The Final

20-06-2010

Bit of a hectic weekend so this is literally the first moment I have had that could be considered "me" time, time usually required to write on The Bauble.

Why have I had a hectic weekend? Well because as usually when things are not planned down to military precesion I end up having three things on all within the same forty-eight hour period. Namely the Final of the comedy contest, a hot air balloon ride that required being up at four in the morning and birthday drinks for H later that night. To say I am tired is a bit of an understatement.

Now, I will have to talk about the events of the weekend in the order they happened, so that means tomorrow you will get the hot air balloon rant as this rant is about the contest.

The night was a pretty damn good gig if ever there was one. There was a sizable crowd there made up of friends and family from the six acts on the night as well as some random folks that ambled along for a looksie. The pre-gig build up was hilarious.

As seems to happen at every stage of the contest now, the lady friend was more nervous than I was. You would have swore that she was the one getting up on stage to live and die by her material.

Me? I was my usual calm self. I had the Dictaphone in the pocket with my set and was listening to it through the night at various points. The other acts had their own rituals in progress as well. Writing out the set on a beer mat, then throwing it away. Standing down the back of the room and not talking to anybody but the other acts. Staying out of the improve section and hiding upstairs to focus their thoughts. Each to his own.

Having been told that my previous set was not as animated as usual I decided to throw myself into the routine this time. I got up, I waved my arms, walked about a little, gestured wildly, had a moment where the crowd decided to shout something up at me (it's on the video). Basically I gave it everything that I had and then some.

I got off, happy out and content with what I had done. Most of the acts that I had a chat with afterwards said that I had pulled it off better than the previous round. You can't beat advice and feedback like that.

To say that I was a little surprised that I didn't at least place would be not too far from the truth. But then you can't go second guessing the nature of the beast that is called the "Crowd". If the "Crowd" didn't like your particular brand of comedy there ain't a shit load you can do about it. Just because my set was strong enough to win the night at the Underground doesn't mean that it was going to win over a "Crowd" again. But sure what can you do? Learn from the experience and move on.

To all the lads that were up that night I say fair play, we rocked that joint like it hasn't been rocked before (mainly because it's never had the six of us on stage on the same night) and it was a great night overall.

For those that missed it I got a video of the performance for you to have a look at. Although despite only uploading it yesterday a few people have already seen it. Talk about being on the ball

What's next? Well I have no gigs lined up until October so I have to sort that out first of all. Get a few more venues around the city that I haven't tried yet and just keep working away at it.

All in a nights work. Once again, congratulations to all the boys that were on that night.

Blue_jester