Thursday night saw me return to the stage for the first time in two weeks. I was on MC duties at the new night I was running in Stoke Newington.
Promoting a night is a tiring business, but if you are running a gig then it is your duty to do it properly for the good of the acts, the audience and, above all else, for live comedy.
But from the 400 flyers I distributed, just two people came. Although I am very grateful for these two people attending, especially as one of them mentioned that they had been reading my blog. Hello if you are reading this.
A few more people came along because they’d seen the night listed on a website or two and when the show was due to begin, we had six people. Due to the size of the room, I was holding out for at least ten to make it slightly less awkward, so I delayed the start. Then I was in luck when four girls walked in. I asked if they were coming for the comedy night and they said they were, so I told them that we would be starting in ten minutes. They went towards the bar to get a drink, but then walked out of the door and didn’t return.
Thankfully another three people walked in the venue shortly afterwards, so I thought I would crack on. I didn’t feel too great before I went on, as my system was still full of the lurgy, but once the adrenaline of being on stage kicked in I felt much better. Although my throat was starting to hurt quite a lot as the night progressed.
It was a pretty fun night. We ended up with about 15 people in for audience, who were friendly and receptive. But delaying the start of the gig caused the energy to dip slightly towards the end, nevertheless, it wasn’t bad by any means. I have nothing booked yet at the venue for another show, but hope to run something there before too long. Although with Edinburgh nearing, I have shows to plan and write.
That said, I’m still not completely sure I will be taking a show to this year’s Fringe. I think I was a bit too eager with my talk of a revolution. I don’t have the venue I thought I did for the time slots I thought I did. So, doing a show entitled Dirty Laundry might not be best suited to the 3pm time-slot. I will continue trying to find something, though. I am even considering hiring a van and driving it around the city to use as a mobile gig venue. Check back here for more updates on this, because there will be plenty.