Thanks to a bad back, hectic busy-ness and Edinburgh panic I’ve not done a single regular stand up gig since the last preview at the Red Lion.
Normally, if I don’t gig for over a week or two I get a bit rusty, a bit twitchy, and the first gig back is often a nervy one. Well, this time, my first gig back is at the Laughing Horse Soho. One of the many not very good rooms above pubs that call themselves comedy clubs.
They are probably technically one of the five biggest Comedy Chains in Britain, but there’s a pretty big drop off after the first four.
I’ve done a few gigs for them in this Soho room, and pretty much hated it every time. Tonight looked set to be no exception. The acts were dying a bit thanks to a bunch of drunken Bristol hairdressing students out on their last night from learning something to do with colouring hair… I could have saved them all lots of time and money cos I am aces at it.
The interval was happening, I didn’t want to go on. Had no oomph in me to do gig.
I went on, thought best to open with a bit of banter. After five or ten minutes of not quite raucous laughter I thought it best to start the show proper.
I asked if anyone had been in love, a sexy young Bristolian hairdresser called Vicky told me about a love of her life called Chris. After a minute or two I thought she was going to cry.
But it was a nice little launchpad into the show, I did about five minutes. But as I got into the opening bit that isn’t necessarily high on laughs their combined attention started to wane. Did I mention they were drunk? They were talking amongst themselves a bit, I went into more banter and some other stories not in show but connected.
If I’m honest I lost control of them for a bit after that. The room became a bit of a free for all for a little while. I was now essentially compereing the audience. But I did some funnies and won them back. I checked my watch. From what I’d done show wise I was only about five minutes in, but I’d been on stage for about half an hour.
I cut a load of things and calmed them all down a bit, but not much, more wine was being drunk and the my rusty comedic brain was being forced very hard just to keep ahead. But keep ahead I did and I managed to get out about 15 mins of the show, only it wasn’t going down anywhere near as well as the banter. Which is what they wanted.
Perhaps my own fault, perhaps inevitable. Not sure. If I’d have asserted a bit more authority at the start then I might have gotten the show out, but gut instincts tell me that they just couldn’t have sat and listened to an hour.
They loved me and were all very nice after. I nearly went to a karaoke bar, but decided against it.
So only two previews left now…
Gulp