Last week, I had to pull out of two gigs last week due to flu commitments.
I have just about got over whatever this illness was and have done four gigs in three nights; predictably, I am now feeling rather tired. So, after having had an underwhelming Chinese takeaway, I will now spend my Friday evening recounting this week’s experiences while I listen to film scores by John Williams.
My gig week began with Ruby Tuesdays, the night set up in November 2009 with a group of comedy friends that is dwindling by the month. That has also been replicated by the audience numbers, this month we started the night with four people and finished with two. It is fair to say that the night has seen healthier days and it would be sad for it to go out on a low with all the highs that there have been since its inception, so I think some emergency surgery is needed to breathe some life back into this former gem. Myself and Langton are meeting up with the venue’s management next week, so we shall know more after then. Anyway, I had also seen healthier days and was going to drop out of this month’s Ruby in favour of an early night. But I went along to see everyone and you know how it is. You go to a gig, one thing leads to another and before you know it you’re on stage and doing a comedy set. And although I was quite a way from full strength, there were some encouraging reactions from the small but attentive crowd.
On Wednesday, I had two gigs and how I fared at both can accurately be described as meagre. At the first gig, I was opening and perhaps doing a new routine in front of a handful of comics scattered across a bar was not the best gauge of its quality, or was it too kind on the soul. But that’s the thing with new material; you can either bottle out of doing it, or go through the pain barrier in the quest to get it into shape. I have obviously gone for the painful option, as I know no other way. At my second gig of the night, I was on towards the end and could feel the audience were tired. I started off the second gig fairly strongly, but then things took a dive and my set finished with little more than a whimper.
And then last night, I performed at a very nice gig in Oxted, which I hadn’t been to in two years. My rider was a bowl of chilli and a bottle of beer. I was opening the show and didn’t do too badly at all. I started off pretty well, dipped slightly in the middle and picked up again towards the end.
I hope that I am now rid of the flu, although it is quite hard to type while having to keep touching wood.