Diaries Of a Dirty Open Mic-er - July

July Blog

Fourth month of this blog, and it is actually pretty enjoyable. Keeping a public diary is a good way of remembering the nights. I've spoken to a few comedians about their time on the open mic circuit and how they miss it. Not the lack of money, but the camaraderie of the other comedians. Sometimes, I feel like the people who want to do this full-time are in such a rush to make it a career so they can earn money from it, it stops them from enjoying it as much.

I think about this a lot when people talk about how they’re trying to find their character/style/persona when they've only been doing it for a little while. Some people are lucky and find it early, knowing who they are and what their style is; some don’t, and I feel there is no need to rush it. Playing with persona and style is how you get there; experimentation is part of it.

I've been doing open mics for over 2 years, which in the grand scheme of things is very little. I get even newer acts than myself coming up and sometimes asking me things about comedy, and the truth is that I don’t really know anything about comedy. All I know is that I go on stage and sometimes do jokes that work and some that don’t, and I know what I like comedically and artistically. Somebody a month in asking me is like a newborn asking a 2-year-old what to do. I don’t know what to do, and don’t ask me because I'm just jealous that you still get to breastfeed.

Something I would say to newer people, I guess, is that when somebody is bad in front of you, try not to fall into the trap of believing you’re a god of comedy because you have done 10 gigs and they have all gone relatively well, and this person who has been going for 2 years is having a bad gig.

I think people should have more bad gigs; it means you’re trying more stuff, working on more bits, pushing out jokes, especially if you want it as a career. I’m not right; it's just an opinion. Some people get a good 10 minutes and hang onto it for far too long. I get it; it's hard coming up with stuff, somewhat painful even. Nobody wants to volunteer to be in pain, which is why I've just turned off the England game as we start a penalty shootout.I cannot be dealing with that!

Anyway, according to my diary, this month I have 15 gigs booked, which is pretty good going. Two of them are Fringe shows; hopefully, I sell some tickets; otherwise, that will be embarrassing!Excitingly, or perhaps not so excitingly, I have also decided to start doing 1-minute vlogs of my gig days, to give people the insight that none of them asked for. It's said that it's now important to have a good social following. I'll be honest, it really grinds against everything I think about comedy, but I also do not have enough skill as a comedian to grow my following organically, so here we are.I was supposed to gig with Mirth, but something got mixed up, so I messaged Kyle at G&B, and he was kind enough to pop me on his show last minute.

Gigs

This section is about the gigs i did and how i felt i did at the gigs, i will link the gigs Instagram pages, just incase anybody reading wants to hit them up for gigs. If i can get on to them anybody can so do the usual contact, send a video, etc...

G&B – The Bell, first time I have done this gig. I really like these gigs; I think they are some of the better open mic nights in London. The MCs always do a great job at getting the audience laughing and on side, warming up the audience nicely for the comics to come on and do their thing. This sounds as though it should be commonplace, and it should be... but it isn’t. I had an okay gig; did a bit about barge poles that I enjoy but am trying to refine down. The audience was receptive; it was good fun!

3 Locks Camden – This was the first one of these gigs at this venue run by Martin Dixon. It was a lovely space; there was a train going overhead, which I found slightly freaky, but there was a great audience and a lovely venue. I hope it continues to be a great night there. I wanted to go on and crush the room, just grab the audience so tightly that their Play-Doh bodies would ooze through the cracks in my hands. Instead, I did just okay... got a couple of good laughs.

The Swan – Small audience this evening. Did some stuff that I did a couple of days ago that went well, and it died a horrible, horrible death on stage. Hard to tell if the material was the issue, as there were only really a couple of people in the audience. We go again, though. We go again.

Guildford Fringe – Got cancelled, unfortunately. It was a work-in-progress show, and I didn’t advertise it enough. Also, it was capped at £11, which personally I think is mental. Nobody is paying £11 to see a show that’s not finished, especially when there are good comedians there that have fully finished shows for the same price. But that’s what happens.

Follow Comedy – Lovely gig as always. I did new stuff, and it went well. I thought it wasn’t very good, but after I watched the footage of myself back, I saw that I'd done better than I'd originally thought, which was a nice surprise!

Hardy Ha Comedy Festival – Lovely gig. Opened the show again, which was fun as we had a hen party in there, and they were really up for it. It was another one where I thought it wasn’t that good, but upon watching it back, I saw that it had gone quite well.

The Point – This was a very strange night! Very alternative, even with myself. By the end, it was just nice to actually have some normal acts on the stage. Did some new bits that went okay.

Hayling Island – Cancelled due to lack of interest... they obviously don’t know who I am.

Bedford Fringe – Tough one today. Somehow managed to talk to a crowd for 45 minutes. They were very, very nice to me and knew exactly what they were getting themselves into coming to a work-in-progress show, which is good. I was still very nervous as I realized I do not have 45 minutes worth of stuff, so a lot of it was crowd work with the 5 people that were there. Long way to go for it, but I've gone further for less.

Belgium and Blues – Was a brilliant night! Lovely crowd, some great acts on, really enjoyed it!

Ventnor Fringe – Tough open. Quiet crowd for me on the split bill. I did 30 minutes of stuff, which again made me realize I didn’t have 30 minutes of good stuff. I was so incredibly nervous because these people had paid to see my nonsense for 30 minutes, although it was a split bill with me and Jack Clay, who did well with the audience! It would be good to get a few more goes at it to learn what I have and haven’t got.

Farnham – Crrrrruuuuuuuusssssshhhhhhhed it! Felt good to crush one, to be fair. Had a difficult month of no crush. No crush at all. Just a crushless man living his sad crushless life, and then... BAM! CRUSH!

The Swan - Got called in last minute by "Good Guy Ry" to do his gig, they weren't really into my jokes to be fair. i did a couple that end out and a couple that went poorly but they where more into having a conversation with me honestly. which i was fine with, we all still had fun and some good laughs. being able to talk to an audience is an important skill to practice too i believe

Presuming Eds – Went okay. It was a nice crowd down in Brighton, which was nice as I usually get the feeling I'm not generally well received down there. Sometimes I think it’s because I come from the Bournemouth area and they can smell the whiff of conservative on me. Or it could be that I'm just not funny… probably that. That said, it went well and it was a lovely night!

Kiss Arse Section

This section is me kissing the arses of comedians that I have seen at the nights I have attended who I thought had a great performance.

Leah Davis – She was the opener for Martin Dixon's show, and she was class. She was a great opener, and for people that don’t know, opening a show is quite a difficult thing to do. The audience is often still finding their feet and warming up. Her material was interesting and funny, obviously. She wasn’t just there giving a TED talk. Great interactions with the crowd. Wonderfully present in the room. Which, again, sounds obvious, but there are a lot of people that have no idea what is going on, and it makes a big difference when you can interact with the room. Highly recommend for anybody looking for a great act!

William Stone – Saw Bill at Ed’s Comedy Club, and just thought he was brilliant! Loved his style, had a hilarious persona, whatever that means. I don’t even know, but I'm saying it because he was really funny and I don’t know how to review people. He is doing alright without my endorsement, to be fair, but I would 100% recommend him for anybody’s gig. Hilarious!Not many people in this section this month, despite seeing people that are good. That’s going to happen as I see a lot of people who are the same people and who do the same stuff time and time again.

I guess I should encourage people to engage with the post, so if you want to ask me a question, then please do. I'll do my best to answer honestly. Please remember I'm only an open mic-er, so any questions about comedy I answer don’t mean that I'm right!I think it was Jerry Seinfeld who said the number of years in comedy you have done is how old you are in comedy. Which makes me 2.5 years old. You wouldn’t take the word of a 2.5-year-old as gospel, would you?

Anyway, cheers for reading!