A Cellar Full of Physicists

Last night I played The Smirking Room Comedy Club, located in a trendy cellar bar in Leeds city centre.

It's the first time I've ever been there. It was a fairly small crowd, dominated by a large party of Physicists. Yes, Physicists. Weird.

The first act - an established comedian whose name I won't mention - died an absolutely horrible death. It was one of those inexplicable situations where material that normally goes well is just greeted by blank stares. The audience just sat there gawping at him as if he was speaking Norwegian.

He did remarkably well to stay calm and take the whole thing philosophically. But this was little comfort to me - I was on next.
Fortunately there was an interval which allowed me to collect myself and gave the audience a chance to get a few more drinks down them.

I opened OK and got laughs but, from the start, I knew that the normal momentum wasn't there. Towards the end of my 11 minutes of material the laughter petered out. Eventually, one of my most reliable routines was greeted by total silence.

Anyway, I didn't make a drama out of it. I just carried on and finished the set with a decent laugh (phew!).

Oddly enough, they clapped and cheered enthusiastically at the end. Maybe they were glad to see the back of me. But actually I think it was just one of those low energy nights that don't quite take off. It was as if they had a good time, but just forgot how to laugh half-way through.

My biggest laugh of the night was when, in mock desperation, I turned to the physicists and said, "Biologists! They're a bunch of wankers, aren't they?" This got a big laugh and, with hindsight, I probably could have improvised around this a bit more.

The pity for me was that I didn't get the chance to try new material. Half way through the set I could see it would be a mistake to even try, so I stuck to the old stuff.

Having said all this, I did well with a tough crowd and had a great time. I absolutely love doing stand-up. Can't wait for the next one.

Sam

Sam Brady Stand-up Comedian