The other glimmer of hope in the ever darkening nebula of my gaseous comedy career is the possibility of more cruise gigs. Though i ain’t received a ‘report’ back – better to hear the report of a gun some would say – i have had instructions to make my calendar available for next year. Possibly a new kind of onboard comedy club will be set up by a northern company – aye lad. well, it might be a bit too early to get excited, but fingers crossed.
I was also tentatively offered something for this week, but, while i could do it if i left on sunday when the ship departed i couldn’t actually leave on the saturday, which is what they wanted ideally. The gig last nigh – the saturday – was a 60th birthday in andover. Everyone was dressed in Peaky Blinders theme. flat caps on the men, women as flappers. the DJ helped me set up the far from ideal room, to help get the audience focus: a chair moved here. a light turned on there, plus of course we shut the bar, and the roulette etc. (yes there was mini roulette). It worked, and thsi time i got Tony – the birthday boy – up to do the darth vader with me.
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Went for lunch in carmarthen on friday, what a fabulous meal we had, wendy and i, at the Rose & Crown. beforehand I spent 20 mins walkin the streets saying ‘shwd mae’ to strangers just to see if i could hear some spoken welsh – yes i got a few shwd mae’s back.
On friday night i got a lift from the gentleman geography teacher from Penllerger, and up comin’ comic, Daf Rhys, to a gig in Hungerford. Now that was a very welsh journey – that’s all we spoke in the car. while the car was amazin, the audience we found was a relatively timid looking bunch in a sombre church hall…However they laughed in the right places at all the right things. and to be honest it was a very uplifting gig. Hungerford is a quaint village full of orante buildings, some thatched.
and i got to see Sian Doughty – not her stage name – a londoner of welsh extraction. she has a very original act, combining bawdiness, carry on, with a 70s sit-com/abigail’s Party…her stage name is Sally Firth which, and apparently not a lot people spot this, is a parody of sally forth.
Daf was good and got some big laughs. he’s been takin time out as he’s had a kid.
The following day i went back to just south of Hungerford – Andover. Here i performed at a bloke’s 60the birthday party. it was a themed evening, with everyone dressed in Peaky Blinders’ costumes.