Monday 19th December The Gala Club,Gloucester,Police Control Room Party
My mate Gary talked me into doing this way back in the summer, funny how the time comes round so soon. Not a bad gig I guess, approx 60 there, some civvies, some Police, did ok, got some laughs, did about 20. Really smoky room, felt sick driving home!

Tuesday 6th December The Guildhall Gloucester
Another sell out! Turned 8 people away at the door including some of our regulars which was a shame; a good night overall, Juliet Meyers opened, Nick Pound and Tim Craven did an open mike spot along with Jim Small man, as warped and twisted as ever; a local boy,Gaz, did an open as well, did ok.
Henrik Elmer rounded the night off with a brilliantly funny headline spot.

Thursday November 17th The Three Tuns, Bishops Castle, Shropshire
65 miles away, took 1.5 hours to get there! Really bizarre little gig, Andy Hobo’s newest gig; good room, good crowd, crap pa system!
Did the opening 25, got a good response, well worth the trip!

Monday November 14th The Lansdown,Clifton
Took the M5 down to a cold Clifton on a rainy November night; strange little pub tucked away in the back streets of Clifton. Not sure what to expect, was pleasantly surprised.
This was primarily an improve night where a small group of talented youngsters performed some clever stuff, all off the cuff.
Small but appreciative audience, really enjoyed it though, did about 20 minutes all told.

Sunday November 6th Green Room
10 people in, says it all really.
Good acts, Danny Hurst opened, Cecelia Smart and Andy Kind did 2 open spots, both good and the wonderful Steve Day closed.
Financially can’t afford to keep this gig going though.

Tuesday November 1st Guildhall
Another sell out!! We’d actually sold all the tickets by 8.15pm which was great, 80 people in tonight!!
Matt R opened, Chris Clarke had a good one, Deain struggled a bit but the audience really took to Rudi appearing at only his 2nd gig. Rex Boyd headlined and the crowd loved his juggling and mime routine!
Another really cracking night.

Monday October 24th Old Waggon and Horses Kidderminster
One of Zak Turners gigs, nice little room, bit strange with all the seats laid out in rows but a friendly and receptive crowd; I went on first, had a good one, didn’t use the mike at all! Daisy mc’d,did a sterling job; also appearing were Mahinder Sunira, Zak Turner and Deech headlined, all in all a good night.

Wednesday October 19th
Lunar Bar Worcester
Made the short trip up the M5 to Worcester, arrived in plenty of time; unfortunately the M5 Southbound was horrific and, as a consequence, the MC, Mahinder Sunhira, was stuck and didn’t arrive till 10.10pm!
Ended up mc’ing the gig, nice little room, friendly people.
Luckily had 2 acts there, Jim Smallman and Oxse, both did a cracking job especially Jim on only his 15th gig.
Mindy finally made it and mc’d the last bit, introduced the headline act.

Friday October 14th
Film Studios Cheltenham
A small but appreciative audience were duly entertained by yours truly as MC, the one and only Andy Hobo opened, Pat Gallagher did a cracking middle set and the very loud and jovial Ben Schofield closed, all in all a really good night, nice people, decent acts, another notch of success.

Tuesday October 4th Guildhall
After Sundays debacle, I was really worried about this gig, didn’t need to be, we sold the place out!! Brilliant!! Totally different, great audience, all the regulars back and so goods to see them; my little group from the Forest really came out trumps, had printed me a don Estelle tee shirt with the weakest link stuff on the back, and they all had them on as well!!
The acts were outstanding, Sally ann. Hayward as good as any headliner I’ve seen opened, matt roses did a great 10 in the middle and Charlie baker really stole the show, bastard that he is! Bill Bruce finished off the night in his own inimitable style leaving a totally over the moon audience delighted.
Great night, long may they continue!!

Sunday October 1st Green Room Cheltenham
Total disaster! The gig didn’t appear to have been promoted well, my fault, and, as a consequence we had a total of 1 wannabee act + friend turn up, 3 genuine audience types, 2 barstaff, 1 act + 4 mates, me, deech, 2 other acts + headliner, a total of 15 people in the room, whoopee do!
Actually, turned out ok as such, just grabbed a stool, sat on it and chatted, as did the other acts.
Alexis Dubus decided to do the gig, Cherry Green backed out (!), fair enough, Deech did a bit, a new open act really struggled and the headliner, Kev Dewsbury did a great job.
Plan of action in place for the next gig there.

Monday September 12th Cinnammon Bar Bridgnorth
Made the 1-hour trip to Bridgnorth, what a cracking little town this is!
Travelled up with Deech and arrived at the venue at 08.00pm, brilliant place; was an old department store in its heyday, now used as a multi craft arts type centre.
The room was superb, small, intimate, no stage, and no pa, dimmed lighting but suited the gig to a tee.
Paul Jennings was MC, did a great job, very funny dry sense of humour, excellent start to the night. Karen Bayley opened, got the small audience on her side from the off; I was on second, had a good 15 mins, could have done another 20 but time restraints, came out with one of my best call back lines ever…relating to Karen and her encounters with a small man on a blind date …you had to be there!
After the break Deech went on and had the best gig I’ve ever seen him do, relaxed, good banter, used the piano..just faultless.
The whole evening was capped with the wonderful Gary Delaney; not seen Gary for about 4 years, he used to be quite dark and deadpan, really come to life, smart, switched on, brilliant material, took the audience with him all the way, genuine guy.
Really enjoyable gig, one of the best.
Lovely people as well.

Monday July 11th Bizzarre, Melksham
Another good night at this venue, did well, enjoyed it. Last gig till September now, be glad of the break!

Monday July 4th Gladstone Arms Chippenham
As Pat Gallagher says, didn’t fly, didn’t die…an ok gig, small crowd, did ok.

Tuesday June 21st The Roses Theatre Tewksbury
Was looking forward to this gig but didn’t enjoy it; a reserved crowd who were too spread out, couldn’t get a rhythm going, no reaction form them and had already been informed they didn’t like bad language; toned the whole set down and just didn’t spark. Matt Price had same problem as did headline act Craig Campbell to a certain extent.

Tuesday June 7th, The Guildhall Gloucester
Talk about high’s and lows!
Had to turn people away tonight, packed to the rafters, brilliant!
The low’s….this was probably the worst night I’d put on, the acts failed to ignite the spark as indeed did I and I was left feeling very disappointed with the whole evening; what was worst was that there were a lot of new faces there tonight and they were forming an opinion based on this gig rather than seeing the good ones previously, can’t win them all I guess.

Friday May 20th The Roses Theatre Kidderminster
What a bizarre little gig!
Lovely venue, theatre with proper seats but the night itself……well, could have been worse I guess and, with hindsight, the highlight of the evening was the fantastic sight of a gorgeous young lady walking across the stage dressed only in bra, suspenders and stockings!!
This was the first gig Zak Turner had put on and he worked really hard on it, unfortunately, it just didn’t work with the audience; the sketches were weak, the jokes poor and, apart from Pat Gallagher and myself, the night was a struggle.
Having said that, Zak has real talent and is busy reworking the Comedy gig at a more suitable venue.
I enjoyed myself though, more of a conversation with the audience than anything else.

Monday May 9th The Foresters Arms Melksham
Made the relatively short trip to Wiltshire, arrived, set PA system up, amp wouldn’t work! Great start! Sorted it out and got everything tested, phew, panic over.
Audience filtered in and, to be honest, I was a little concerned as to how things would go; I was mc’ing and kicked it all off at 08.45pm, needn’t have worried, a great night! They were well up for it, loads of banter, ad libbing stuff, heaven!
Becky Love went on first, they took a while to warm to her but she got them on side eventually; Izzi Lawrence and Simon Dunn struggled, mainly due to the fact that this audience were quite basic and didn’t get the comedy intricacies and delights on offer!
Mark Olver finished the night off with an extended set of pure filth really, they were mad for it!
A great night, good venue, good crowd, really smoky room though. Well organised and promoted by Paul Tregaskis

Tuesday May 3rd Guildhall Gloucester
Not a bad night at all; mc’d it; lovely moment when an audience member recognised a bloke as the man who crashed his car into her house!! Sheer comedy gold!!
Gareth Berliner opened and they struggled to get his stuff, not Gareth’s fault, they weren’t up to the intellectual level required!
2 Open spots in the middle, Jack Lin and Jeff Lane, Jack had a bit of a job but Jeff did well on his 7th gig.
Highlight of the night was the wonderful Patrick Monahan, great act, just talked to the audience, all ad libbed, sheer heaven!

Friday 29th April Bath RFC
Did this gig for Alan Anderson, had no idea what to expect but needn’t have worried, a great gig, had a ball! They loved the fact I was from Gloucester and then just went with most of my stuff which was good; a lot of bantering, small bit of material, lovely lovely gig, about time too!

Tuesday April 26th Round Table Dinner Brickhampton Golf Course
Was really looking forward to this gig as the guest speaker was Gareth Chillcott. Arrived early, black tie job etc, met Gareth, huge bloke!!
Meal was good, I did my little bit, struggled to get them going, all a bit stuffy, crap p.a system, not my type of crowd, another duffer.

Thursday 21st April Jesters, Bristol
Back down to earth with bump! Had a bad vibe about this gig from the minute I set foot inside the door; didn’t do well at all, crap performance, not enjoyable, died a death.

Wednesday 20th April Afrodoba Reading
Cracking night, great little venue, receptive crowd. Did just less than 20 minutes, should have done 30 really, next time maybe.
Earnt a bit of petrol money got a £20 parking ticket.
Well hosted by Ant and Jack Lin.

Friday 15th April Cheltenham Film Studios
A return trip to the studios, this time for a proper Comedy night and what a cracking night it was! Well up for it audience, great acts, Nick Page, Matt Price, Spiky Mike and Becky Love, all of which went down really well. They loved Becky! Wanted her to do more.
I mc’d, did ok, really enjoyed this one. Happy days!

Wednesday 6th April Funny Farm, Birmingham
Hell, back down to earth with a massive bump! Didn’t do well at all, didn’t engage the audience, few laughs, horrible time. What the hell is happening???

Tuesday April 5th Guildhall Gloucester
Did an hours workshop before the gig with Matt Price and 6 – 8 people, had a great time, well receptive; the gig was equally as good! Matt Price on fine form as was Ant Simmons, Matt Drayton and the wonderfully talented Mike Belgrave, this is more like it!

Sunday April 3rd The Green Room Cheltenham
Oh what a disaster! Everything seems to be turning to crap at the moment; great line up, John Richardson, Dave Ward, Pat Monahan, Paul Redwood………….not one member of an audience turned up; worst gig I have ever done; harsh lesson learnt though. Total cock up re pushing it. Will not happen again.

Thursday March 24th The Wharf Cardiff
I was really looking forward to this gig but oh, what a disappointment!
Big room, weird shape and very noisy; was crowded, probably in excess of 200 people in there.
The MC was particularly weak, inexperienced and totally failed to get the crowd on side at all; first act did ok thought, they listened to him but as soon as he finished the noise volume trebled and I walked on with 85% of the room not even listening; bottom line is I died; crap gig, really not happy with this at all.

Friday March 11th Cheltenham Film Studios
I knew I shouldn’t have taken this gig even when it was first discussed!
This was a Jazz night with basically a comedic offering from me in the middle; not a comedy crowd and I think they thought I was just an intrusion on the music. Best forgotten about. Really threw me as didn’t get into it at all, hard struggle.

Thursday 3rd March Guildhall BBC Gloucestershire Comic Relief Night
Surely the pinnacle of my stand up career so far, appearing on the same stage as the Royal Harpist & a singing dog!! All for a good cause though, to raise money for Comic relief, turned into a good night, I was on last bar one and was wondering what exactly I’d do, all ok though, just did a lot of reserved stuff really and it went down well.
A long week, glad of a break for a few days now!

Wednesday 2nd March Varsity, Wolverhampton
3rd gig on the trot felt bloody knackered at the start but soon got into it!
Small crowd, well 13 to be exact but had a good time regardless; Dave Powner mc’d, nice chap, did an excellent job, Chris Clarke went after me, newcomer, very good; Mahinder Sunira, another newcomer, did his bit, struggled but then has a long way to go…. a long road ahead!
I did about 25 mins I think which I was pleased with, all moving in right direction!

Tuesday 1st March Guildhall Gloucester
Had 50+ people in tonight, another good result; appearing were Drew Cameron, Jim Grant, Kev Johnson, Cecelia Smart, Geoff Taylor and Ian Fox; an interesting night, some good banter going on, great performance from Geoff & Ian in particular. I mc’d it tonight.

Monday 28th February Monkey Bar Swansea
Great night! 186 mile round trip but well worth it; Matt Price on first, had a great gig, he’s come on so far, brilliant!
Matt Drayton up next, also had a good gig, best I’ve seen him.
I did my bit, nice bit of interaction with crowd, well pleased.
Great MC,Pete Kerr.

Thursday 24th February Kinver Fayre Café, Kinver, Nr Stourbridge
Had reservations about going tonight as weather not brilliant, had forecast heavy snow, turned out ok in the end; a relatively short trip up M5 via Stourbridge and through some dark windy lanes led me to Kinver, described as a village, more a smallish town.
Interesting little venue, held upstairs in a smallish room, no stage and an angle poise lamp for lighting effects!
Don’t know why but felt really nervous tonight beforehand, don’t normally get nerves…. needn’t have worried, went really well, a great up for it crowd and had some good interaction. Also on the bill were Dave Powner ,Owen Niblock and Ian Fox, MC Andy Hobo did a great job in firing them all up.
Nice gig, one of the better ones.

10th Feb 2005. Update. Talk about busy! The Green Room’s opening night was brilliant, 65 people crammed in and treated to an outstanding night of Comedy with the wonderful Nick Page headlining!

Have been in negotiation with 2 venues about Stand up which look promising; the first is the Manor By The Lake,Cheltenham Film Studio’s, Hatherley, Cheltenham; a wonderful setting and a great room, lighting and full pa rig, intimate setting with a bar to top it all off; the first night of stand up kicks off on Friday April 15th, tickets £5.00 on the door.

The next venue fluctuates between 2 locations and is a mix of poetry slamming and music nights, they now want to add stand up to this ecletic mix.

Also talking to another venue about gigs later in the year!

Please keep supporting live comedy, slowly but surely we’re putting Gloucester & Cheltenham on the map!

Sunday 6th Feb The Green Room, Playhouse Theatre, Cheltenham
Opening night at this new venue for me; we had 65+ in which was a great start and all in all a really good night; I had a pretty good gig as mc, Deech opened, struggled a bit tonight for some reason, Pat Gallagher had a very strong 15 minutes and the wonderful Nick Page closed with an outstanding half hour of comedy. Nick brought his Grandad and Nan along as it was his grandad’s 85th birthday, great way to celebrate.
Some good off the cuff stuff tonight which I was pleased with. Bit of a rest now before the next one thank God!

Tuesday Feb 1st The Apartment,Swindon
Made the short trip to Swindon to compete in an initial heat of The Laughing Horse Competition, drew the shortish straw and ended up going on last. Some good performances, especially from Papa CJ who won this heat, Deech came second and Gaz Mackin came third; Pat Gallagher and me were joint 4th; bit of a surprise as I thought I had a better chance of being in the top three; Pat and I stuck to the 8 mins allowed, all the other acts overran which, to a certain extent, gave them an advantage.
I would have scored it as 1st Papa CJ, 2ND = Me, Pat, 3rd Deech, but that’s the thing with competitions, can never tell how the audience vote and why???

Sunday January 30th Yellow Kangaroo Swindon
Had a trip down the M4 to Cardiff, stressed on way down as only had enough change for the old toll of £4.60, discovered, as I sat crammed into the tiny space near the self serve bucket, that it had gone up to £4.80 and guess what, I didn’t have enough change, great start!

The gig itself was ok, bit quiet to start with but Becky Love had a good gig as did Nick Page. Earlyish finish and home by 11.30pm.

Friday January 14th 2005 Chapter Arts Centre Cardiff
Travelled down the M4 tonight and had a good time all in all; have gigged here before and whilst they don’t pull in a huge audience they are always appreciative; managed to do a load of off the cuff stuff and only used a tiny bit of material. Onwards and upwards.

Tuesday January 4th 2005 Guildhall Gloucester
First night of 2005 & I was panicking to be honest! Not pushed this gig, not written any new stuff and, at 8.00pm with hardly any people in, I was realizing the errors of my ways; by 8.30 pm though had approx 25 in and the night actually went really well; some good performances from Cat & Lynsey, 2 talented female singer/comediennes, 2 great performances from Deech and Pat Gallagher and the whole night topped off with the marvellous Paul Kerensa; did a lot of improve work which worked really well.