Sunday 28 August 2016

The Final Mirthquake

The final day for Mirthquake started with my last slot at Comedy Tapas at Opium. As usual the place was busy and, in tribute to the rock nature of the venue, I decided to do 'Clicking Like' for a change to an appreciative, though not a suitably rowdy, response. The same low energy met most of the acts throughout the hour and it was clear that the audience were feeling as knackered as the performers were at this, the tail-end of the fringe. 

Still, I handed out about 50 flyers as people left then joined Chris O'Neil (who runs the show) and David Tsonous for curry at The Mosque Kitchen. It's always interesting to eat with people with long histories in comedy as you tend to learn a lot from them. We also discussed the challenges of different venues and plans for next year's run.

Meal eaten I was back out flyering for Mirthquake, determined to go out on a big one. The footfall was good but few people were interested in taking either a blue book or a flyer. Fatigue is certainly the word. Onions had more success though and come 4:30 we had 24 people in for our final show - including the barman from a nearby pub who'd be promising to come all week.

The pub was noisy and the room was hot but we gave it all we could. Microphone problems dogged parts of my set but it largely went down well with the obvious split between 4 who clearly weren't having a great time and 20 who were. If you don't join in the songs they're a lot less fun but some people simply have a problem letting go. Come next year this shouldn't be an issue as it'll most likely be a solo effort and so those who are too uptight to enjoy what I do simply won't come.

Show complete I stayed on for my guest spot at Thom Milner's show and did three tracks to a very positive ten people who were only too happy to join in with everything - in many ways making it the more enjoyable gig for me. CDs duly went out to some very happy people.

Come 9pm I was back in the Bourbon Bar with a capacity (20) audience to perform to. After a strong opening the acts that followed were a vary mixed bag with two in particular rambling on about their chosen subjects without the hint of a punchline. My tracks went down well though and the closing act, a girl with a ukulele, concluded the night well. More CDs handed out I then headed across the Banshee Labyrinth to watch "50 Ways to Sack your Drummer" before, inevitably, meeting up with everyone in Opium to dance around to rock music with people who largely weren't even born at the time half the music was made.

Rather than add a separate entry for my lone show on Sunday I'll tack it on here for completion's sake. The festival has very much wound down now and Whistlebinkies was less than half full for Camden Comedy. The acts were great though, Susie Steed doing her trademark sloth/moth material and a headline set from the engaging Hackney-based Edinburger Megan Shandley. More CDs went out and I had a long conversation with an older lady about the perils of selfie sticks. Thankyou Edinburgh, I think we're done :o)

Shows Performed: 4 (54)
Bums on seats at Mirthquake: 24 (385)
Money in the Mirthquake bucket: £37.20 (£574.20)
Steps walked according to my pedometer: 15,152 (382,028) 
CDs Remaining: 34 

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