(no subject)
god, i've got so much to write about. or so many things that i've done/seen that i've thought needed writing about. since last week, these things have been notable:
- brendan burns/matt kirshen doing edinburgh previews at the jug
- seeing emo philips in newbury
- godiva weekend
i think that's most of them.
last thursday, i ran the door for the first of okse's edinburgh preview nights at the jug. on this first one we had matt kirshen and brendan burns. as usual, the room didn't have a lot of energy in it, it's quite large and the people are too spaced apart from one another to really get a good atmosphere going in there. it's been a constant problem with that gig, but no-one ever listens to me when i try to point it out. there was also an issue with both acts being late, so the show didn't get started until late and brendan didn't start until about 10.50pm, by which time a lot of people had gone home already.
the shows were interesting though, in that i thought that - to some extent - seeing the two back to back illustrated 'how to do a personal edinburgh show' and 'how not to do a personal edinburgh show'. when faced with the task of producing a first full-length show, many comics decide to talk about things that are personal to them, or talk about themselves at great length. having a hour is a place to fully develop ideas and theories, a venue in which audiences are traditionally more attentive and keep up with the performer when they go on tangents that may not immediately produce laughter but reap far better rewards at the pay-off.
although being a great comedian, matt is far less experienced than brendan, who is one of the uk circuit's old hands. matt's debut show is called 'have you seen this boy?', and although he doesn't present a 'theme' as such, the description and general trajectory of the show suggest that it's about him, about how looking young has affected his life and world outlook. therefore he presents jokes and anecdotes that either discuss how he takes advantage of the world, or his entirely childish sense of humour. there's a very mature writing talent at play, but at the same time he depicts himself as both looking like a child and pretty much being a child, as would be suggested by a great routine where he discusses how automated phone services take all the fun out of practical jokes. it's funny, but just feels so impersonal. everything is geared towards a punchline, the anecdotes seem be there because he feels like a full-length show should have anecdotes rather than them saying anything more profound than anything else. it reminded me of ava vidal's show last year, another debut show which was about herself, but again it didn't feel like an engaging story because the punchlines were so obvious, and the rest of the writing was traversed around that. this is all confirmed by the fact that i'd seen matt do most of the material before, suggesting that he's dressing up his back catalogue as something personal, which it clearly isn't. he's a great comedian, but it was a pretty average show and these things are ten a penny in edinburgh, trust me i've seen a lot of them.
brendan, on the other hand, was incendiary. his show is the final chapter in a trilogy, the other two parts of which i haven't seen. he states at the top that the first part was about how his girlfriend left him, causing him to blame it on his on-stage persona (which, for those unfamilar with burns, is in your face, ballsy and often downright offensive). the second part was how he tried to deal with it by collecting enough magic mushrooms to distribute to the entire crowd at the glastonbury festival, and this part is about how he had a nervous breakdown, had to go to rehab and has now been clean for six months. compared to matt's, this doesn't feel contrived at all and is a story that is laugh-out-loud hilarious, touching and just plain scary at times. when you think about it, some of the routines don't have any relevance to the show's main thrust but it doesn't feel like that when you watch it, it just seems so natural and, basically, true. i don't really want to spoil it for anyone, but the ending makes your heart go through your mouth, and its delivered in such an earnest fashion that you realise that it isn't just stand-up, but something more. truly a masterpiece, and something to be savoured. brendan always does well at edinburgh, but i feel like he should be honoured or something this year, it feels like the apotheosis of a fantastic career (of course, one that isn't necessarily letting up).
on friday, i saw emo philips at the newbury comedy festival, which was a show that didn't take the 'personal' route that a lot of comics tend to use to approach full-length shows. emo is on his 30th anniversary tour, and is basically a truly legendary comedian. from america, he is an enormous influence on modern stand-up. and it's easy to see why. although some people find his appearance and performance annoying (he has a stupid bowl-cut and talks in a squeaky voice that goes up and down in tone constantly), but his writing is just incredible. he writes jokes that are so simple, and use the easiest joke formulas (the pull back and reveal type gag), but worded in such a way that you just don't see things coming. it's a true demonstration on how the choice of words really do make a joke. although i've probably mis-worded them with a bad memory, here are a couple of my favourites:
"i don't know date etiquette. i was out on a date, and my date was annoyed with me because i wouldn't open the car door for her. instead, i just swam to the surface."
"my ex-wife takes evil lessons with satan. i'm not sure how much she charges him."
and so forth. he was on-stage for about 75 minutes, most of it with these one or two line jokes, each one fantastically crafted. he also showed a silent film which he made in the 1990s, accompanied by him playing the clarinet. it was very, very funny and i really enjoyed it. we even managed to get the stupidly early train home (9.41pm!) and then, whilst waiting on a stop-over at banbury station, met sarah millican, who is a stand-up who had been doing jongleurs oxford that evening. i'd met her at the jug and jester once before, so we had a chat on the train back to leamington (she was staying at gary delaney's house) and it was cool to see her.
godiva was great. i didn't see many bands, but got a lot of sun and drank country cider. on the saturday, i was only there for a few hours, and only saw killa kela (and got bored after a while, it was so damn hot). but on the sunday, i saw misty's big adventure (great), devon sproule (u.s singer who anneke likes, also great) and some classical orchestra knock out the film soundtrack hits, which i was loving. big fun.
this is a long entry, but at least i'm sort of up-to-date now. yeahhh.
- brendan burns/matt kirshen doing edinburgh previews at the jug
- seeing emo philips in newbury
- godiva weekend
i think that's most of them.
last thursday, i ran the door for the first of okse's edinburgh preview nights at the jug. on this first one we had matt kirshen and brendan burns. as usual, the room didn't have a lot of energy in it, it's quite large and the people are too spaced apart from one another to really get a good atmosphere going in there. it's been a constant problem with that gig, but no-one ever listens to me when i try to point it out. there was also an issue with both acts being late, so the show didn't get started until late and brendan didn't start until about 10.50pm, by which time a lot of people had gone home already.
the shows were interesting though, in that i thought that - to some extent - seeing the two back to back illustrated 'how to do a personal edinburgh show' and 'how not to do a personal edinburgh show'. when faced with the task of producing a first full-length show, many comics decide to talk about things that are personal to them, or talk about themselves at great length. having a hour is a place to fully develop ideas and theories, a venue in which audiences are traditionally more attentive and keep up with the performer when they go on tangents that may not immediately produce laughter but reap far better rewards at the pay-off.
although being a great comedian, matt is far less experienced than brendan, who is one of the uk circuit's old hands. matt's debut show is called 'have you seen this boy?', and although he doesn't present a 'theme' as such, the description and general trajectory of the show suggest that it's about him, about how looking young has affected his life and world outlook. therefore he presents jokes and anecdotes that either discuss how he takes advantage of the world, or his entirely childish sense of humour. there's a very mature writing talent at play, but at the same time he depicts himself as both looking like a child and pretty much being a child, as would be suggested by a great routine where he discusses how automated phone services take all the fun out of practical jokes. it's funny, but just feels so impersonal. everything is geared towards a punchline, the anecdotes seem be there because he feels like a full-length show should have anecdotes rather than them saying anything more profound than anything else. it reminded me of ava vidal's show last year, another debut show which was about herself, but again it didn't feel like an engaging story because the punchlines were so obvious, and the rest of the writing was traversed around that. this is all confirmed by the fact that i'd seen matt do most of the material before, suggesting that he's dressing up his back catalogue as something personal, which it clearly isn't. he's a great comedian, but it was a pretty average show and these things are ten a penny in edinburgh, trust me i've seen a lot of them.
brendan, on the other hand, was incendiary. his show is the final chapter in a trilogy, the other two parts of which i haven't seen. he states at the top that the first part was about how his girlfriend left him, causing him to blame it on his on-stage persona (which, for those unfamilar with burns, is in your face, ballsy and often downright offensive). the second part was how he tried to deal with it by collecting enough magic mushrooms to distribute to the entire crowd at the glastonbury festival, and this part is about how he had a nervous breakdown, had to go to rehab and has now been clean for six months. compared to matt's, this doesn't feel contrived at all and is a story that is laugh-out-loud hilarious, touching and just plain scary at times. when you think about it, some of the routines don't have any relevance to the show's main thrust but it doesn't feel like that when you watch it, it just seems so natural and, basically, true. i don't really want to spoil it for anyone, but the ending makes your heart go through your mouth, and its delivered in such an earnest fashion that you realise that it isn't just stand-up, but something more. truly a masterpiece, and something to be savoured. brendan always does well at edinburgh, but i feel like he should be honoured or something this year, it feels like the apotheosis of a fantastic career (of course, one that isn't necessarily letting up).
on friday, i saw emo philips at the newbury comedy festival, which was a show that didn't take the 'personal' route that a lot of comics tend to use to approach full-length shows. emo is on his 30th anniversary tour, and is basically a truly legendary comedian. from america, he is an enormous influence on modern stand-up. and it's easy to see why. although some people find his appearance and performance annoying (he has a stupid bowl-cut and talks in a squeaky voice that goes up and down in tone constantly), but his writing is just incredible. he writes jokes that are so simple, and use the easiest joke formulas (the pull back and reveal type gag), but worded in such a way that you just don't see things coming. it's a true demonstration on how the choice of words really do make a joke. although i've probably mis-worded them with a bad memory, here are a couple of my favourites:
"i don't know date etiquette. i was out on a date, and my date was annoyed with me because i wouldn't open the car door for her. instead, i just swam to the surface."
"my ex-wife takes evil lessons with satan. i'm not sure how much she charges him."
and so forth. he was on-stage for about 75 minutes, most of it with these one or two line jokes, each one fantastically crafted. he also showed a silent film which he made in the 1990s, accompanied by him playing the clarinet. it was very, very funny and i really enjoyed it. we even managed to get the stupidly early train home (9.41pm!) and then, whilst waiting on a stop-over at banbury station, met sarah millican, who is a stand-up who had been doing jongleurs oxford that evening. i'd met her at the jug and jester once before, so we had a chat on the train back to leamington (she was staying at gary delaney's house) and it was cool to see her.
godiva was great. i didn't see many bands, but got a lot of sun and drank country cider. on the saturday, i was only there for a few hours, and only saw killa kela (and got bored after a while, it was so damn hot). but on the sunday, i saw misty's big adventure (great), devon sproule (u.s singer who anneke likes, also great) and some classical orchestra knock out the film soundtrack hits, which i was loving. big fun.
this is a long entry, but at least i'm sort of up-to-date now. yeahhh.