size.  I then got to the Arnie stuff, which isn’t my cleverest but of material, but generally gets a decent laugh, and it got no reaction whatsoever.  It was certainly disconcerting.  Although it’s amazing your stuff goes down a storm, it’s still perfectly fine when you get muted laughter, but nothing at all is a nightmare.  It makes you realise how much the material relies on some response from the crowd and that without it your rhythm and timing become completely shot.

I ploughed on with the tweaked “incomplete joke”, but I really didn’t get any reaction from this point onwards.  The nadir of the set came early on into the “personal bit”.  As I was starting off, someone on the front row’s phone fell out of his pocket and onto the floor.  I instictively felt like I should reference it, which I did, but it threw my timing and, combined with the blank faces, I think I made a bit of a hash of the subsequent bit.  Directly following on from this is a part where I start explaining my feelings on something and this builds up into something of a rant, but, by this stage, I was sufficiently put off that it didn’t really flow as it should.  The punchline to that rant, is actually the start of the next bit and that also got no reaction.  It was at this point that I forgot what to say next.

Now, I’ve done this section on stage a number of times and probably at least a hundred times in practice.  I could probably do it in my sleep, but on this occasion it completely disappeared.  The fact that I conscious of how well I knew the bit, somehow made things worse, and less likely that I would remember. I was genuinely panicking but then I kept repeating the line to stall and because it was the thing to do that made me laugh most.  It perhaps wasn’t the best way to react but I kind of liked the honesty and lack of slickness of it.  My mind was also reeling at this point; I couldn’t decide whether to ditch the thread and try and just do something else or whether to try and stick with it.  The decision was made more difficult because the personal bit all flows, so it’s not like I could skip to a later section of it and it still make sense. In hindsight, I should have perhaps just said that I knew it wasn’t working and then dived into my joke book (which I had in my pocket as a security blanket).  But, I didn’t.  Eventually the line came back to me, but the performance was all very half-hearted from then on.  ”Luckily”, I had used so much time up in forgetting that I didn’t have time to try any of “personal bit 2″.  I ended with the play (to little reaction) and was pleased to get off.

When I died in my first handful of gigs, it was soul-destroying. Now that I have slightly more experience and have done a number of successful gigs, it’s still horrible but I’m able to deal with it relatively easily. I think it does dent the confidence a bit, but it’s also a really good leaning experience. It also highlights how much I still have to learn, particularly in how to deal better with cocking up and having different material to fall back on.  The question that always strikes me in this situation is how can material that has worked so well on other occasions fail so badly? (truly baffling)

It struck me last night that the audience members will have left the gig thinking that I’m awful, and they probably would not be able to believe that the same material has worked really well in front of other audiences.  It’s all a very strange business.

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Gig 27: Comedy Balloon @ The Ape and Apple, Manchester – 18th January 2012

January 20, 2012 3 Comments

Although I hadn’t performed at the Comedy Balloon since October (Gig 14), I had already done several bits (“Luke, I am Yor Father”\Arnie\Controversial-Incomplete Joke) on all my previous gigs there.  As such, I thought it was only right to ditch them and try something new.  As luck would have it, I had some new things to try.

My planned set was:

1) New bit about Roy Walker’s autobiography.  I was originally going to open with this at Gig 25, but I decided against it as it seemed a little too obtuse to try out on that particular night.  It basically consists of me telling a long (90 seconds-ish) jokeless, serious story before capping off with a fairly lame punchline.  This kind of material is, somewhat unfortunately, the type of stuff that I find funniest.  I had a burning desire to give it a try, even though there was a good chance it wouldn’t work at all.  I had to get it out of my system, if nothing else.

2) My “personal bit”.  This is about 3 minutes of stuff that generally goes down well.  The stuff I had planned next, follows on directly on from this, and it seemed a good idea to stick something in that usually works.

3) A new section that I’m going to call “personal bit 2″.  This material came from several sources.  Firstly, there are a few things that I say in “personal bit” that I thought might be funny to address in a “meta” way.  I then had a couple of relationships things.  The first of these was just a random note that I had jotted down.  The other bit was inspired by the warm-up improvisation that I performed in Gig 22.  I felt happy enough with how all this hung together, but, as always with new material, I wasn’t really sure whether or not it was punchy enough.

As this gig came just a few days after the last one (Gig 26) – which was also new stuff – I’d had to practice the material in parallel.  The advantage of doing a chunk of material on a theme – rather than some of the more random stuff I do – is that it does make it easier to remember.  I do find it really important, though, to run through it as many times as possible in order to get the wording as tight as possible, and to hopefully generate additional toppers to jokes.

There was a fairly small audience (I think I counted 13, not including the other acts), but it was enough to continue.  I was on third and, from the two acts on before me, it seemed that although the audience were enjoying it and appreciative, they weren’t making a huge amount of noise.  So, when it came to my performance, although I got a reaction, and definitely didn’t die, I wasn’t fully able to judge which bits really worked and which didn’t.  This isn’t an attempt to blame the audience,  just a symptom of my lack of experience.

As a whole, I was happy with how it went. I enjoyed doing the Roy Walker stuff and was able to get a laugh out of it (mainly by highlighting the ridiculousness of it).  I’d like to try it again, but might possibly change where I put it in the set.  The “personal bit 2″ stuff seemed to work sufficiently well and it at least felt like it was stand up material (I’ve done stuff in the past where it’s apparent that it’s not going to work when you actually perform it in front of people).  I look forward to trying it again and hopefully gauging where it can be improved.

All in all, it was a fun night.  Yes, this is a really lame way of ending it, but that’s all I’ve got.

 

 

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Gig 25: The Best of Open for Laughs @ Bar 1:22, Huddersfield – 7th January 2012

January 10, 2012 5 Comments

The Scooby-Doo Show

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Not only was this was my first gig of the year, it was the first “proper” stand up gig I’d done since the end of November (Gig 21). With such a long gap, I wanted to make sure I was well prepared and had my set list worked out well in advance.

As this was “The Best of Open for Laughs” (people who had done well at the regular Open for Laughs), I wanted to find a balance between doing stuff that I know works and not doing the exact same set that I’d performed at the venue last time (Gig 18).  After reviewing the material that I wanted to do, I knew I’d have to drop the “Joke Book” section, which I love doing, but it would be interesting to not fall back on it.

I only managed to do a timed run through on the day of the gig, so had to drop one of my “short plays” at the last minute, so the running order was:

1. New joke about “being sat at a desk..” (It’s not actually about that, but I don’t want to ‘ruin’ it).

2. My “this really shifty looking bloke came up to me and pointed at my wrist…” bit (previously know as “the joke that unjusticely got me gonged off at Beat The Frog” (Gig 12))

3. The “Can’t Fight The Moonlight” bit. Only previously done at Gig 14.

4. My “Luke, I am Yor Father” bit, also last seen at Gig 14.

5. The “Arnie\Controversial-Incomplete Joke” bits that have been in pretty much all my straight stand up sets,

6. “Which 3 Foods would you take on a desert island?” – I think I’ve only done this previously at Gig 5.

7. The Scooby Doo bit – previously thrown into Gig 21.

8. My “Personal” bit – this was pretty much the same as usual but with a new tag line thrown in.

Although my practices had gone well in the week, I seemed to be making a lot of unprecedented and inexplicable mistakes on my Saturday afternoon run-throughs.  I think this helped to set in a bit panic and I was the most nervous that I’d been for a long time.  Put it this way, I had soup for tea. On a Saturday.  I know, I know.

As usual, by the time I got to the venue I felt there was no way I could possibly remember my material.  Luckily, also as usual, I actually did remember it.  It all seemed to go pretty well and it was a nice return to the stage.  I feel slightly awkward talking about how it went – I’m not sure why – but I was pretty pleased with my delivery and my pacing.  If I had to pick an area where I’d like to improve, it would be to be able to play around with the material a bit more.

Bah, I’m getting a bit bored of writing this now.  See you later.

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Gig 18: Open for Laughs @ Bar 1:22\Bar Maroc, Huddersfield – 20th October 2011

October 21, 2011 3 Comments

Last night was a significant gig because I think it’s the first time that I’ve ever done the same set as in a previous gig.  My repetition was mainly motivated by a lack of time to prepare, since I also had a gig on Tuesday (Gig 17), so I decided not to stress myself by learning anything new.  It was also good timing, since it went really well on Tuesday, and I was intrigued to see how the same material would go down in front of a different audience.

The gig was over in Huddersfield and because I didn’t go on my own, I didn’t get to do my usual practice on the drive over.  This was probably a good thing as I knew my stuff and you can be over prepared.  It also took my mind off any nerves that might have otherwise been brewing.

Open for Laughs usually takes place in Bar 1:22, but last night was transferred to Bar Maroc.  The bar is upstairs in a 1960s concrete monstrosity, but the unpromising exterior gave way to a relaxed, friendly interior.  And there were loads of poofs to sit on.  And I got a free cup of tea.  It was great.

The performance area was cordoned off and so gave a nice intimate feel for the 20-30 people in the audience.  I was on fourth in the first half, but luckily my nerves were under control and I was looking forward to performing.

It was a slightly strange gig for me in that it was hard not to compare with Tuesday.  The audience was much smaller and perhaps not as warmed up as in Salford.  It would have been almost impossible for it to go as well.   That’s not to say that it went badly – it didn’t – and I got plenty of laughs in the right places.  There were a few moments where I couldn’t help thinking “that got a big reaction on Tuesday and now it’s not” and it may have thrown me slightly, but I don’t think I let it affect me too much.

I perhaps should have done better with my “Joke Book” section.  The idea is to use some of my bad pun jokes, but dress it up a bit.  I don’t think I talked enough or do enough asides around the jokes, so it might not have been entirely clear to the audience that my fumbling through the book was part of the act.  One of the earlier acts had been working mainly from paper and stumbled  through some bits, so my section might have been a bit too reminiscent of that.  I think I probably got a bit complacent with the section and focused too much on the jokes and not enough on the stuff around them.

The only other bit to note was that the “short story” section didn’t get as much of a reaction as I would have hoped (even when not directly comparing to Tuesday).  I perhaps powered through it to get to the end, when the better option would have to just relaxed and taken my time – just having faith in the material.

Overall, it was an enjoyable gig and one I hope to play again soon.

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Gig 17: University of Salford’s Student Union – 18th October 2011

October 19, 2011 4 Comments

The Peel Building, on the University of Salfor...

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The last time that I had to perform in front of “the youth” it came as a surprise (Gig 9), but I had full, prior knowledge that this was a student gig (at Salford University’s student union bar), and so I prepared accordingly. This essentially involved me removing any traces of 1980s references and seeing what was left.

As I’d had a pretty busy week, I didn’t have time to throw in anything new, so it was going to be cobbled together from previous bits I’d performed. My initial stab at a set list was:

1.  Opening joke that I first tried at my last straight stand up gig (Gig 14).
2. “The Joke Book” – I used the basic device of my Dragons’ Den bit from Gig 14, but instead of those jokes I used my bad pun notebook, which I used a lot in my early gigs and which I really like. I like the way that, because I read the jokes from a book, I’m able to play around and improvise, and basically try to tailor the section (and which jokes I do) to the audience. I usually do 3 or 4 one-liners from the book.

3.  The joke that got me gonged off from BTF, but in no way should have (in my opinion).
4.  One of my new celebrity nonsense bits from Gig 14. The other was dropped because it referenced Frank Spencer.
6.  Two bits that have become mainstays of my straight sets. The third bit that I usually do after them was dropped because it was an 80′s reference.
7.  My “personal” stand up bit, last performed at Gig 9.
8.  One of the short stories that I performed at Magical Animals (Gig 16).
9.  An “anecdote”, which is my usual closer.

I settled on this on Saturday morning, basically so I had chance to practice whilst driving about. I figured it might run a bit long, so I knew I needed to do a timed run through to make sure it stuck as close to 10 minutes as possible, but I basically knew what I’d be doing.

I’ve had a really busy week, so didn’t have chance to time myself until the evening of the gig. As I suspected, it overran. By the time I got to the end of point 8 - the short story – I’d done around 10:30.  The bit that I wanted to perform least (and therefore drop) was the closer – which doesn’t instil confidence in the bit. I think I’ve stuck with it as my finisher because it felt more like a conclusion that my other stuff. With that out of the way, I realised that I couldn’t finish with my short story, so I’d have to re-jig the order. I decided to go with:

1. Opening joke.
2. “The Joke Book”
3. The joke that got me gonged off from BTF.
4. One of my new celebrity nonsense bits.
6. 2 bits that have become mainstays of my straight sets.
7. One of the short stories that I performed at Magical Animals.
8. My “personal” stand up bit.

I decided to close with my “personal” stuff because a) it was the only block of related material I had, and b) the last line of it got a big laugh from the youngsters at Gig 9. As with my last minute enforced changes for Gig 15, I felt really happy with how the restructuring felt. It was time to go to the gig (luckily with a 30 minute drive which would enable me to make sure the new order was locked in).

I hadn’t been nervous all day, but I started to get a few butterflies on the drive over. The traffic was terrible when I hit Salford, so I was running really late and had to park in a car park where I wasn’t sure If I’d be able to get off or not, so I was a bit flustered when I got to the venue (it doesn’t take a lot). I had a look in the room, which was nice large space was pretty full. I’m not great at estimating numbers of people, but there were 100-200 people in attendance (although I’m happy to be corrected on this).

I was on second in the first half, and it was clear from the response generated by MC Colin Manford and first act Mike Sheer that the audience was appreciative and friendly, which is always a bonus. Sadly, this didn’t alleviate my nerves, which really kicked in when the show started. I even got my usual “I don’t think I can remember any of my material” thing, which is the last thing you need before going on.

As tends to be the case (luckily), my nerves disappeared when I got on stage and it all seemed to go really well. Perhaps not everybody got what it was about, but I got enough laughs from a high enough percentage of the audience for me to be really pleased with how it went. I got lots of genuine laughs and I even got my first ever applause break at one point. Sadly, I can’t remember what it was for, other than the vague recollection that it was for a throwaway line that I didn’t think would get much of a reaction. Luckily, the performance was recorded, so hopefully I’ll be able to watch it back and try and make a bit more sense of what happened.

It’s been a while since I’ve felt that one of my “straight” sets has gone well, rather thank just OK – maybe even dating back to Gig 2 – so this was a massive positive. One of the things that I’ve struggled with so far is getting to grip with knowing which bits of material are working, but I do feel at least incrementally better at it. It really does just seem like you need to do as many gigs as possible.

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