Thursday night’s gig took me to the bizarre location of a cafe, which also happened to be a bicycle repair shop. I can now add that to the list of bizarre locations I’ve done gigs.
The venue was only about five minutes walk from where I work, so I arrived uncharacteristically early. But when I went in and had a look around, I thought I must have the wrong place, so I went outside to check that it was definitely the right location.
It was the right place, and when I returned later, the microphone was being set up at the far end of the cafe. But there were many people eating at the tables, who didn’t exactly look like they were there for comedy.
It was quite a long room and began to sort of resemble a gig slightly more when the chairs were arranged by the stage area. But even so, I thought that I’d be performing to the handful of people listening at the front, with the rest of the cafe talking amongst themselves.
So I braced myself for apathy, a state I know all too well. This was reinforced when the MC began the show and there was a lot of background chatter. There were about 60 people in the venue and I’d say that around 40 weren’t there for comedy. But when the first act came on, the audience started to listen and then laugh.
I’d braced myself for an odd gig, but it actually turned out to be really nice. I didn’t do too badly and a new line got a big laugh, which is most encouraging from an audience with the majority not there to watch comedy.
In dream news, I dreamt the other night that I was performing my Edinburgh show, but on a stage that was about 20ft above the large room where the audience were spread out across. I then spoke about how I had to be careful because of the large drop, at which point I fell off and landed on the floor. I picked myself up and carried on, but it wasn’t a great gig. I know that this is not a premonition, because the room myself and Langton are in looks nothing like this, unless there have been some major renovations. If I brace myself for the worst then it’ll turn out good. That’s the way forward.
And tomorrow, it is off to Brighton Fringe for four days of Snigger Happy. Check back for daily updates, which may or may not be here depending on internet/computer access.
– Snigger Happy runs from 21-24 May at 7pm, at The Temple, 121 Western Road, Brighton, BN1 2AD.