Last week I did a spot at Comedy Virgins on Wednesday. It was one of those “meh” nights that sort of went ok but didn’t really feel like the audience was especially into it. I’m probably being a little harsh on myself, as I had a couple of mates along and they said it went well.
This is exactly why it’s a good idea to record your gigs, so you can get an objective record of the audience’s reaction – your memory plays tricks on you on stage. There have been a few times I convinced myself that a gig was mediocre, but when I listened to the recording there’s plenty of laughter in all the right places.
Anyways. It also happened to be my birthday, and after my set Twix the MC called me back up on stage and made me do a tequila shot while the audience sang to me, which perked me up. There were a few good acts that night, but in particular Lim Hoang really stood out with his angle on being a bemused foreigner in the UK. He got down to the final two of the clap-off, so the audience clearly loved him too.
On Thursday of this week I did a spot at Comedy MoochAbout, a new night in Vauxhall organised by Mouch. His day job is organising events like club nights, and that experience really showed at the gig because despite only being in its third week the whole thing felt every bit as polished as any of the bigger, established new-act nights in London. On top of everything else, it’s the only gig I’ve done where you perform in front of a bona-fide brick wall, which is pretty much the wet-dream of every Seinfeld wannabe.
There was a great line up of acts and a decent sized audience, so the vibe was good. I thought I was going up in the second half of the show, and didn’t hear when Mouch corrected himself and told me it was the first half. So when he introduced me to the audience I wasn’t quite mentally prepared, but all those nights of waiting to be picked out of the hat at random at shows like the Comedy Virgins and Lion’s Den prepare you for this kind of situation, so I got up to speed quickly enough.
My set went pretty well – I was lifted by the good energy in the room, so everything just kind of fell into place. Wouldn’t say I killed, but I did well enough to keep the night bubbling along nicely, and because of a couple of drop-outs I got a little extra time, so I dusted off a couple of well-worn bits to throw in with the current stuff I’m doing, to take the set to seven minutes.
The nice thing about the gig is that it’s very easy for me to get to by public transport, and that meant I could have a few drinks because I wasn’t driving. By the time I went up I was feeling a little loose, and I think that helped, but it’s always a fine line, I’m not experienced enough to go on completely shitfaced and still be able to remember all my material. But that’s something to aspire to.
A great night all in all, with a bunch of acts that I really like, including Jerry Bakewell, Vash Pernikar, Micah Hall, and Luke Chilton. There were a handful of people I’ve not seen before, and they were all good, but Radu Isac, from Romania, really stood out for me as a personal favourite – if you like your comedy dark, check him out.
Lol @ something to aspire to. But this all sounds so wonderful. Idk if it’s just desperation to get back to London or going through withdrawals from being away too long, or both, but this blog is starting to get me hooked on the British open mic scene. You can definitely count me in as a bring along whenever I’m there, but I may just start going to these things on my own, as well. I want to see Lim Hoang and Radu Isaac, for sure.
Next anticipated arrival isn’t until March 17. sigh.
Only problem is I’m not on FB, and hope never to be, lol.