February 2012
7 posts
Improv Show: 7th Feb 2012, The Miller, London...
I performed with a new improv troupe called Arthur last night. It was my first ever time ever performing in an improv show and big personal mile stone.
The group was put together by Steve Roe who runs the Hoopla workshops around London. The troupe has fifteen members, all Hoopla workshop alumni, and each show has five performers. There’s so much talent in the group it’s quite...
January 2012
13 posts
2001: A Welsh Space Odyssey
My family recently digitised our old VHS tapes. Allowing me to bring you this gem (my TV début) from 2001.
December 2011
8 posts
1 tag
Gig #15 19/12/11, Comedy Virgins, Cavandish Arms,...
Had a fun night at the Cavendish arms last night. The standard of the acts was extremely high.
I went up in the first half. I did my tried and tested material about mumps. Then tried out my new material about locksmiths (I’ve only done this onece before). I haven’t quite worked out the beats of the locksmith material yet. It gets laughs, but these mainly result from the characters and...
1 tag
Short Film: Once upon a time in Lapland...
This was the second film I was involved in creating.
This film was created as part of a one month challenge run by Kino London, an open mic film night. Each month they dole out a challenge to a group of volunteers from the audience. A title is picked at random from a bucket of audience sugestions. Then you have one month to make it.
At the November screening Richard and I signed up, along with...
1 tag
Gig #14 05/12/11, Stand up for the first time, The...
I love performing at The Miller. They always get a good audience in. The night is for new comedians and experienced comedians trying out new stuff. I did about half brand new stuff. The other stuff I had only pefromed three times before.
This was my first gig in about two weeks. I’m letting the momentum slip a bit. Note to self: book more gigs.
I was very pleased with the response. I got...
1 tag
Short Film: Time for a date
Last night Richard Warburton and I screened our Short film “Time for a Date” at an open-mic film night called Kino London. This project was a learning exercise. And we certainly learned a huge amount. I’m reasonably happy with the final result. As the creator it’s difficult to watch it without focusing on the mistakes or the parts where we compromised due to a lack of usable footage. But we got...
November 2011
8 posts
1 tag
Gig #13: 20/11/11 Wits End, The Princess Alice nr....
Witt’s End is a really nice gig to do. They’ve got a great room, attract a big(ish) audience, and have a nice (and funny) emcee. This was my second week in a row doing this gig. This time was slightly unusual as the pub had had a power cut. They had a small generator to run the speakers and keep the fridges operational. Everything else was turned off and the bar was illuminated by...
1 tag
Gig #12 16/11/11, Comedy Bin, The Alchemist,...
Last minute sign up for this one. I was doing similar material with a few tweaks. The audience was considerably smaller than at the Cavendish Arms on Monday, so I wasn’t getting massive laughs. However I did think that the changes I made really enhanced my new material, and I actually got a better reaction with this crowd.
I should say that one of the acts WAS getting massive laughs from...
1 tag
Gig #11 14/11/11, Comedy Virgins, Cavandish Arms,...
This was my second time performing at Comedy Virgins. It’s a fantastic night to be a part of. Each performer has to bring an audience member, resulting in a large friendly audience.
This time I challenged myself to do some new material. I took the best jokes from my usual set and squashed them in to two minutes. Then the last three minutes was all new stuff (partly adapted from the speech I...
1 tag
Gig #10: 13/11/11 Wits End, The Princess Alice nr....
The Princes Alice is a lovely pub. The room where the comedy takes places is lined with wooden panels. There are mismatched leather sofas and cofee tables with candles. It made for a lovely atmosphere.
The audience seemed enthusiastic and many of the acts were given a bit of leeway on timing. I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to try out a bit of new material. So I spent some time...
1 tag
Gig report 2/11/11, Jester Jesters, The Plum Tree...
Second gig of the week, and my ninth ever in the UK. Five minutes in front of about eight people. It was tough. A few titters. They really needed warming up, and that’s what my set lacks.
What is the difference is between “warming up” material and regular material? To get the audience warm and laughing you need quick fire jokes that hit with 100% consistency and also take a more...
1 tag
Gig Report 1/11/11, TNT-Tuesday night, Torriano's,...
Last night I did a gig at TNT Tuesdays in Kentish Town. It’s a lovely night to do. The organiser, Sarma puts an incredible amount of effort in to promoting the event. The result is a huge audience (standing room only), which created a lovely atmosphere and allowed big laughs to build.
I made a few significant edits to my five minute set. I cut out my only two rude jokes. I personally...
October 2011
7 posts
1 tag
Gig report 17/10/11, Jester Jesters, The Plum Tree...
Yesterday evening I did a walk-in slot at Jester Jesters. It was the first time I’ve done a slot where I haven’t booked in advanced. As a result it took quite an effort not to talk myself out of it.
It was a friendly gig. The compere was really nice and got really big laughs from a small audience mainly composed of other acts (who are notoriously difficult to get laughing).
My act...
1 tag
Gig report 10/10/11, Comedy Virgins, Cavandish...
Last night I did a gig at the “Comedy Virgins” Night at the Cavandish Arms in Stockwell. This is a really nice gig to do. Each performer has to bring at least one friend (strictly enforced), which means that there is a nice large audience of non-comics, who are much more likely to laugh. Furthermore they have a proper stage and a decent lighting rig, a luxury compared to some of the other open mic...
1 tag
Gig report 04/10/11, Stand up for the first time,...
Last night I did my first stand-up set in about fourteen months. I put stand-up on the back seat after I moved back to London and focused on other things like helping to get Phoenix Speakers up and running. At this year’s Edinburgh festival I saw several of my friends from my stand-up comedy course do a fantastic show. And I was jealous. I was jealous of how much they had improved, and I was...
September 2011
2 posts
July 2011
5 posts
