We Are Funny Putney

In between three music gigs, I went to The Star and Garter in Putney on Tuesday night for We Are Funny's weekly open mic bonanza. I've been putting off writing about it in part because I had been convinced that I'd died on my arse. Having listening to the recording back a couple of times, I can identify 24 different laughs during my 11 minute opening set and have thus concluded I was a little bit hard on myself. I'm not normally that forensic in terms of analysing my set, but on this occasion I found it somewhat reassuring. It's not an amazing hit rate, but not a terrible one either. I'd also accept that I wasn't fully on the top of my game, with the audience struggling to get behind some of my newer stuff and botching the intro to one of my sections.

I stayed for most of the first half and saw acts getting a much better quality of laugh during their set, which didn't improve my poor mood at the time. There is the "going on first" variable to factor in there. I am not and never have been particular about when I go on during the course of a show. Frankly, if you have designs on being the best comedian you can be, it's something you can't afford to be precious about. But in an open mic context, when you're going on to a cold audience (who often don't have a financial investment in the show), it can be something of a hard slog.

I'm not the most open and accessible of acts. In fact, normally when I go on stage I do the precise opposite of what most acts do, which is to try and endear themselves to the audience. I think my persona suits me, although it is to some extent dictated by my limitations as a performer. That gig has given me something to think about, in terms of how I might bridge the gap that exists between myself and the audience.