Bravery!

Oggers and I went on a little Comedy Road Trip last night to The LOL Show in High Wycome. I could tell Jo was a little anxious about the whole thing....for a start...we were leaving over 2 hours before we needed to be there! Unprecedented!! UNPRECEDENTED.

I was impressed!

Mr Cee, the compére and promotor..I think...had offered Jo the gig after she helped out a few nights at the Comedy School during the graduations and stuff. It may have been partly a little test....'Do you really want it?' It's not the kind of venue Jo normally plays, would she be willing to go out of her way and take a risk?

She did....I was impressed! And I could tell she was a bit nervous about it. Especially after he said 'bring your tightest and most polished 10 minutes'.

Jo being her normal self-deprecating self, responded 'No Pressure then??', thinking...you've seen what I've got mate! The fact is though, he offered her the gig having seen what she'd got, and that tells you something. I think quite often that Jo doesn't give herself enough credit for her comeday, everyone has their off nights, but I've personally seen her storm the place with a few different sets. Contrary to popular belief...the beer alone isn't enough to keep me going to see her.

So, we'll ignore the car journey that started well and ended in some angst. Jo realised too late that when you put a road atlas on my lap...it's LITERALLY there just for show. I was concentrating more on the written out directions she had given me...and I even got those wrong. All those junctions, roundabout, numbers and letters. They mean nothing to me!!

Get me a bastard A-Z and I'll find us a way out ok?!!

We finally arrive at the venue, The Littentree. It's unlike any other comedy venue I've been to, in that it's just in the bar, not a room upstairs. As an audience member I found it offputting that there was a massive railing around the stage. Clearly, this is because it's usually used as a dancefloor, and the railing is to prevent drunkards falling off and cracking their skulls open. It puts a barrier between you and the act though...I wasn't keen.

You could tell from the way the room was filling up that this wasn't your standard London comedy venue/set out. There were some people who were sat around tall tables with their backs to the act (although to give them their due, I think they swivelled when acts were on). I got the impression that there would be quite a bit of chatter and activity going on whilst the comedy was in full swing. I wasn't sure if all the people who were there had actually come for the comedy, or just a night out, and comedy happened to be there.....would they know comedy ettiquette? WOULD THEY? Or was I going to spend the whole evening arms crossed with a grumpy look on my face...shooting acid glances at anyone daring to start a conversation? As it happens, Mr Cee did remind people at various intervals of Comedy Ettiqeutte, which I thought was cool.

I was nervous for Jo, Mr Cee had arrived late (through no fault of his own I believe) and as a result the show started an hour late, which is always a bad start, makes people restless. I've heard great things about Mr Cee, but even he struggled with this audience. He admitted he was slightly off the ball, but the audience was quite unresponsive and really wasn't helping him along at all....living up to my expectations...grrrrr.

I must just add here that I'm one of those audience members who I guess comedians either love or hate. Unless the set is REALLY awful I will always sit there and laugh, whoop, clap and smile. Sometimes it's so awful even I can't manage that..but those are rare occasions. If you're the kind of comedian who thrives on constructive criticism I'm not your girl, but if you just like to see a smiley face....just one smiley face in the audience...that's me. I consider it polite!

Anywhoo, Jo went on first, to an audience that had already proved their slight lack of enthusiasm. But she totally went for it! Knowing her set back to front and having discussed bits and bobs with her beforehand, I could tell she made a couple of mistakes....mostly due to the stony-faced cow in the front row who refused to crack a smile....but they wouldn't have been discernible to the first-time listener. She was projecting, dynamic and confident I thought. Even when she forgot where she was for a second, she recovered quickly.

Most importantly, there were people laughing....we like it when people laugh.

Whilst I was sitting there watching, it struck me how incredibly brave it is of her to go up there and do that. Totally out of her comfort zone, strange venue, strange audience, new show. I've often told people how crap-in-my-knickers scared I get when I have to do any form of public speaking...I'm crapping myself at having to do a 5-minute presentation to ONE person tomorrow...but to do it in that situation? You wouldn't see me for dust.

I imagine that there are milestones and learning experiences for every comedian and I think that was an awesome one for Jo, she'll be tougher and more confident at new venues, and she'll be able to look back and say....'Well, they weren't as bad as that lot I played to at the Littentree in November '09!!' (Apparently it's not normally that bad in there....just a disclaimer, I wouldn't want to put anyone off!! Comedy is WIN!)

Big respect to Jo and any and all who have the balls to go out and do it.

I surely don't!!

One Lovely Evening

I had a genuinely lovely evening last night. Now, this doesn't mean to say that I don't quite often have great evenings out with mates and such, but last night was extra lovely, making me want to blog blog about it!

I messaged Oggers on Thursday asking what she was up to on Friday night, I was free and had recieved an online invite to Comedy Festival at the Canal Café Theatre near Little Venice, seemed like it could be fun. It was a night Tom had organised and he soon threw his 2p in online and let us know about the Facebookers half price tickets, which pretty much sealed the deal.

Jo and I bimbled over after work and got there pretty early, time enough for a quick one before the show started, which is always good!

The show itself was cool, 4 acts, and the audience small but perfectly formed, 12 of us altogether. We was good clappers we was :D. The first act has the hard job of warming the audience up, especially one as small and personal as our one last night, but I thought he was awesome, as he was on Party Piece on Thursday. The other three I had never seen before and I thought all 3 were great. The last guy had Jo almost pissing into her pint with his sandwich joke. She lives that sandwich conundrum every single day of her life...I can just tell.

The loveliness of the evening was really embodied...for me...by the drinks afterwards though.

There had been a couple, who I think were on a date, in the audience and I had briefly chatted to the lady in the loo....as you do....during the show, she was very lovely. When the show finished we found ourselves chatting to this couple outside the bar, alongside Tom, one of the acts and a few friends of friends etc. Their names were Theresa and Ali and he was obviously a massive fan of comedy, I think she was just dipping her toe and was very interested in the whole process like......how the hell do they get up there? I ask myself the same question every time I watch Jo go up...*shudder*. Just before they left she asked where Jo performed and said she'd be coming to Monkey Business on Thursday to watch her. Whether she actually turns up or not is neither here nor there, it was great of her to say she'd come along for moral support specifically to see Jo.

Awwwwwww

Then we spent the rest of the evening chatting to Tom, Henry (one of the comedians), Toms mate Alex and her mate Cameron mainly. By now much (too much) beer had been consumed by all parties and the conversation was at some points disgusting, at some points sombre, but consistently entertaining. Eventually we found ourselves the last people outside the pub and someone was trying to take away the pint of beer that we had found and were sharing between us.......ahem. Cameron in particular was loathe to give it up.

So we waddled off in our separate directions, Henry and Tom on bikes, Jo, Cameron and I heading to Royal Oak. Cameron was another of last nights gems lol, very funny, but insists he would die a slow torturous death on stage. He kept Jo and I muchly entertained throughout an arduous journey home involving sitting on the tube platform for quarter of an hour before being informed there's be no trains for AGES, getting a nightbus back to Great Portland Street and trying to decide what to do from there. Very lovely man, even if he had taken to calling me 'Frustrated (at one point possibly even 'desperate') Girl', due to an earlier conversation. I suppose I can forgive small evils.

We parted ways near Euston Station and Jo and I stood and faffed around for a while trying to decide what to do before waving down a cab and asking him to stop at a cashpoint. Big waste of money....but at that time of the morning without an obvious way home...and with Jo dying for a pee...we decided 'feck it!!'

Home was found and chips and chocolate were purchased. We both passed out on the sofa.

If it hadn't have been for having to take that bloody rip-off cab it would have been a perfect evening!! Best mate, comedy, friendly aquaintances, friendly strangers and plenty of Guinness. One simply cannot complain, can one?

Thank you Jo and Tom, for a fabulous evening xx

Img Cred

Rant, rant, swear, rant!!

Oooooooooooh!! I definitely have a dose of the PMT this morning. I appear to be flying off the handle at very small things. I know exactly what I'm doing, and why, but I have no control over it whatsoever, grrr, grrrr, GRRRRR!!

I was remarkably placid on the journey into work today, despite the fun and games....no one had yet provoked my ire. The Victoria line is closed due to strike action and I had forgotten, luckily Katrin reminded me! (Housemate). So I pootled off to Walthamstow Central to get on a train to Liverpool Street. These trains were packed! They were packed when they arrived and people were squeezing themselves on like sardines, it was all very unnecessary. That might float some peoples boat, but it certainly doesn't float mine. I went off to get a bus which would take me the same way, and about 10 times slower, but it was EMPTY! So I didn't care :o)

Got to work an hour late, but I'm staying behind for an hour cos of St John so we're A-Ok.

Jo is CLEARLY a hex upon Get Happy at the Green Man, it was cancelled again last night due to lack of audience, in fact, Myself and Uncle Barry were the only audience there. I was quite disappointed myself, but only because I had agreed to be one comedians glamourous assistant, I didn't even get to put my sequins and feathers on :o(. So, the inevitable, we just started drinking. We met and hug out with a lovely Irish comedian named Simon, I don't think we ever caught the surname, and we all just drank beer and talked shite until we got thrown out. A good evening was had by all methinks.

Uncle Barry was very amusing I have to say!!

Many points over again I suspect, I'm going to have to do some exercise this week if I want to stay the same or lose anything, it's all going horiibly wrong. I blame that Oggers, she's a bad influence on me :o)