Thursday 25th November Cathays Conservative Club Cardiff
Wahay!! Hit the BIG TIME OR WHAT??? Well, actually not as it turns out;
Matt Price had roped me in to do this gig for student charity, turned
out to be a bizarre sort of night in the end; nice little venue, loads
of seats and by the time it started, there were actually a lot of people
in the place; Deech mc’d and did a good job to get the whole thing
off, I went on first and then I noticed that sitting at the closest table
to me were a group of girls with one of them looking particularly young,
transpires she was 11!
Managed to reconstruct my set to accomodate this fact as I didn’t
really want to offend her; all in all a good night, Matt Rudge had a good
set despite the fact he was late arriving as he’d got to the Severn
Bridge, found he had no money and they wouldn’t let him into Wales;
Matt Price was the best I’ve seen him, brilliant. Great headliner,
Noel James, brilliant.
Monday 8th November Coco Lounge Torquay
A mad dash down the m5 after picking Will Hodgson up in Bristol, got there
around 8.35pm. Gig started at 9.20pm, I did ok, Will had a good one and
the headline act was Ian Cognito, very full on!
Hell of a drive for a gig, got home about 0240am and then up for work
at 0615am!! Too much!!
Tuesday 2nd November Guildhall Gloucester
An all female night, good crowd in, some interesting acts! Cecilia smart,
Christine Edwards, Jo Coffey, Juliette Meyers, Issi and Antoinette Bell.
Thursday 28th October Leamington Spa
Toodled up to Leamington Spa, horrible wet night, dark and damp; got there
at approx 8.00pm, found the venue, nice little coffee bar type place.
The evening dragged on a bit, pa system not up to size of room, started
a bit late and overran but overall i had a good little spot.
Could be a great little gig but just needs tweaking here and there.
Put petrol in my diesel car on way home and broke down…oh what joy,
got home at 0245am!
Wednesday October 20th The Nags Head, Nuneaton
Had a great gig! Good venue, really busy, big stage, full lighting rig.
The gig was headlined by Brain Damage & Krystal, Glen Maney went on
first, the audience seemed a bit distant and I was panicking a bit!
I went on just after the break and really attacked the place, everything
went well and came off to a good round of applause. Totally enjoyed it,
lovely room, great people….more of the same please!
Saturday October 16th, The Grosvenor, Nottingham
I always like to leave in plenty of time to get anywhere, tonight was
no exception.
Left home at 17.08 precisely with the intention of being in Nottingham
round about 7 – 7.30 ish.
All went well, M5, j4a, M42 AND THAT’S WHERE I WENT WRONG!
Missed the M42 turnoff which would have taken me North, instead drove
for approx 39 miles down the M40 to Banbury which, as you may or may not
know, is miles from Nottingham; took a trip across to Daventry and then
on the M1 towards Nottingham; had to drive at ***mph to get there for
8.00pm.
Lovely gig, part of the fringe festival; actually did a 30 minute set
which turned out more like a chat than anything else, nice audience, receptive
and we all got on really well.
Some interesting topics came up…why did they put tar on goose feet
to walk to market when they were going to be killed anyway and is tantric
sex possible?
Two other acts appeared, a singer/guitarist who was good and a local act
called Domino Joe who’s stuff about strokes was brilliant.
Headed home about 10pm and, 284 miles later(round trip) got back for 12.00!
To really finish the night off my wife came home reeking of curry and
had obviously had too much wine; me, knackered, her, legless and smelly…joy!
Thursday 7th October St Peters School Gloucester
OK, so this wasn’t actually a gig as such BUT,I still used the comedy
skills to do a presentation to a small group of 16 year olds about the
business structure within various organisations; it’s really weird
now as no matter what situation I’m in, if it involves talking to
people, I find myself looking for the comedy angle all the time; that’s
not a bad thing as it does help to break down barriers and it’s
something I’d like to do more of.
Wednesday 6th October The Charlotte Leicester
Another trip to Leicester and the Charlotte; took Pat Gallagher and Deech
with me this time; Spiky mike had 10 acts on, luckily our gang were all
on fairly close together so we disappeared off at 10 ish!
Couple of newer acts opened, average I guess; Deech had a good little
set, some new material there; I did ok, got a fair few laughs, seemed
to enjoy most of the stuff; Pat had a good gig, unpretentious, to the
point.
Saw Dave Longley again tonight, he’s sick but I love his sense of
humour especially the bees and the mole stuff ( go and see him, I’m
not telling you all about it here !)
Headed off to Gloucester again and got home around 1.00am.
Tuesday 5th October The Guildhall
This is more like it! A good little crowd in tonight and they all had
a great time; cracking acts on as well; Craig Deeley opened with a good
little set, Paul Jennings followed and went down really well; after the
interval John Richardson stole the show with a tremendous performance,
surely this lad is destined for great things? Everything he does and says
is brilliant, bastard!
Mark Olver headlined in his inimitable style, some old stuff, some new
stuff, bit of audience heckles, swiftly dealt with.
All I all a very successful night, well pleased.
I MC’d it and was glad I warmed up at Splott!
Sunday 3rd October Yellow Kangaroo Splott Cardiff
Can’t believe it’s been two months since I last did a gig;
September was the first month for a long time when I hadn’t actually
performed (or so my wife said).
Toodled off down the M4 tonight in anticipation, using this gig as a warm
up for the first Guildhall gig of the Autumn season; a dire night really,
hardly anyone there, no one really interested in listening, battled through,
no pay, drove home, missed Heartbeat and also meant I had to do my weeks
ironing Saturday afternoon thus not being able to fully concentrate on
the rugby.
Saturday August 21st The Chapter Arts Centre,Cardiff
A bit of a late booking for this gig in Cardiff; really buzzing arts centre
in general but not too may at the gig itself, too many other things going
on I suppose; went on last, did ok, quite a hard gig to do as the audience
hadn’t been too receptive up to that point!
Need to sit down and write some new stuff, struggled a bit as hadn’t
actually gigged for over a month.
Sunday July 4th Bar YK, Splott, Cardiff
Euro 2004 final and I find myself on the M4 heading towards sunny Wales;
found the venue which is located in a little side street just off the
main Newport road, bit rough as an area.
Strange gig! The first thing I saw were two girls wearing weird dresses
and with ivy covering their hair. great start!
Matt Price finally got things started and the whole thing trundled along
with a fairly noisy audience making their feelings known!
I actually had a reasonable gig although a lot of shouting was required
to get through it all; Paul Redwood was also on as was Matt ?.
Could be a great little gig but some work needed on the pa system and
the overall handling of the night; would go back though. Totally different
from Stourbridge and I was glad I made the trip.
Thursday July 1st The Crown Centre, Stourbridge
Don’t know what happened tonight, just didn’t work at all;
didn’t die as such but no real headway made; I didn’t feel
like I was going to do well for some reason and that little seed of misdoubt
crept in threw me; the annoying thing was that it was all the material
which worked so well last week, also did some new stuff as well; the guy
who opened did a really strong set which got the audience going and I
felt they thought I wasn’t anywhere near as good( which I wasn’t
) and things started badly and went downhill after that; these things
happen but when you’ve had a run of fairly good gigs it’s
so hard to see exactly what went wrong.
Travelled up with Pat G tonight, he had a good response so just me who
suffered then!
Wednesday 23rd June 2004, Hilarious Comedy Club,Dudley
The last time I went to Dudley was to visit the Zoo when I was still at
school and that was years ago, I remembered it as a small bleak place
with no soul; Hilarious Comedy Club bears no resemblance to that image
however……….probably one of the best Clubs I’ve
seen for a long time, well organised, well promoted, great room, great
acts, friendly promoters, stage, all in all nearly the perfect venue;
2 minor issues which could probably make a difference…………..most
clubs still use the old boom arm mike stands which are a pain in the ass
to use, invest in a single stand which’ll cost about £40.00
– 50.00 but looks more professional and is far better to use, the
second issue is that the pa system obviously needs sorting out, just a
loose connection on a lead but it kept popping which was only slightly
off putting for some of the acts; apart from that I think this has the
potential to turn into the sort of venue where everyone wants to gig at.
I had a great time, did about 10 – 12 mins, got laughs at most of
the stuff, a few new things thrown in, monitor lizards, Alton Towers,
few things didn’t work; probably swore too much again, must sort
that out; also on the bill was Danny James, brilliant, Quive O Donnell,
superb and the irrepressible Rhod Gilbert; all held together by Ryan Gough
who had a great gig as MC, probably one of the best gigs I’ve seen
him have (bad grammar I know but sod it, this is my diary!)
Looking forward to Stourbridge next week now.
Monday 7th June 2004 The Funhouse Derby
So, Deech told me he knew the way to Derby and I believed him; well partly
he did and he did get us most of the way there but somehow we got a bit
lost and went right round the houses, finally arrived though.
Good little gig, nice room, small(compact & bijou as Estate Agents
say), not many in which was a bit disappointing; Ryan Gough was on first,
he had a good one as did Deech, Dave Longley did a good 10 minute spot
and Susan Murray closed.
I did ok I think, got some laughs especially when I fell off the stage.
Long journey back home though, got back around 12.45am.
Worth the trip all in all.
Thursday 6th May 2004 The Hibernian Pub,Skirchley,Birmingham
Had a pleasant little trip up the M5 to arrive at the gig in plenty of
time; big old pub, separate room normally used for a rock venue, massive
stage, big PA system.
New gig and whilst there was only a relatively small audience, well, 15
to be exact, still had a really good time; great little line up as well,
I went on first followed by Paul Jennings, a newcomer but certainly a
good performer already; Craig Deeley opened the 2nd set and he was really
good, lovely relaxed style and some great material; the whole night was
rounded off by the fantastic Duncan Oakley; all in all a very good night!
Tuesday May 4th 2004 Guildhall Gloucester
Another good night at the Guildhall, a mixed bag of acts…….Mark
Penney, James D Chapeau, Matt Bowman, Colin and Rob, some weird open spot,
Deian and headlined by the brilliant Mark Olver. I thought I did ok as
MC, some good ad-libbing, some material died but hey ho!
Sunday 25th April The Snooty Fox Tetbury
Not the best gig I’ve ever done! Felt tired before I went on and
hadn’t really worked on a proper set, relied on usual material;
started off ok, got some laughs but then lost my way in the middle and
finished on a weak end. Need to review exactly what stuff I’m doing
and get and try out some newer material.
Didn’t read the audience correctly and was probably a little too
offensive for Tetbury, posh bastards!
Tuesday 6th April Guildhall Gloucester
MC’d the gig, had a reasonable one I guess; bit of bantering, didn’t
really try any new stuff; all the acts were great, especially Bill Bruce
and Rich Kilby.
Friday April 2nd: Welsh Harp, Gloucester
This was quite a hard gig, not the best of rooms with the stage being
away from the audience, sound system played up and all in all bloody hard
work!
I went on first and did some local stuff (including some material about
a local Drugs dealer), which went down fairly well, found it hard to build
a rapport though, got some laughs eventually.
Simon Dunn had a great set as did Pat Gallagher but the star of the night
had to be Will Hodgson, another masterful performance form the man who
surely is destined for bigger things.
The caption competition proved interesting with the MC declaring that
the audience was made up of a bunch of racists! Strong stuff, a little
undeserved I feel??
Tuesday March 30th: Mr Wolf’s Bristol
Don’t you just love doing gigs where the payment is food and beer??
Great little venue, small room but appreciative audience; I mc’d
tonight and had a good time, managed to strike a chord with the lads in
there, talked about Thunderbirds, Stingray, loads of new stuff!
Also appearing were John Durham, Matt Price, Demitris Deech and the inimitable
Pat Gallagher, all went down well.
March 9th Francis Hall Campus Cheltenham
Another Student gig, the third in our little tour of Gloucestershire Campuses;
interesting night, the pa played up, a mixed crowd, some subdued, some
noisy, all young enough to be my kids as well! I went on first, didn’t
do half the stuff I intended as time ran out and I forgot loads, easy
to remember after the event as ever. Did my ususal material height, colour,
sex etc, some worked, some didn’t.
Pat Gallagher MC’d, did a good job with a hard room.
Deech had a really good set, a lot of audience interaction and this was
probably the best I’d seen him. Owen Niblock had another good gig,
good material and nice lad to boot. During the break the crowd all moved
to the front which really helped. Second half kicked off with Simon Dunn
who turned in a great perfomance,cracking set, love the Jesus stuff. Next
up was Matt Bowman on his first ever gig, a new act, a student who is
also disabled and , to be honest, he was fantastic, really good funny
material and got the whole crowd on his side immediately. Dave Parton
had a good gig as usual, like the Jazz club stuff especially. Karen Bayley
headlined and although she wasn’t looking forward to it the crowd
loved her and she flew through her material with a polished performance.
All in all a good night, crowd seemed to like it, will definitely do another
gig here I think;smoky room, achoustics not brilliant though.
March 2nd The Guildhall Gloucester
Had a real bad night tonight; the evening did not get off to a good start
with an opening act proving to be unfunny and offensive; Matt Price had
a panic attack and had probably the worst gig I’ve seen him at,
seemed to lose all his confidence, he was great last week but had a bad
review on Chortle, then, to top it all, had a new act stumble and lose
all his ability right from the start; I was feeling really pissed off
which didn’t help and felt uncomfortable by the whole turn of events;
luckily the evening was rescued somewhat by Owen Niblock and Karen Bayley.
26th February 2004 Oxstalls Campus Gloucester
A reserved audience, appreciative but not as noisy as Pittville; I mc’d
this one, did ok but have done better. Maybe too much this week to be
honest, lost some of the sparkle on this gig!
24th February 2004 Pittville Campus Cheltenham
Great gig! 175 sweaty students crammed into their Refectory, really good
atmosphere, great lineup, Pat Gallagher mc, John Durham, new lad called
Spud, Will Hodgson, outstanding; Harry Hawkins headlined. Will was brilliant,
best I’ve seen him, really worth doing this gig.
12th February 2004 The Buzz Manchester
What a long way Manchester is from Gloucester, took nearly 4 hours to
get there!
Big club, above an old Victorian pub; I was on first, did ok, bit of banter,
went reasonably well though. Good gig to do, just a long way, too far
to go in a night.
4th February 2004 The Charlotte Leicester
Made the 2 hour trek to Leicester to be arrive at the venue; greeted by
the sound of Heavy Metal reverberating onto the pavement, I was wondering
what the hell was in store; turned out the gig was held 2 floors above
the main bar, didn’t make much difference though, still felt the
music rattling the floorboards; a strange little gig, a real mix of people
in the audience ranging from a Jesus lookalike to various Hippy style
people; Spikymike mc’d and told the audience that as I was from
Gloucester I was probably a farmer, then proceeded to take the piss out
of him.
Good little gig, only did 5 mins though.
3RD February 2004 Guildhall Arts Centre Gloucester
What a fantastic night, brilliant crowd, packed out and great acts; Johnson
& Johnson, Ant Simmonds, John Durham, Demitri Deech and headlined
by Nick Page, all in all a cracking night
8th January 2004 Rose & Crown Chippenham
Another good night at this venue, not many in but a good timer regardless;
Will Hodgson MC’d and produced a wonderful display as usual but
the star performer had to be Mark Olver, won’t be long before we
see him as a major player in the Comedy world.
Also appearing were Pat Gallagher who gets better and better, Jamie Davis
and myself.
I did ok, 10 – 15 spot, new material went down well.
6th January Guildhall Arts Centre, Gloucester
This was the first night at a new venue and I was wondering how many people
we’d actually get in; not disappointed though! Considering it was
the first Tuesday in the New Year, a total of 37 people came along and
all were really appreciative; this is a cracking venue and all the acts
thought it was one of the best they’d gigged at.
On the bill were Keith Barron, Dave Parton,Simon Dunn,Will Hodgson,Pat
Gallagher,Duncan Logan and Mary Bourke and they were all brilliant !
The Guildhall management were well pleased and have agreed to a further
extension of gigs through until June…Result!!
2003
Wednesday November 12th Duke Of York Stroud
This was the first night of a new Mirth Control Gig, I was booked to provide
the PA system; arrived at the venue in plenty of time, a small pub located
in Parliament street Stroud; walked in to be met by a large Alsation lying
across the middle of the pub floor, great start eh!
Good little venue though, compact and bijou as Estate agents might say,
a varied crowd ranging from locals to those who had come out especially
for the Comedy; on the bill tonight were Karen Bayley, Sy Thomas and headlined
by Mickey D.
Karen did a great opening set and got the vociferous crowd warmed up;Sy
Thomas regaled tales of badger baiting and other surreal observations;
I did my bit, not brilliant, not bad but the biggest cheer was reserved
for when I managed to trip over the pa stand and fall off the stage!
Oh well, another one under my belt I guess.
Wednesday November 5th The Funny Farm Walsall
This is a lovely little venue, Dan Smith’s gig. Met up with Adam
Montgomery and Ryan Gough who were also appearing and the evening was
headlined by Barbera Nice.
Adam’s doing well and his laid back style worked well tonight; the
inimitable Mr Gough proceeded to have a great gig as well; Ryan and Dan
were 2 of the Stand Ups who I met when I first started nearly 2 years
ago so it’s good to catch up with them and see how we’ve all
progressed.
I did ok, quite pleased with my performance, got some laughs which helps!
Monday October 20th Coco Lounge Torquay
Talk about a long day ! Left home at 07.20 am this morning, did a full
days work, got home again at 5pm, quick shower, change then back onto
the M5 for the haul down to Torquay; didn’t realize just how far
the journey was !
Arrived in Torquay around about 7pm and found some material almost straight
away; one of their advertising boards stated “ Welcome to Torquay,
the English Riviera” with a picture of a Penguin( a bird normally
associated with the Artic !) Had a great gig, brilliant little venue,
lively and appreciative crowd; finished around about 11.20pm and then
headed back up the M5 arriving back home about 02.40am.
Long trip but well worth it.
September 1st 2003 Slak Bar Cheltenham
Really enjoyed this gig; one of Geoff Whiting’s and I was MC; also
appearing were Noel James, Hils Barker and Harry Denford, all absolutely
brilliant; thought I did ok, apart from fact I missed an intro act for
Harry Denford, you live and learn.
August 25th Frog and Fiddle Cheltenham
Good little gig, not many people there though; strange night, the headline
act, Ian Boldshaw, managed to upset one of the audience and she left taking
7 other people with her! I did ok, managed 20 minutes for the first time,
which I was pleased with anyway.
August 17th Havana Bar Exeter
Travelled all the way back from Kent today, a nightmare journey along
the M25, solid queues and me thinking we were never going to get back
to Gloucester in time; finally made it around 4pm just in time for a quick
cup of tea, shower and then heading down the M5 to do the gig; easy ride
down, no traffic and arrived in Exeter at 6.40pm; lovely venue, right
on the Quayside; appearing tonight were The Kitsch Kittens, a very talented
vocal/comedy duo who went down a storm; I did my bit as MC but we were
let down by the non appearance of the Headline act, no call, nothing so
consequently we had a room full of pissed off paid up customers! To be
fair to them, they took the news fairly well and all in all had a good
night; left at 11.00pm and got back home at 12.40am! All in all travelled
600+ miles in 2 days just to do this gig!
Tuesday July 1st Saintbridge School Gloucester
Went to present a workshop to a group of 20 14 year old kids! Got involved
as part of the BBC Voices project, went really well and the kids were
really great; this was a brilliant hour well spent and the plan is to
now roll this out to other school’s across the County.
Sunday 29th June Chipping Sodbury:
First gig at this venue for a few months, bit of a worry at the start
as the lights wouldn’t work properly and then the microphone extension
leads decided to play up, added to which the car bringing the MC and the
2 main acts were still travelling on the M4 at 8.45pm!
Gig was ok,Gareth Berliner mc’d and did a really good job, gets
better every time I see him; Dougie Dunlop opened the show, a strong 20
minutes worth of stuff from this Scottish comedian; Hartly Pool did a
brilliant 10 minute section, love the Virgin train stuff!
My 5 minutes went ok and the whole thing was closed by a London based
act whose name now escapes me!
Tuesday July 1st Saintbridge School Gloucester
Went to present a workshop to a group of 20 14 year old kids! Got involved
as part of the BBC Voices project, went really well and the kids were
really great; this was a brilliant hour well spent and the plan is to
now roll this out to other school’s across the County.
Sunday 29th June Chipping Sodbury:
First gig at this venue for a few months, bit of a worry at the start
as the lights wouldn’t work properly and then the microphone extension
leads decided to play up, added to which the car bringing the MC and the
2 main acts were still travelling on the M4 at 8.45pm!
Gig was ok,Gareth Berliner mc’d and did a really good job, gets
better every time I see him; Dougie Dunlop opened the show, a strong 20
minutes worth of stuff from this Scottish comedian; Hartly Pool did a
brilliant 10 minute section, love the Virgin train stuff!
My 5 minutes went ok and the whole thing was closed by a London based
act whose name now escapes me!
Wednesday June 11th Rose & Crown Chippenham
This is a great little venue, travelled down with Hartly Pool and arrived
to find a load of fellow Stand Up’s already there, just like a reunion…Deian
Vincent,Sarah Archer, Mark Olver, Eric Much….the inimitable Mr Will
Hodgson…knew we were in for a good night !
The format of the evening was slightly different in that Will decided
he was going to run it as a mini Comedy Competition…Sarah kicked
things off and really got the crowd warmed to her, I say crowd, more like
about 25 people, but all receptive I hasten to add! Sarah’s come
a long way since I first saw her nearly 10 months ago & she turned
in a good set.
I went on second, tried out some new material which seemed to work, I
felt my set went well.
Hartly was up next and I thought this was the best I’d seen him;
his character stuff is really taking off, he has a lot more confidence
on stage and the ad libs worked really well.
After a short interval young Eric Much took to the stage, Eric never has
a game plan , always does stuff straight from the improvised school of
comedy which is really hard to do, his routine about Romeo and Juliet
was brilliant !
Deain, local Bath boy did his material about the West Country as well
as some more surreal stuff which the crowd really liked.
The evening was crowned off by a solid display from Mark Olver, another
talented showing from him, destined for much bigger things I’m sure;
Mark has a rare talent in being able to react to any crowd, large or small
and it’s a pleasure watching him.
The judges polled their votes and, by a narrow margin but much deserved,
Hartly won !
As we drove home together I congratulated him on his success just before
I tipped him out onto the M5 before driving off!!
Really great night, great people, great crowd….got home around 12.55am,
knackered!
June 3rd The Laughter Fountain
Another quiet night at The Fountain,a lack of promotion didn’t help,
really need the Landlord to do a lot more; real shame as it’s a
great venue but can’t keep doing this gig if no one is going to
turn up.
Really good acts on tonight, Phil Parkes was brilliant, Matt Ford really
shone, Ronak Mahru put in a good performance; Hartly Pool got everyone
laughing, had a fantastic Guitarist/Vocalist, Jo Faulkner in the interval
as well as a performance poet, Peter Whitten…all topped off by a
great gig by Darrell Martin…all for a bargain £3.50!!!
May 26th Comedy Cavern Bath
Travelled down the M4 to appear at this Bank Holiday gig at midnight!
Nearly had a fight with two drunken dickhead punters at the bar who got
upset when I sat on their stool…great start…no MC, act before
me was a hippy playing guitarist singing original dreary tunes…what
a night this was shaping up to be…went on and became aware that
no one was even interested in listening, couldn’t pull it off at
all so did 5 minutes and came off! Oh well, shit happens I guess…….
May 25th Fish N Fiddle Cheltenham
After the first gig at this venue we were all expecting great things;
despite a huge promotional effort by the landlord we were badly let down
by the crowd…6 people turned up!
Mark Olver, myself, Russell Howard all did well in a difficult situation.
May 8th Bar Essential, Bristol
Quiet night but a good night; on the bill were James Young a drama student,
he brought some friends along and did well, Demitri did ok and headlined
by a girl whose name totally escapes me! Nice gig, new material went well.
May 6th The Laughter Fountain
Really quiet night at The Fountain, total of about 18 in the audience
so it was hard work all night; had some good performers on tonight though;
first up was Mary Bourke, some great material but she didn’t like
the lighting on stage! Not surprising as it really didn’t look good
last night! Pat Gallagher did a cracking 5 minutes ably assisted with
Rob Cousins, Tug Wilson and Hartley Pool who put in his best performance
to date, really attacked the gig and got a great response! Glen Maney
headlined and had a difficult job in enthusing the audience but had some
lovely stuff regardless; I mc’d, got through it and that’s
about all I guess.
Really proves you have to work so hard to promote otherwise the customers
just won’t come.
May 4th Bunch Of Grapes Bristol
Really enjoyed this gig! Travelled down with Hartly and Demitri, pub was
pretty busy with some rugby boys in….not a good sign I thought but
turned out they were well up for it; on the bill were Eric Much, not sure
what Eric’s agenda is, seems to make it all up as he goes along
which is really brave, I did my 7 minutes, got a favourable reception,
Hartly and Deech struggled a bit and Rich Kilby finished the night off;
Mark Olver was in great form as MC.
April 27th The Comedy Club, Chipping Sodbury
MC’d,did ok, quite a hard night, one guy was getting louder and
more drunk as the night progressed till it got to the stage that the headline
act had to have him taken out! Mark Walker headlined, very good, a bit
of a young Freddie Starr but a lot more subtle and clever! Alex Lazarus
opened, did ok, Josh Howie was the open support, all in all a bit of a
struggle for everyone, not helped with Alex overrunning his allotted time.
April 24th Bar Essential Bristol
Another riotous night (not)! A total of 7 actual audience members were
enhanced with the assistance of a further four acts guests which, for
those of you who can count, swelled the throng to the grand total of eleven!
Actually we all had a really good night; nice and relaxed atmosphere,
met up with some old Comedy buddies…Dean Garbutt, Hartly Pool, Dan
Smith & a newcomer called Rob Jagger who had a bizarre set about fish..catch
it some time, well worth it! Did ok as MC, really enjoyed myself, got
a few laughs along the way so that helped!
A big thanks to Tracy who decided that the best thing to do with the bottle
of wine that was due to be a prize was to share it out amongst the audience!
A very big thanks to Ethel Scull & Daisy Hargreaves just for having
great names and lying the whole night through! To the two men who left
after the interval…you don’t know what you missed, we all
talked about you afterwards….to George & Terry who are getting
married later this year…good luck on your honeymoon trip to Bali….don’t
get a cough whilst you’re there!!!!!! Hey Ho, that’s another
one done then……….onwards and upwards…….
April 20th Fish n Fiddle Cheltenham
Easter Sunday, a miserable night in Cheltenham was looming….interesting
little venue, normally it’s used as a rock venue but tonight was
the first Comedy night they’d tried.
Strange little stage, quite high above the audience and it juts out into
the room; good pa system and quite a darkish atmosphere.
Reasonable crowd turned up and things kicked off with the ever ready Hartly
Pool compering; the first act was Caimh O Donnel, a Father Ted lookalike
Irish Comedian who had some clever material that was wasted on this crowd,
I liked Caimh and it would be good to see him in a more receptive club;
next up was Eric Much from Bristol; I’d last seen Eric at The Bunch
Of Grapes over a year ago when he introduced me as the new bloke! Don’t
know what planet Eric was on as he lurched through his set but got the
laughs anyway!
Sarah Archer did a ten open spot and had the real problem of the audience
talking through most of her set, she didn’t really deal with this
and consequently didn’t go down too well; nothing wrong with the
material but more work needed on sorting a difficult crowd out I think!
Deech Amitri was on after the break and had a favourable response from
the friends in the audience; Deech has a great delivery & timing,
only criticism is that he uses some other people’s material in some
of his jokes;has some good original stuff in there however.
I went on and really attacked the crowd, took the mickey out of quite
a few of them which wasn’t hard to do as they were all receptive
and vociferous back, some of my stuff worked, some didn’t but overall
I felt I did well tonight.
Al Pitcher headlined and spent most of his time dealing with the audience
who insisted on shouting out!
All in all, a new venue, a good night, the Landlord was happy and we get
to do another gig there in a months time.
Thanks to the guy who shouted out his father was dead……..great
heckle……….pleased with my reposte……………he
probably committed suicide seeing the way you’d turned out………...Comedy
Heaven material!!!!!!!!
April 16th Chippenham,Will Hodgson’s gig
Had a great night tonight! Everything worked and someone came up and said
they thought I was very good!! Heaven!!
Mike Toombs opened, had a great gig, then there was some strange musical
poet???? The fantastic Noel Britten headlined, very clever chap! The quite
insane Mr H compered and held the whole thing together, excellent venue,
pa system could be better though !
Thanks to the boys from Bath RFC…REALLY GREAT TO TAKE THE PISS OUT
OF BATH being a Gloucester boy……….didn’t realize
how close Chippenham was to Bath but everyone knows how far Bath are away
from Gloucester(Rugby Joke!!!!!!)
April 8th The Beehive, Prestbury, Cheltenham
First night for this venue, went ok I guess; on the bill were Gareth Berliner,
Sarah Archer, myself, Kev Byard all as open spots; Mike Toombs opened
and Matt Blaize finished as headliner; all in all a reasonably good night;
Gareth had a good gig, I went down ok, Mike tombs went on a bit too long
as did Matt Blaize but that was really down to the fact that the audience
were quite hard to win round.
April 3rd The Bar Essential Bristol
Played the opening slot to an audience of 12 including 2 other acts, my
wife, a comedians partner and his mum, dad and two nieces so, in all,
only 4 genuine punters in the room and guess what……..very
few laughs! Do I care….not really, another gig, more experience………Thank
you & good night!
April 1st The Laughter Fountain, Gloucester
MC’d the gig,did ok; Clare Cambell opened the show, wonderfully
laid back style with a brilliant delivery, went down well. Had some open
acts on as usual; Kev Byard, struggled tonight but that’s the way
it goes, Kieran O put in a strong performance as did Andrew Griffin &
Jamie Douglas.
Steve Day headlined in his own inimitable way, very funny guy, good person
to boot!
March 6th 2003 Howlers, Wolverhampton Wanderers FC.
Travelled up the M5 with Tug Wilson for this first night at a new venue,
great room, could seat at least 250 people, the club had really gone to
town with the advertising, press, local radio, tickets printed, the lot…about
20 people turned up!
People are so fickle though, this could be a brilliant club if given a
chance but, like all comedy clubs, it needs the support of the locals.
Did ok, got a few laughs from majority of the people;also appearing were
Steve Day, Roland Gent, my good pal Ryan Gough held it all together as
MC.
March 5th The Looking Glass, Ship Of Fools Comedy Club in Leicester
What a journey! Was doing really well till I lost my way on the M5, missed
the M6 junction and travelled 10 miles further North than I needed, mad
panic to shoot back down the M6 to pick up the right road, found it in
the end and then, just as I was approaching Leicester, I found myself
in the wrong lane, cut through some bollards and out the other side only
to find some rope had caught behind the car and, as I looked in the rear
view mirror, I saw a nice trail of traffic bollards being towed behind
me. Great start to a gig!
Lovely little venue though, downstairs bar, low ceiling, receptive crowd.
Did my 10 minutes, went ok I guess.
March 4th The Laughter Fountain, Gloucester
The second gig of my own Club, another good night although started off
a bit slowly; Ryan Gough, Deian Vincent struggled a bit in their sets
but Sarah Archer rallied the crowd round with another great performance.
The star of the night had to be a newcomer, Kev Byard who was making his
first appearance, had a real stormer and the crowd loved him!
Al Pitcher headlined and brought the night to a climatic close! Brilliant
stuff!!
February 23rd,The Comedy Club Chipping Sodbury
MC’d this gig, got through it ok, some excellent acts on…the
wonderful Mike Toombs, Angie McEvoy, diminutive but very funny, Jamie
Douglas as an open spot and the headline act, Mickey D, STUNNINGLY FUNNY!!
February 10th Wine Bar, Henley In Arden
Arrived early for this gig as I was providing the pa and lighting, got
it all set up and was standing at the bar when a customer started talking,
asked me if I did any racist or black jokes, when I told him no and asked
him why he told me that Henley was a strong BNP village…pathetic,
doubt if he could even understand when I was taking the piss out of him…anyway,
I told him that I didn’t do any racist material but he could help
me by keeping an eye out for the headline act…he asked me how he’d
recognise him, told him he would and walked away…about 10 minutes
later Matt Blaize walked in(for those of you who don’t know Matt
he’s about 6’3 tall and from Brixton…the village idiot’s
face was a picture!
Matt stormed the gig and even I managed to get in a few insults about
the Royal family as we also found out it was a Royalist Stronghold as
well…don’t think we’ll get asked back.
Never experienced racism like that before and don’t want to again,
should point out it was only a small portion of the audience that expressed
similar views; the majority lived in the real world!
February 4th The Laughter Fountain Gloucester
The opening night of this new club and what a night it was! Ray Peacock
stole the show with a brilliant performance, adlibbing his way through
some drunken heckles from an aged Scotsman!
Also appearing were Marek Triberdi, Mark Olver and Rich Kilby.
January 26th The Comedy Club Chipping Sodbury
Not a bad gig, Pat Monahan mc’d, very clever guy, I did my little
10 minutes in the middle and Adam Crowe headlined, what a talented guy
he is!
January 8th MNA’S Aylesbury
This was part of The Laughing Horses Competition, came third, Pat Gallagher
won this heat and Alisdair Bird came second, a talent for the future;
personally I thought I did well, disappointed with third though.
2002
December 19th New Olympus Theatre Gloucester
We’ve all done gigs we’d rather forget, this was one of them!
It was supposed to be a Christmas party do, trouble was, none of the audience
were the slightest bit interested in listening to the Stand Up’s,
they had a free bar to drink dry and boy did they try!
Crap night and apologies to Steve Day, Marek Triberdi, Colin and Rob and
Sarah Archer.
Tug had the right idea by simply taking the piss out of them!!
December 12th Spa tickles, Leamington Spa
Great little venue, your genial host Ryan Gough mc’d, on the bill
were Dave Parton, Ruth Hine Pat Gallagher, and myself really good night.
December 8th Ridge and Furrow Gloucester
Duff night, poor audience turnout, not one to remember really!
November 24th Saint bridge RFC Gloucester
Not a bad night despite most of the audience having no idea what to expect!
On the bill were Tug Wilson, Hartly Pool, Roland Gent, Steve Hall and
Clare Pollard, all went well considering!
November 16th The Comedy Club Chipping Sodbury
Only went down for a chat with the organizer, ended up doing a five-minute
open spot! Good venue, good crowd!
October 21st The Funny Farm Walsall
Young Dan Smith’s venue, excellent location, good crowd, did ok
but have done better.
October 15th The Laughing Fox Kenilworth
Left Cardiff at 6pm,tore up the Mway to arrive at the venue by 8pm! Had
a good night, went on second after a local boy (newcomer), not a clue
what he was about! Did ok, asked to do another ten minute spot after the
interval!!
October 8th The Ridge and Furrow Gloucester
October 1st A Shed Load Of Laughs Gloucester RFC
September 8th A Shed Load Of Laughs Gloucester RFC
August 6th The Fountain Gloucester
July 23rd A Shed Load Of Laughs Gloucester RFC
July 8th The Ridge and Furrow Gloucester
June 23rd The Comedy Cavern Bath
Did this gig as part of Channel 4’s So You Think You’re Funny
Competition;great venue, small, dark and packed! Did ok but nowhere near
good enough to get through, enjoyed it though.
May 21st The Kitchen Comedy Club, Forest Hills, Coleford
Oh how the mighty are fallen! Basically died tonight, there were some
people in the audience who were talking through my set, I tried to deal
with it and failed miserably! Went rambling on about a tv news item that
no one had seen and just didn’t get any laughs, oh well, you live
and learn!
May 7th The Shed, Bedford
Died tonight! Good venue, reasonable crowd but I was crap! Too inexperienced
to work in this type of venue but I didn’t realize it till I was
up there on stage!! Back to the drawing board!!
May 2nd Bunch Of Grapes Bristol
My first foray outside of Gloucester, did ok, was received reasonably
well and came out alive, what more can a man ask??
Was introduced as the new bloke by the MC who I promptly took the piss
out of for looking like Lawrence Llewellyn Bowen!
March 23rd Kitchen Comedy Club Westbury On Severn
Had a great gig! Did nearly 15 minutes and the crowd clapped and laughed!
This is it, piece of cake I thought………...oh how wrong
I was !
Also on the bill were Ryan Gough, Alexis Dubas, Dan Smith, James Cook
and Rich Batsford as well as some strange chap talking about Southern
Electricity??
January 19th Kitchen Comedy Club, miners Arms Sling
My first real Stand Up night and what better place to do it than Sling???
Overall a good night; arrived in plenty of time, some other people were
already there including one lady who had reams of notes and all of a sudden
I felt very inadequate, needn’t have worried though, she was terrible
! Did my five minutes and got applause !! Hey Hey, I’d arrived on
the circuit! Onwards and upwards!
2000
November 23rd, The Roses Theatre, Tewksbury, BBC Gloucester
Did a ten minute spot telling jokes for Children In Need, went down well.
1994
February 14th The Guildhall Gloucester, BBC Radio Gloucester
Did a 15 minute spot with a mixture of jokes and original stuff, all closely
edited by the BBC though! Was terrified to start with but really enjoyed
it once I got into my stride; tried a few adlibs, went ok.
1993
November 21st Royal Forest Of Dean Theatre, Coleford
My first foray into the world of Stand Up; this was a charity Lions Club
Gig and it was along the lines of a musical entertainment night.
I did my little bit, mainly joke telling and got some really good applause
from the 300+ crowd; made a comment about a section of the crowd who were
obviously enjoying themselves(I couldn’t see them as the lights
were too bright), all I heard was this loud hee hee type sound and I passed
comment that “ at least he’s enjoying himself”; when
the lights went up, to my horror, sitting in the front row was a group
of mentally disabled adults who couldn’t help themselves from crying
out….how bad did I feel !
Never mind though, performed on stage and didn’t die, but it was
to be many years before I graced the Forest again with my humour.
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