The Return
20-09-2011My last gig was the Comedy Dublin Final in 2010. June 2010 to be precise. Meaning that I am now officially over a year off the stage.
This is a big thing.
Why this long a break between gigs?
Well mainly because a lot of the clubs that I used to get a regular slot from closed their doors. Plus with me changing jobs I didn't have a lot of free time to get gigs. Then there was the year of weddings that I had to contend with. Also the few gigs that I had lined up post Comedy Dublin Final I had to cancel due to getting the wisdom teeth out. Not to mention that I wrote two books.
So basically, I don't think I had the time to get a gig even if I wanted to.
Then again that is just an excuse really, right? If I wanted to continue in the comedy scene I could have made the time. Found the time. Given up something to ensure I had gig time. I just didn't go at it as hard as I should have. I know one Northern Comic from that border county that has to be one of the hardest working comedians in the country, aiming to get thirty-two gigs in thirty-two counties. He's just as busy, if not more so, than me.
So I reckon you could say that I am lazy.
Whatever the reason is, I am once more returning to the stage. My first gig of 2011 will be on September 29th.
Not only will it be my first gig in a year it will be my first gig in my hometown: Lucan.
I lived there for nearly twenty years and never even saw so much as a comedy night on in one of the local pubs. I move out and two weekly clubs open up in two different places. Rat bastards.
How did this come about? Well my mam and sister were having dinner in a restaurant that has a rarely used cellar-pub which has become home to one of these new clubs. They listened to the acts and decided that I should be on the stage. The decided to demand that the organiser give me a gig.
In one of those gloriously funny coincidences the club runner just happens to be another comic that I know. He popped onto Facebook and a few bytes later I got me a gig without even knowing I wanted one.
The lady friend has been at me for about six months to get back into the comedy. She even took me to a few gigs to remind me how much I enjoyed doing them, being up there and making people chuckle.
Sadly I haven't written a single new joke in the last year. So I will be running with an old set of material. An old set that hasn't been uttered in well over a year. The gig is in just over a week, I am busy this weekend, and I have to relearn an entire set and get my timings and pacing back up to speed.
Just like the old days I guess, I do like me some comedy pressure.
Blue_jester
Tags: comedy
pip | Tue, 20 Sep 11 23:07:34 +0100
u'll have some great jokes about falling off ireland's everest or getting lost in a fog and nearly dying of exposure! or of going on a mountain climbiing exhibition and spending the whole weekend in the gleneagle spa debating whether or not golf is a real sport!
u'll have some great jokes about falling off ireland's everest or getting lost in a fog and nearly dying of exposure! or of going on a mountain climbiing exhibition and spending the whole weekend in the gleneagle spa debating whether or not golf is a real sport!
franyhi | Wed, 21 Sep 11 14:07:10 +0100
I agree with Pip. You need to update the old material. You've changed, the world has changed, your material needs to evolve, be bulked up, cut down etc.
I agree with Pip. You need to update the old material. You've changed, the world has changed, your material needs to evolve, be bulked up, cut down etc.
blue_jester | Wed, 21 Sep 11 14:56:00 +0100
He didn't say I had to change the material Franyhi, just that I would have more to pool from
No way in hell am I writing an entire new set with week's notice. Writing ten minutes takes the best part of a two weeks to write and practice. The next gig (if I continue) will be new material.
He didn't say I had to change the material Franyhi, just that I would have more to pool from
No way in hell am I writing an entire new set with week's notice. Writing ten minutes takes the best part of a two weeks to write and practice. The next gig (if I continue) will be new material.
Shortie | Wed, 21 Sep 11 16:39:44 +0100
I am sure if you wanted to put together new material you would have an abundance of stories involving Mr Franyhi
I am sure if you wanted to put together new material you would have an abundance of stories involving Mr Franyhi