On A Roll

Bloody hell I did it again!

Last night I beat the gong at the Maze Club in Nottingham.

It was a lovely gig. The Maze Club is tiny - a little room with about 60 people crammed into it and a neat little stage in the corner. I didn't know what to expect as I had already formed the belief that I don't do well with small audiences (based, very rationally, on the evidence of one bad night in Liverpool).

I did exactly the same set as the night before with exactly the same results which was extremely satisfying. I now feel I've got a solid five minute set to build on.

The format was similar to Beat the Frog except that, before the clap-off, every act who had beaten the gong got one more minute to make the audience laugh. This is good if you are on first as it gives you a chance to remind the audience of your act before the vote. And I was on first. Again.

I sat and thought about what to do in that final minute. I had 2 short routines in mind, one which was tried and tested and one that I had never done before. I decided that trying new material was more important than trying to win so I went with the new material. I was glad I did because: a) I wouldn't have won anyway - the winner was brilliant and b) I found out that my new material was a bit shit. It got a laugh - but the punchline didn't merit the quite complicated set up and it wasn't up to the standard of my earlier set.

So, all in all, a really successful couple of days. I've achieved my first goal and I've learned loads. I am well chuffed.