Category: Comedy
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Gig #12 – Hot Water Comedy Club, Liverpool
I was thrilled (if very surprised) to be asked by Binty to perform at Hot Water’s 6 of the best competition night – I’d only just done 10 gigs so felt like a bit of an imposter next to guys and gals who’ve done many more. The section is 8 mins long but penalised if…
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Gig #11 – The Millstone, Bolton.
I’d never been to Bolton before so when Nigel Needham asked me to play his gig I was excited for two reasons. Firstly I had no gigs lined up and it would be great to get some practice in before Hot Water Comedy Club, and secondly I’d never been to Bolton and wondered what it…
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Gig #10 – Rawhide RAW
I really didn’t want to do this gig if I’m honest, I think I’d had a rough week at Beat The Frog where I got my bi-monthly assassination and was losing the love for stand-up a little. I’ve never been particularly good at dealing with disappointment and tend to beat myself up when something’s not…
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Gig #8 – Beat The Frog, Preston
It’d been nearly two weeks since my last gig and I was feeling kind of nervous about my next outing. Firstly gig #7 had gone so well I was wondering whether to give up on a high and also my previous encounter with Beat The Frog in Preston had been pretty hideous. So it was…
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Prestogigaphobia – The fear of gigging in Preston
Guess what this blog post is about… Yes, you’ve guessed it, I’m heading back to Preston to see how I get on at Beat The Frog. Me and Preston have not had a good relationship since we first met nearly a year ago. Well actually it started long ago when I decided not to go…
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Gig #7 – Hot Water Comedy Club
So here I am again, writing up a gig, and my good performance average has gone up from 16% to 28%. Yes, nearly one third of the time I don’t die onstage in a long and lingering silence. Gig #7 was at my comedy home (or the place I did my first gig), Hot Water…
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Gig #6 – The Beech Inn, Chorlton
I’ve been inspired to write up some gig notes by Ste Price (click here for his excellent site) to evaluate the work I’ve been doing, how I’ve felt after gigs and where I need to develop. Gig #6 was at The Beech Inn in Chorlton and was a really fun gig. I was slightly apprehensive…
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The (almost) rise of the Phoenix…
After last week’s horrendous gig in Preston morale was pretty low approaching the Manchester Beat The Frog event. I’d had a week fixating on Preston Disaster Stats: 2.5 hours travel for each minute performed 5 hours of travel for each beer consumed 5 hours of travel per laugh achieved 70 Preston folk willing me to…
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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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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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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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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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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?…