The Panda Rumble

It was good to get back on stage as myself at "The Panda Rumble" last night, a gig held in the Rabbit Hole Theatre. It's essentially a murky basement under the Duke of Hamilton pub in Hampstead, but a good intimate space for stand-up. It will also be hosting shows during the upcoming Camden Fringe which takes place throughout August. I've listened back to my set twice (once last night, once today) and concluded that I had a better gig than I thought from the stage. I overran a smidge too much for a five minute set, a bad habit that's crept back in mainly because I don't drop material later in the set when I adlib. It's something that I'm going to need to work on.

It was typically some adlibbed business that got the strongest reaction, but most of the material hit well. I'm still having some issues with my Winston Churchill and National Trust stuff. I'm a firm believer in the maxim "write what you know" but it's less relateable, a bit stranger and a bit more obtuse than much of my other stuff.

I had to leave before the end but it was an interesting bill, a couple of objectionable acts aside. I didn't think I'd ever see a comedian act out the story of the letter "z" and how it came to feature in the word "rendezvous". A special mention must go to fellow Royal Holloway alumnus Harun Mushod, who discussed his family history in a solid set. To describe them as dysfunctional would be a gross understatement.

Tomorrow I'm doing a spot at the Friday Night Show at Up The Creek, a gig I've been anticipating for a long time. I always want to do well, but tomorrow especially so.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I'll See You In My Dreams

 Today is the first day of the 2024/25 English football season. It will be the first season that begins without my Dad, who died four months ago on 9 th April at the age of 76. My Dad and I have shared football together for as long as I can remember. I fell in love with football largely because of Eric Cantona, who I remember thinking was the coolest man alive. I dimly remember him returning to action after being suspended for his infamous kung fu kick on a Crystal Palace fan, scoring an equaliser against Liverpool and swinging around the stanchion behind the goal at Old Trafford. All of this subsequently led to me wanting to follow Manchester United. I am surprised in retrospect that this man from Houghton-le-Spring who spent most Saturdays in his youth at Roker Park to watch Sunderland AFC didn’t object more vehemently to this. Perhaps he saw it as a decent excuse to watch higher quality players than he was used to. Dad always wanted to watch good teams playing good football. ...
Read more

February In Film

  The Fabelmans The film follows Sammy Fabelman (Gabriel LaBelle), a young aspiring filmmaker dedicated to his craft who must negotiate the challenges posed by familial strife. Any resemblance to a real director is I presume entirely coincidental. One of my issues with the family early on is that they’re almost insufferably twee and not a great deal of interest seems to happen. The film’s central familial conflict feels somewhat implausible and is centred around Sammy’s mother Mitzi (Michelle Williams). I have enjoyed Williams’ work in the past but found her overwrought, hysterical performance here rather offputting.   Thank goodness then that Uncle Boris (Hirsch) arrives to drop a grenade into proceedings, explaining his own history with film and the arts and underlining Sammy’s forthcoming dilemma. He decides to get to work on his highest scale production to date, a war epic. These are the most joyous shots in the movie, teeming with invention especially in the deploym...
Read more

June In Film

  The Little Mermaid I have not seen the original Little Mermaid for something like 25 years. This probably aided my general enjoyment of yet another Disney remake, as I imagine that more diehard fans of the original would find more to fault here than I did. Having said that, some of the alterations worked for me such as the decision to give Prince Eric more backstory and a new song. Halle Bailey is perfectly cast as Ariel (regardless of what the internet’s worst arseholes will have you believe) and the quality of her singing is a match for the original. The highlight of the entire film is probably the moment when the crescendo of “Part Of Your World” hits, the waves crash against the shore and you’re fleetingly reminded of when Disney could still stir the soul. There’s an enjoyable performance too from Melissa McCartney as Ursula who brings a certain amount of fun to one of the House of Mouse’s greatest pantomime villains. Unfortunately, what these films lose in the transiti...
Read more