Gig 33: SAS Comedy @ Lass O’ Gowrie, Manchester – 11th February 2012

February 13, 2012 3 Comments

I say it every time, and I sound like a broken record, but I bloody love SAS Comedy.  This month I was performing as Den Kodd.

The genesis of the character started in November last year when I received an email from the lethal duo of Victoria and Uncle Dave saying that I’d been they’d booked me for a gig in February, which was great news.  However, further on in the message was the line “You are Den Dodd and you will be supported by the Daddy Men.”  At first, I freaked out at the prospect of performing a character that I didn’t actually do and had no material for.  But it seemed like a really good gig to be involved with, so I resolved that I’d be able to come up with something.

My basic plan fell into place pretty quickly. I’d essentially be a reluctant Ken Dodd tribute act called Den Kodd.  I’d use the gags from my joke book and fill out the set with asides about how much Den didn’t like comedy and didn’t understand it.  The gig was planned for the day after SAS, so I planned to do a test run there (assuming I would be allowed to!).

In January I found out that I wouldn’t be doing the original gig, but was still wanted to do the character at SAS.  I also knew that I’d need to buy some fake teeth if I was going to fully evoke the essence of Dodd, so, you know, I bought some.  The second I popped the peggies in my gob, I instantly transformed into a somewhat sleazy, scouse bloke whose main goal in life was to unnerve my girlfriend.  This character was soon to take on a life of his own as Terry, “star” of a couple of YouTube videos that I’ve posted (see here and here).  It soon became clear that I wouldn’t be performing as Den Kodd; I’d be performing as Terry who would be performing as Den Kodd.

I had a gig on Thursday (Gig 32) and a busy week generally, so I didn’t feel like I’d had enough time to prepare.  I slightly freaked out on Wednesday night because I felt I had too much to do, but once Thursday was out of the way I managed to relax enough and was pretty confident on what I’d be doing.  I was going to use 18 jokes from the “Joke Book”, many of which I had used at Gig 1, also at SAS.  Although I knew the jokes, there was no way I was going to be able to remember an order, so I jotted down a word for each and had them on a small slip of paper to jog my memory.  As Den was intended to be a bit shambolic, it felt like an appropriate compromise.  I only really had a couple of run throughs, but felt pretty confident in improvising as Terry and had an idea of things I might say.

I was a little nervous on the way over to Manchester, but I totally relaxed as the show started and was just really looking forward to giving it a go.  The hair\teeth combination I had going on meant that people were laughing before I started, and luckily it continued throughout.  The jokes worked well; the character of Den Kodd was almost made for them.  I was also inhabited by the spirit of Terry and his endless quest to shut up his (imaginary) noisy neighbours.  Lots of the ad-libs worked really well, especially when I corrected my pronunciation of book (from buck to the traditionally scouse “buke”).   All in all, it couldn’t have gone much better.  And, yes, I know I wrote the same about last month’s SAS Comedy (Gig 26).

The last two gigs have certainly wiped out the memory of the previous two stinkers (Gig 30 & Gig 31).  It’s also made me think more about the type of comedy that I want to do, as I mentioned in the write up of Gig 31.  Perhaps I should try a bit of character comedy at my next assault on Beat the Frog…

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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 29: Beat The Frog @ Frog & Bucket, Manchester – 23rd January 2012

January 24, 2012 2 Comments

PRE-GIG:  I thought I’d write a few thoughts prior to this gig since I’m not sure how I feel about it and my opinion is likely to change drastically depending on now it goes.

The last time that I tried a gong show was at Beat The Frog in Preston, way back at the end of September (Gig 12). It didn’t go well; out of 8 acts, 6 lasted the full five minutes, one lasted 3:40 and I lasted 2:09. In retrospect, there were lots of reasons why I didn’t do well: it was only my twelfth gig, I hadn’t done a straight stand up gig for two months and I was completely taken aback by the size of the venue and the brightness of the lights on stage. Oh, and I performed 3 jokes about Dragons’ Den where the joke was that the jokes weren’t very funny.  Not the wisest choice of material under the circumstances.

So, I’ve decided to give it another go, and, even ignoring now badly it went last time, I’m more than a little concerned about it. The conflict with the gong show is that you want to always want to stick to your ‘artistic vision’ (just to make me sound like a complete wanker), but there’s the pressure of having to change it in order to meet the instant approval required.  It’s only natural that you really want to last the distance, so what do you do?

I’ve decided to try and stick to my own style, but have cut out anything too obtuse, especially at the beginning of the set. It will be interesting to see if my increase in experience and confidence as a performer will bear fruit or whether the pressure will get to me.

I genuinely have no idea how I’ll do, so I guess there’s only one way to find out.

POST-GIG:  Let’s cut to the chase, I ‘beat the frog’ and lasted the full five minutes, I got one card (out of 3) held up and I didn’t win the contest.  I’m more than happy with how it turned out.

My set list was essentially the same as Gig 25, only I changed the opening joke for my “stretched cat” one.  I managed to get as far as “Scooby Doo” before my time was up.  While I was undoubtedly nervous, I was also looking forward to giving it a go, and the difference in confidence and stage presence to my previous attempt was like night and day.  The opening joke went down well – I was getting laughs just from how I approached the set-up and was confident enough to take my time with it – and most of the stuff went down well from there.  I was even able to throw in a few of the elusive ad-libs that I’ve been searching for.

The point where I got a card against me was at the “Controversial-Incomplete Joke”.  I’ve done this bit since Gig 2 and I’m very fond of it, even if it doesn’t get that much of a laugh (seeing that sentence written down, does make me wonder why I’ve stuck with it for so long).  I set the “joke” up by saying that it is controversial, but incomplete and I fully deliver on that promise (well, the incomplete part, at least).  I think it’s really funny to leave it unresolved (that’s the actual joke, in my mind), but I was aware enough to know that I should have a way of addressing it for a gong show.  I did this by then pointing out that I knew it wasn’t funny (that bit was ad-libbed) and then telling them the way that several people had suggested I could resolve it (this bit was planned) – 3 separate people have genuinely suggested the same tag line to me – and this got a big laugh.  Although, I’d prefer to leave it unresolved, this experience has made me think about how it could be tweaked, so that I can keep it.

Although it would have been nice to win (since it secures you an 8-minute non-gong spot), I’m really pleased to have done the full five minutes.  At least I know now that I can do it, so that if I try something in the future that gets me gonged off then I won’t feel so bad about it.

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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 19: Magical Animals @ Sandbar, Manchester – 14th November 2011

November 16, 2011 1 Comment

Ornate Cuban door knocker

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It seems hard to believe that it has been nearly 4 weeks since my last gig, so it was nice to be back behind the mic.  I’d been ill all last week, so I didn’t really have time to prepare very much.  Luckily, the night was Magical Animals, the spoken word\poetry\comedy\genreless oddness night, so I would at least be able to read from paper, and it was only 4 minutes.

I started with a few jokes from my “joke book”, which is becoming a mainstay of my performances.  I like the way that by using the book as a device, it makes it possible to tailor the bit to the gig.  This time I chose to work around the “intellectual” jokes from the book.  I like this bit the more that I do it and I’m banishing all thoughts of actually learning the gags.

Next up, I read out a short story.  I had wanted to read one from my book, as I felt it was stronger, but that one was a little too long.  The only other one I had printed out was “The Door Knocker“, which I wasn’t really happy with (follow the link and find out why).  I didn’t really have much of a choice, though, so I thought I’d give it a go.

It didn’t really work, but then I knew that it wouldn’t.  In a weird way, it was good that it didn’t work because I didn’t think it would and so it left me feeling like I at least I had some judgement. (Did that make sense to anybody but me?)

I finished with a short poem, not because it’s particularly funny, I just quite like it.

Overall, it didn’t go brilliantly, but it was just good to get back on stage.

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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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Gig 14: Comedy Balloon, The Ape and Apple, Manchester – 5th October 2011

October 6, 2011 8 Comments

When I’ve done a gig, friends will ask me how it went. My answer is invariably “it was alright” or “it went OK”. This can often be interpreted as “it went a bit shit”, but it isn’t mean in this way at all. It also isn’t my infamous vagueness rearing its infamously vague head. It’s just that if you don’t storm the gig, and it hasn’t gone terribly, what else are you supposed to say? Just bear this in mind in the future, OK?

So, last night I was back to doing straight stand-up, and, thankfully, this time it wasn’t a gong show. The most frustrating thing about my 2 minutes and 9 seconds at Beat The Frog last week was that I only got to do 2 minutes and 9 seconds. I had quite a few new ideas that I never got chance to give an airing to. I’ve played the Comedy Balloon a couple of times previously and enjoyed both gigs, so I was looking forward to it. My set consisted of:

1. A new joke that I really like, but that I decided not to do at Beat the Frog because it involves me not speaking for about 15 seconds.

2. Dragons’ Den jokes. You remember than I bailed on the third of my three Dragons’ Den jokes at BTF because they didn’t go very well. My main regret with this is that I hadn’t told them in the way that I wanted to (ie that the jokes were supposed to be funny because they were so convoluted). I decided to give it another go and came up with a bit of a framing structure to try and get the point across a better. I knew there was a good chance that it still wouldn’t work, but I wanted to get it out of my system.

3. A new joke that’s a bit lame, but which I like. I was able to tie it into the Dragons’ Den bit, which convinced me to go with it.

4. The joke that got me gonged off from BTF, but in no way should have (in my opinion).

5. Two new celebrity nonesense bits.

6. 3 bits that have become mainstays of my straight sets.

7. New daft bit that involved me singing.

8. One of my short plays – first performed at Magical Animals.

9. An “anecdote”, which is my usual closer.

I was pleased to see that the Dragons’ Den bit did go down better than before, despite me completely blanking on the first of the jokes. It’s quite incredible that I could forget it considering the amount of times that I’ve practiced. Luckily, I was able to go with the moment and make forgetting part of the routine (some people believed that I was just pretending to have forgotten). I don’t know for sure that I’d do the bit again, but I think that there could be more in it with tweaking.

My short play – which I am now doing from memory (and partly improvised) – probably went on for too long. It’s an idea that could possibly become funny again if I were to really drag it out, but you don’t really have that luxury doing open 10-spots. I do like the format, though, and could probably tighten them up to be a bit snappier.

Considering I used quite a bit of new stuff, it went down relatively well. I also really enjoyed myself when I was doing it, which makes all the difference.

In summary: it went OK and was alright.

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