Konstantin Kisen - Bear Jokes |
Early January is a difficult time to run a night, never mind the first
Friday of the month, but with a great line-up and some promising signs on the
various social networks I headed to Aldgate with a degree of positive
expectation.
By 8pm the acts were ready and a scattering of MeetUp-based audience
were in the front row. Andy Onions took to the stage and was caught off guard
with the arrival of significantly more people. The show had moved from informal
chat to proper event at the swing of a door. Some on stage shots downed with
volunteers later and he introduced the first of the eight acts.
Though as promoter I’m unlikely to say otherwise, the show ran really
well with really strong sets across the board. The second half built on the first
and by the time Nathan Cassidy stepped into the final spot a real air of
togetherness was wafting about the room.
Promptly as if on cue, two drunk men wandered in and one started to
give the kind of bemused heckles only capable of the inebriated (“What are you
talking about?” two seconds in to entering the room.) Nathan took this as open
season and quickly went about destroying him in the kindest ways possible. They
went with it and we closed on a high – after locating it both guys even put a
pound each in the bucket. If everyone put a pound in for every 5 minutes of
show I might actually make a profit one day.
The Denmark Street Comedy
Explosion, The Alleycat (9.1.17)
I’d been keen to do this show for ages and not even a tube strike was
going to stop me getting to this gig. Two train changes and a long walk from
Euston Square later I finally arrived on Denmark Street and headed down into a
basement venue I last visited to watch Emily Capell and, you know, actual
music.
The room was as I remembered it. A small stage and bar at one end and
plenty of side-on seating along the wall. More chairs had been put out though
facing the front and there were plenty of people milling about so I said hello
to various acts I’d seen before and settled in for the show to begin.
MC Sam kicked off somewhat after the 8pm start time and did what he
could to draw in the loud and largely uninterested group of film students who
made up the bulk of the crowd and were sat around a large table at the back.
After some musical comedy loop pedal based work they were warming but were
still very much on the tepid side with the first act came on.
Within minutes the first act was fighting a losing battle to win over
the group and things got particularly unusual when another act shouted out he
should “do some material”. A verbal to-and-fro between them ensued and soon
enough the set was over with little to show for it. The second act then took a
more direct approach and stood on one of the empty chairs at the front as an
improvised stage to take on the rapidly cooling collective.
Ten minutes on and things had got somewhat combative with words like
“twat” thrown out and then apologised for. The already belligerent students
walked out just in time to miss some really decent sets that
followed – albeit with an audience of acts plus three thoroughly lost but
friendly strangers. By the time my set rolled around in the second half I was
shouting into an abyss – having shell shocked those left with a backing
tracking initially broadcasting at the level of a personal attack alarm.
Chelsea Hart rounded things of neatly and all that was left to do was some
improvised musical composition with Sam’s loop pedal and an Uber home.
Strange night but I’d do it again.
Bear Jokes, Pub on the Park (12.1.17)
Sleet and snow isn't exactly the weather you want when running a night but I was optimistic as I brought my frostbitten fingers into the pub and put up the posters in a fumbling manner. The line-up was strong, the room looked good and the pub had enough people sheltering from the cold to provide some kind of audience if they hours of social media plugging and time spend listing amounted to nothing at all.
I opened by airing Crisis of Conscience for the first time in ages and the small but enthusiastic audience punch the air in the necessary manner. A couple who'd been dining downstairs prior to the show stayed amused the whole night whilst another couple grinned constantly whilst curled up on one of the sofas. Of all the acts, Fiona Ridgewell and Konstantin Kisen did particularly well and a a no-show from one acts ensured we finished promptly at 10pm.
Unlike previous Bear Jokes events I'm now venturing into talking to the audience between acts to some degree in preparation for an August of MCing Edinburgh Clash of the Tight-Tens. Thus far the jokes are still reserved purely for the songs but I'm certainly improving on including the audience and making them feel welcome. Even if my most astute bit of observation was that two of them were wearing scarves...
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