Author: Sam Freeman
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Things to remember when performing!
I’ve been feeling quite nervous about my upcoming gigs so I thought I’d write down some tips I’d been given and some things I’ve learnt. Confidence Matters – People inherently trust and follow confident people. If you look nervous onstage then the audience will be nervous and won’t follow you. It takes time – It…
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Crash and burn
I guess it was bound to happen eventually, that moment of quite spectacular failure, and yes, tonight was the night I had it in full force. I was in Preston for the Frog and Bucket Comedy Club’s Beat The Frog show, where you get 5 mins to avoid 3 cards being held up which end…
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Headaches and Heckles
I’ve just had gig #3 (this time at the lovely Hot Water Comedy Club). It was the first gig I’ve really enjoyed I think while performing but also one where I think I might have learnt a lot about myself as a performer, myself as a crazy knobhead, but also, crucially, my material. So what…
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The problem with 5 minutes
What can you achieve in 5 minutes? I ask this question because, after a drought of gigs in the past month I find myself with four coming up all of which are 5 min slots (Preston, Manchester, London and Liverpool in case you’re interested). The problem is that my “act”, as it is, is 17…
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Back of the net…
I have a couple of friends I used to play a huge amount of Pro Evo Soccer with on the Xbox at Uni. They’d always start as good natured games, games filled with enjoyment, laughs, maybe a beer on the side. However before long they’d descend to a dark competitive place of gloating, thrown controllers,…
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Anyone but him
Everyone has a friend who is a bit of a knob. You know the type: They’ll arrive at dinner parties with 8 cans of Carling, drink the lot before flirting outrageously with anyone with a low enough top and slow enough reflexes, slurring their way through cheese and biscuits before insisting that everyone should decamp…
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Cheese (part 1)
If you’ve not seen me recently you’ll not know that I’m eating a lot more cheese… Anyway, here’s my latest cheese ranking… Yep, cheese rankings. You’ve opened this page to read rankings of cheese…. On a serious note, I bet some of you buy the cheeses… Belton Farm – Red Fox A dark orange…
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Seating Arrangements
I was on the tube on Friday travelling to Finsbury Park from Waterloo, normally a pain-free and relatively hassle-free experience. I was sat, after a short break, with my suitcase wedged between my legs and my back on my lap. The carriage was empty, commuters long gone for the day and the party revellers not…
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Things I know… (I wish I didn’t)
It’s Tuesday, which of course means that it is time for the brilliant Fresh Meat! It got me thinking about university, what I learnt, but also the things I kind of wish I’d not learnt.. Here’s a few from me, please add your own in the comments. Milk can be sieved Sieving milk does not…
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The Fame Game
I was thinking about whether I’d like to be famous or not today. Not that I’d get much choice in the matter, it’s the one thing that’s difficult to create for yourself (opposed to infamy), people either choose to admire you or not, there’s not much middle ground. I imagine that lots of people would like…
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Whisky, and other lesser issues.
For those who know me well, you’ll know that I’ve always been a fan of the odd beer or two, and politics, particularly the party conference season, drink along to Cameron, Clegg or Milliband. For those who didn’t know me that well who now think I have a drink problem, I don’t. The fact of…
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Interview: Josie Long
If.comeddies Best Newcomer winner and three time Edinburgh Comedy Award nominee Josie Long is a comedian, writer and actor. Her sixth and most recent show “Romance and Adventure” is currently touring nationally after a critically successful run at Edinburgh Festival. What was it that motivated you to start in stand up? Was it a gradual…
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My first gig…
So, didn’t tell everyone because I was really nervous about this, however now its been done I can talk freely about it. Tonight I performed my first stand-up gig, doing around 12 minutes (I think, may have been more, possibly less). It’s something that I’ve wanted to do for years but have always had the…
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Who are you people?!?
I’ve been writing this blog for over a year now, possibly close to two, and yet still I don’t seem to able to shake off an audience. I mean seriously, who are you people? Have you not learnt? You’re not going to miss anything, if anything this blog has been getting worse, really, check out…
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The Great British Bake Off
What is wrong with me? I mean seriously, what has become of my life? It used to be so simple, things were easy, I knew my place, I knew what to expect, I was a typical man, football on TV, a pint at the weekend, steak on a tuesday, fish and chips on a thursday,…
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Standing Up
For those who are regular followers of my blog you’ll know that I’m a wreckless self-publicist constantly inundating unsuspecting facebook friends and twitter fans with my inanely soul destroying posts. However those extremely observant will have noticed that I’m being a bit selective with what I’m posting at the moment. A year ago I went to Edinburgh…
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Facing Fear
I was trying to write some stand up material today and found myself thinking about fear and particularly having an irrational fear of slugs – not as it happens anything I could make funnier, but it got me thinking about my own fears. Fear is an interesting adversity for me – it’s something that has…
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Interview: Fred MacAulay
Fred MacAulay is one of Scotland’s most famous comedians who has performed nationally and internationally as well as worked extensively on radio and television. Fred is touring in 2012 with his latest show, ‘Legally Bald’. You arrived in stand-up at a relatively late age, what was it that motivated you to give it a go?…