Having made my debut at the world famous Luton Comedy Bar in April, I was delighted to be back there on Friday night (19th), and this time equipped with a ten minute set, some friends in the audience, and a slightly more reliable bladder than when here first time around.
There are pros and cons to increasing your set length. The obvious weigh up is twice as much to remember versus twice as much time on stage, and consequently more time to test and hone. More time for the audience to decide if you’re funny or if you’re an arse.
I’d written about 25% of new material to add to my set following last month’s Northampton gig. Two or three minutes is easy to sink in, but reordering you’re set is an absolute ball ache. You find yourself mentally launching into the wrong part of your set and you need to allow time to correct yourself before it comes out of your trap. When watching that back on video, the whole process takes less than half a second but while its happening, it feels like an age.
Woke on Thursday with the lurgies looming and it progressed throughout the day. I love the raw nature of stand-up comedy, the prop-free type, but the one thing you do need for that is your voice! Praise be to Lemsip. I survived through into Friday night, wilting a little, but carried through by the buzz of performing at a venue I’d long been eager to return too, pretty much since the minute I finished my first set there in April.
Steve Williams was down to emcee, which was reassuring. Steve was the guy who tore Alex a new hole in Ruislip and you couldn’t ask for a steadier hand to steer the ship and he duly went down a storm with the audience.
The gig sold out and there were a few there from work and home it was a treat and a first to have some support. I arrived around 1920 and found Steve armed with a clipboard sorting out the schedule for the evening. The acts gathered round and I spoke with a couple, one of whom was making his debut. It was strange being the one showing someone around but Aaron was full of energy and did himself proud when his time came.
I was on last on the first set (so fourth act on), it was pretty much first come first served and I opted for earlier on in case my voice decided to get any worse. I said a few hello’s to those who’d come to see me and then made my way backstage and had a tribute piss in the toilet which had been so useful prior to my debut in April. Ah the memories. And look, they’ve replaced the door hinge I wore out!
So pacing up and down the corridor with my crib sheet in hand, I felt more nervous than I had done for a while. The thought of the sold out gig was fine, it was the fact that around ten of them had come specifically to see me. Of course, coming to see me demonstrated their excellent taste in comedy and that should be commended, but did mean I started thinking about the dreaded ‘what ifs’.
Ian Lane opened brilliantly, and I was preceded by Stella Graham. Steve then gave me a nice intro and I’m on…..
I could see some faces in the audience and at one point, I almost forget where in the set I was as I tried to spot who else was there. The throat was a wee bit ropey but survived. The set got a good response and the feedback was great, although once again I hadn’t really a clue how it had gone until I watched the video back. Overall I’d say a solid performance and another box ticked, having performed to a sold out crowd which included some familiar faces. I can’t tell you how much I love the Luton Comedy Bar. Hope to be back ‘home’ there again early/mid next year.
Next month it’s Ickenham, followed by Hammersmith in early November.
Thanks to Liz Howard for all the usual stuff, David Brett for rounding his troop, Vicki Jackson and Simon Jackson for being two of the soundest people around, Marc and Eleanor Thornton for unwavering laughter, Kevin Prosser and Ricky King for getting the last two tickets of the evening, Ibrar Hussain for telling me a single joke afterwards which took longer than my entire set, and Lukasz Pekalski and his lovely girlfriend – Lukasz you’re punching above you weight there pal 🙂
Damn, how different Monday morning is to Friday night!
Have a great week people and thanks again for the support. Peace and love breadbins.
James