Bonus Appearance at the Frog

Just got a last minute booking at The Frog & Bucket gong show for tonight!

I don't feel very well-prepared and it seems like ages since that last difficult night at a gong show in Liverpool, but what the hell. You have to take the gigs when they come along.

I was planning on going along as part of the audience anyway tonight so this is a smashing surprise.

Tomorrow I have another gong show in Nottingham so it will be interesting to do two on the bounce. Hopefully I can learn things tonight that I can carry over into tomorrow's gig.

So here we go. Another chance to make a dick of myself in front of 300 people. Some conservative MPs pay good money for this kind of humiliation.

Can't wait.

Obamarama

I've been watching the wall to wall coverage of the Presidential election this morning. Here is what I learned.

1. The USA has elected its first black president. (hooraaaay!)

2. Things are going to change! (hooraaaay!)

3. His grandma is dead (aaaawwwww)

4. He is going to buy a puppy! (hooraaaay!)

Meanwhile, I was very impressed by our own Prime Minister this morning who appeared on TV looking like he had slept rough on a belly full of whiskey. There couldn't have been a bigger contrast between the glamour, excitement and optimism of Obama's speech and the sight of our Gordon in a creased suit with that great gawping jaw hanging open. I almost expected him to cry "See you Jimmy!" and nut the cameraman.

I am also running a book today on how many times David Cameron can say the word "change" today. He is trying to equate himself with Obama on the grounds that they both represent "Change". 

But there's good change and bad change. Example: A man trades his car in for a new BMW. Meanwhile his neighbour drives his car into a lamp-post. Both men have changed their car. 

Change isn't always good. Just because our neighbours got an upgrade, doesn't mean we want a car crash.

As for scruffy Gordon, the only change he wants is 10p for a cup of tea.

Rant over. I'll bid you good day.

A bit of forward planning

Ten days until my gig at the Nottingham Maze.

I've decided to do some work on structuring my set. I've noticed I have a habit of constantly coming up with new material and not giving any thought to how it all fits together. Then, on the day of a gig, I suddenly panic as I start to try and piece it together into a cohesive act.

My last gig suffered because of this. I was still trying to decide which material to do and in what order when the compere introduced me. 

This gig is another Gong Show. You get 2 minutes grace on this one before the crowd decide whether to keep you on or get rid. So now I need to concetrate on how I structure that 2 minutes in such a way that I can make them like me, build a sense of community in the room, and get them laughing before the red cards start to go up.

How hard can that be?

To ill to die

Unfortunately I had to pull out of King Gong tonight with a stinking cold. 

I'm very disappointed not to be facing the usual howls of derision from the Comedy Store crowd, which I find far preferable to aching limbs and a runny nose.

I was going to write this post about the Brand and Ross affair but I reckon enough has been said about what was basically a really crap joke. So I can't be arsed.

I think I'll go and take a paracetamol.

Identity Crisis

Yesterday I found myself in Oxford with time to kill before catching a train. So I decided to use the time to try and develop my on-stage character a bit.

A comedian's stage persona is often very different from how they are in "real life". I know one comedian who is really vivacious and friendly, but his comedy style is deadpan and on stage he portrays himself as a neurotic intravert. Another guy I know is the opposite - intense and serious off-stage, carefree and whimsical on-stage.

An identifiable stage character will create the right context for my material. For instance, Jimmy Carr's character is an impeccably well-dressed, well-spoken, slightly superior, middle-class Englishman. In real life Jimmy has a strong Glaswegian accent and his father was a docker.
OK I made that last bit up, but Jimmy isn't as posh as he makes out - it just allows him to tell jokes like: I'm middle class, but I'm hard. Al dente, you might say. 

As Tony Cannelloni, I had this sorted. Character comedy allows you to very quickly establish your character's angle and let's the audience know where you're coming from. When Tony says he has sung in all the great venues, you know he probably means the Labour Club and the Britsh Legion. But doing it without the wig and the medallion is a bit more tricky. I don't really know who Sam Brady is yet, and this makes it more difficult to write material.

Anyway, to get to the point... I went around Oxford yesterday looking in charity shops for clothes, asking myself, how does Sam the stand-up dress? Who is this guy?

I was getting nowhere really and then I passed a Specsavers. I went in and tried on some glasses. And I think it worked. Suddenly a new Sam was peering back at me in the mirror. 

I said to the bemused assistant, "If you have perfect vision but you still want glasses, does it make them cheaper?" Eventually we established that it doesn't.

I'm not sure about the glasses or anything else yet. But I feel a new Sam is about to emerge soon, like an alien from the belly of a space station engineer.

If you have any thoughts about who Sam is, let me know.

I was sent this today by a friend and thought I would share it.

It's a great talk on the phenomenon of UFOs and alien encounters which ties in with a routine I am working on about beliefs and opinions.

I liked it. Hope you do too.

Hoping for a Happy New Year in Chorlton

I've just agreed a booking at Mirth on Monday in Chorlton at the Iguana Bar for 5th January.

I'm looking forward to this as I used to live in Chorlton and have quite a few friends there.

It's also part of my decision to try and move away from Gong Shows during the first quarter of 2009. This gig is a 10 minute spot supporting more experienced comedians so it' a much better environment for learning (possibly the hard way).

I'll probably still have to fill in the gaps in my diary with a few gong shows. Hopefully I'll get some spots on Beat The Frog, which I love.