Glasgow Comedy Festival Blog - Part I

And we’re off. The 2009 comedy festival has started and already I have met exhausted comics who are trying to cram in eight gigs a night. I am taking a more leisurely approach to the festival but will of course relate any tales of exhaustion, desperation or violence I hear.

There are lots of gigs on the go in the festival from lunchtime to early evening and on to the small hours of the night. Late night ones are the most fun (for the audience) but can often be difficult to do as a comic. People sometimes wonder why, as it is a common belief that drunken audiences are easier to play to. Sometimes they can be but there is a certain stage that people reach when drinking where it becomes impossible to communicate with them. It happened to me a couple of weeks back at the Stand in Edinburgh when a woman in the front row was so drunk that no amount of reasoning, banter or shouting would work and she had to be removed.

It is a rarity in clubs, particularly in late night ones where often the comics are just as drunk as the audience, but it does happen. There are lots of late clubs at the festival, including the Stand, Uisge Beatha, Sloans and Blackfriars, and sometimes you see well known acts in a much more intimate environment than usual. Last year Jason Byrne went from the Fruitmarket in front of hundreds of people to Blackfriars in front of 50 lucky punters. So if you are going to see a show, make a night of it and see some late night comedy as well. Just don’t get too pissed. It’s fucking annoying.

My festival has been good so far – I MCd the Chortle student competition on Thursday night at the QM Union in Glasgow. The standard was extremely high and it was won by Iain Stirling – a rather attractive young boy with interesting hair.

Last night I was at a new venue for the Comedy Festival – WEST. If you have ever been to Glasgow, taken an E and spent some time up at tree at Glasgow Green you may have seen the building in which it is housed. It is an old carpet factory called the Templeton Building (Google it, it’s amazing). The bar is delightful and the audience last night were – how shall I say – chilled. That’s it, chilled. They all decided as one that they would have a smashing night where they sat and laughed but said nothing. And it happens.

One of the reasons why comics should always turn up at the start of any gig is not only to see what fannies are in but also to see how the audience react to questions. When MCing a gig there are times where you use no material at all for 20 minutes. Then there are some gigs where you only use material because the audience give you nothing. Last night was a bit like that – but I had a good gig and when Reg D Hunter is headlining anything it will always be a cracker.

Today I am doing an afternoon gig for children. I am quite nervous about it – Tiernan, who runs it, keeps saying to me just to do my normal material but without the swearing. I am unsure whether or not the eight years old of Glasgow are ready to hear about lesbian life or indeed about hiding food from themselves. I worry that if I did such material in ten years time there would be a sudden increase in gay anorexics in Glasgow. Something I wouldn’t be proud of. Well maybe a bit.

Then later I am on at WEST again with Reg, I think. It is a lovely gig so if you want a chilled out experience it is on every Friday and Saturday at 9pm

I’ll let you know how it goes with the kids. Pray for me.