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The Archive
2004
Beginners luck
I was encouraged to try stand-up by Colin, landlord of the Bunch of Grapes, home to Mark Olver’s weekly open-mic night.
I booked my first five-minute spot for my birthday weekend in January 2003.
On the bill were the excitable anarchist Eric Mutch, Wil Hodgson—who went on to win the 2004 Edinburgh Fringe Best Newcomer Award—and Russell Howard! I barely remember my performance, but I’ll never forget the relief, adrenaline and achievement I felt afterwards.
In April that year, i entered a BBC new act competition, held at The Cavern in Bath. Id done three or four gigs by then and met one performer who was about to perform for the first time was Jon Richardson. He looked sick with nerves but I gave him some reassuring words of encouragement. I didn't get through to the Semi Finals but Jon did along with Rhod Gilbert, who went on to win the title.
Unbeknownst to me at the time, I was performing with the future stars of British Comedy.
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Stage Two
After a short period settling into life on the English Riviera, my thoughts soon returned to comedy. There wasn't a community of aspiring comedians for support and Torquay’s Koko Lounge, a former casino, hosted a regular comedy night that offered a steady stream of top comedians from the circuit.
The Koko Lounge had one unusual feature: a huge sofa on stage, where punters sat behind the comedian, facing the audience. They were usually exactly the sort of people you might expect to choose such a seat, and they rarely contributed anything positive to the show. . If I learned one thing from Koko Lounge, it was never to put a sofa on stage.
Mirth Control
The gig at The Koko Lounge was booked with an agency called Mirth Control, founded by comedian Geoff Whiting, which gave early opportunities to comedians including Jimmy Carr and Sarah Millican. If you had a venue and wanted a line up of comedians, Mirth Control were the only call you had to make.
Comedians would get a call and if they agreed to do the gig, everyone involved just trusted that they would turn up on the night. There was not much more too it than that. Through Mirth Control, I began taking unpaid open spots and progressed to filling the MC spots which were paid something like £30-£40, Over the following months I was getting an increasing number of gigs and .meeting more brilliant comedians and rising stars than ever. I learned much during this time and met some weird and wonderful artists, some who I continue to book over 20 years late.
Back To School
Comedy was supplementing some fairly low paid jobs and I could never see myself making a living from stand-up. I decided to put my degree to use by training to become a drama teacher. It wasn't a random decision, I'd studied a drama degree and been performing since the early 1990's, even spending some time as a street performer and mime artist in Germany. That was before stand up comedy came along. So began a year of study that would make the late nights travelling home from gigs difficult, alongside what would turn out to be a pretty intense course. I followed the well worn path of many comedy cast-offs, I made plans to run a comedy night near to home and host it . It was the perfect way to get my performance fix without the travelling far and I'd seen alot of examples of good and bad gigs in recent months.
Reality Check
Like many developing comedians with a family to support, I faced the challenge of balancing ambition with financial security. I have the utmost respect for comedians that have made stand up their full time career and overtime, that respect has only grown.
Gagging For It
Reality Check
This was the point that I found myself a little venue near to home and put on a comedy night ., It was a small street level bar attached to the rather regal looking Belgrave Hotel on Torquay seafront. I asked a few comedians that I had met on the circuit and got the word out somehow. This was pre-Facebook, Had I not harvested contacts as a compere and made a few comedy acquaintances along the way. booking quality acts would 've been extremely difficult. The gig was named 'Gagging For It, borrowed from Mark Olver's Bunch Of Grapes night that was no longer running. Yes, I did ask him if it was OK to use the name!
So the first club night was born. I booked Wil Hodgson, Simon Dunn and Nick Page, three acts I worked alongside many times in Bristol. A bunch of people turned up to support, I hosted and recall one audience member being a little chatty throughout, not intentionally disruptive, but Nick Page came on stage, and didn't seem in the mood for more, almost turning the room into a crime scene.!
The following fifteen years would see me booking, promoting and hosting shows alongside a full time teaching career that would eventually bring me to Norfolk.
WIth Will Hodgson & Simon Dunn
The FIrst Show Dickens Bar, Torquay
28th October 2004
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