Emergency
I have been neglecting this blog again, in spite of the fact that I have actually had some things to write about. Sorry. Anyway, my last gig was Emergency at the Victoria pub in Camden. It's run by the self-proclaimed finest young poet in the country, Bertram Trotar (who has an appealingly silly performance style). It was an odd one. The show started an hour late due to the fact there was only one paying punter in the room. Nine inebriated women sitting in the pub downstairs were encouraged to come and watch the show for free. Thus I was left with a small crowd, most of whom had not come out with the intention of watching stand up comedy. This didn't auger well and so it proved.
The situation affected my performance. I had my worst gig in a while in terms of audience reaction, the lines that usually get the best reaction went down to nothing and my biggest laughs came from material that normally receives a more muted response. I'm increasingly learning that I should expect the unexpected when I get up on stage. I had a bit of fun at the end where I did a joke involving rape which I knew in a room full of drunken disinterested women was unlikely to get a positive reaction. I was right, but did get a laugh by subsequently pointing this out. Under the circumstances, I'm not too downbeat about the way it went. The act who followed was a character act of a Polish cleaner and she stormed it. But you can't help but wonder about the direction your life is going in when the choices you've made have led to you witnessing a woman eat a Brillo pad.
I've got gigs on consecutive days next week with my friend and fellow stand up James McPhun (we also do a podcast that I'm yet to get round to discussing). First up on Monday is The Reckless Moment in Leamington Spa before returning to London on Tuesday to perform an extended set at the Court Jester Comedy Night at The Castle in Hampstead. I've heard lots of good things about Reckless and I don't think I've ever done a twenty minute set in London so that should be decent test of the strength of my material.
I'm 22 tomorrow. Still young, but it doesn't really feel like it.
The situation affected my performance. I had my worst gig in a while in terms of audience reaction, the lines that usually get the best reaction went down to nothing and my biggest laughs came from material that normally receives a more muted response. I'm increasingly learning that I should expect the unexpected when I get up on stage. I had a bit of fun at the end where I did a joke involving rape which I knew in a room full of drunken disinterested women was unlikely to get a positive reaction. I was right, but did get a laugh by subsequently pointing this out. Under the circumstances, I'm not too downbeat about the way it went. The act who followed was a character act of a Polish cleaner and she stormed it. But you can't help but wonder about the direction your life is going in when the choices you've made have led to you witnessing a woman eat a Brillo pad.
I've got gigs on consecutive days next week with my friend and fellow stand up James McPhun (we also do a podcast that I'm yet to get round to discussing). First up on Monday is The Reckless Moment in Leamington Spa before returning to London on Tuesday to perform an extended set at the Court Jester Comedy Night at The Castle in Hampstead. I've heard lots of good things about Reckless and I don't think I've ever done a twenty minute set in London so that should be decent test of the strength of my material.
I'm 22 tomorrow. Still young, but it doesn't really feel like it.
Comments
Post a Comment