Tag: comedy
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A Beginners Guide To Theatre Pricing
I’ve not annoyed as many people as usual recently with my theatre blog posts – this one however will infuriate so many people because it’s a beginners guide and doesn’t mention a huge amount of complexity and data that underpins what I’m talking about. So, if you’re reading this and thinking “this is utter bullshit…
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Gig Report: Warrington – 8 May ’19
I’ve not written a gig report for a few years – when I first started I used to write them after every gig, but then as 10 gigs became 20, became 100 I stopped – I think I stopped because I stopped progressing and feeling like I was getting better – of course that may…
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Holidays, Ideas and Ponderings
I’m currently on holiday in Lisbon having a bit of a break with my other half. I brought the mini-laptop along with all sorts of high aspirations to write a play, create some art or learn a new skill. Suffice to say we’ve nailed a good chunk of Netflix late at night. Anyway, I thought…
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A final(ish) gig report.
On Friday I did, what will be, my last gig for probably the next 6 – 8 months. I’m taking a break while I get sorted in a new job and have also been struggling with my confidence to apply for gigs so it felt like a break might be good to reinvigorate me too.…
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Resolutions 2015
I could never quite make my mind up if resolutions are a brilliant idea or a terrible idea. On the one hand they can motivate behaviour, change and achievement, but then at the same time they can also be monumentally depressing when, at 2am on Jan 1st you find you’ve already broken four of your…
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50 Gigs In
It’s 10 past midnight and I can’t sleep. This I suspect may be for one of two reasons. The first is that I woke up at midday today and as a consequence my body thinks that it’s 9pm, the second is that it is from the adrenaline of doing my fifty third (I think) gig.
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Who am I? Being a brand
“Who am I?” I’ve had a few conversations with both new comedians and theatre companies recently about marketing themselves to increase bookings and profile.
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A tale of three gigs
It’s inevitable over the course of doing something that you will have moments of great highs, moments of great lows and long periods of bumbling around in the middle desperate to achieve the former and avoid the latter.
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An open letter to my 16 year old self.
Dear Sam, This must be a bit strange getting a letter from your future self – I imagine you’re wondering about all the cool shit you’ll be getting up to in the next 12 years. Maybe you’re imagining I’ve just got back from my high flying executive job going from my office at the World…
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Surviving a seeming arts apocalypse… (part 1)
It seems not a day passes without further signs in the decline of British Theatre in the regions, from the liquidation of the Byre Theatre in St Andrews to Taunton’s Brewhouse moving into administration it seems clear (in the media at least) that the arts are enduring a torrid time of uncertainty, fear and closure.…
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Gig #10 – Rawhide RAW
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…
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Gig #8 – Beat The Frog, Preston
It’d been nearly two weeks since my last gig and I was feeling kind of nervous about my next outing. Firstly gig #7 had gone so well I was wondering whether to give up on a high and also my previous encounter with Beat The Frog in Preston had been pretty hideous. So it was…
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Prestogigaphobia – The fear of gigging in Preston
Guess what this blog post is about… Yes, you’ve guessed it, I’m heading back to Preston to see how I get on at Beat The Frog. Me and Preston have not had a good relationship since we first met nearly a year ago. Well actually it started long ago when I decided not to go…
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What I learnt this week…#1
I think it’s important to blog regularly, and to be honest for the last few weeks I have been quite neglectful as of late. Partly it’s because I’ve been really busy, I’m not making excuses, I’m just saying, loads on, once I’ve finished with work, other work, play stuff, stand-up, curing cancer and stand-up blogs…
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Gig #6 – The Beech Inn, Chorlton
I’ve been inspired to write up some gig notes by Ste Price (click here for his excellent site) to evaluate the work I’ve been doing, how I’ve felt after gigs and where I need to develop. Gig #6 was at The Beech Inn in Chorlton and was a really fun gig. I was slightly apprehensive…
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Things to remember when performing!
I’ve been feeling quite nervous about my upcoming gigs so I thought I’d write down some tips I’d been given and some things I’ve learnt. Confidence Matters – People inherently trust and follow confident people. If you look nervous onstage then the audience will be nervous and won’t follow you. It takes time – It…
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Headaches and Heckles
I’ve just had gig #3 (this time at the lovely Hot Water Comedy Club). It was the first gig I’ve really enjoyed I think while performing but also one where I think I might have learnt a lot about myself as a performer, myself as a crazy knobhead, but also, crucially, my material. So what…