I really didn’t want to do this gig if I’m honest, I think I’d had a rough week at Beat The Frog where I got my bi-monthly assassination and was losing the love for stand-up a little. I’ve never been particularly good at dealing with disappointment and tend to beat myself up when something’s not perfect so Preston (as it was the first time) was particularly galling. Anyway, it was nothing to do with the show or people, it was that I had another BTF based mauling in my mind and so walked to the gig with severe trepidation and a real sense of fear.
So, how did it go? Well it was a quiet gig, but probably one of my favorites so far. Their gong format is much friendlier to acts and more supportive – as usual I was a bag of nerves up to the moment I hjad the mic in my hand and then I became my alter-ego and everything was fine. I decided to use my clapping opening as a preamble as I was worried about filling the time – which is weird as I’ve recorded the full set and it runs at 23mins if I go fast. Anyway, I finished the pre-amble and was just about to start on my material when I ran out of time.
I didn’t win (and didn’t deserve to – the guy who was on first was phenomenal as was Mike Edge who was also on) – but it felt like a strong showing and I’d love to go back there and do a 10min slot and really explore my set a bit more. Everytime I get onstage I feel better and better about it and more confident – I was chatting to an act in Preston who’d done 70 gigs and I can see why each one must count for something. I need to develop my first 20 seconds onstage, probably a one-liner to get me in a bit more, although I don’t know if that’d run against my style? Also I get distracted too easily and go on a tangent… Must stop that. I think I learnt a lot from watching the compere tonight, he was excellent, a different style to Paul Smith, but really kept a small crowd motivated and engaged. I’d love to give compering a go, get my stage time up in an improvisational role.
Right, pretty late now as I completely redesigned my blog before writing this!
Night! xx