Sometimes it's a case of credit where it's due. When you see something that's good, it's nice to acknowledge it. A bit of unqualified praise goes a long way. So "You were good, but I'm better" or "I like some of what you do, but did you have to do X?" doesn't cut it. If something is, on the whole, good, you should be able to express that. If someone asks for more detail about things you didn't mention, then sure - tell them anything they want to know, but you don't have to do the whole "yes, but" business. Not in every review.

Last Night
Last night I was at a gig. I enjoyed a lot of things at the gig. I had a chat with an act where in the "yes but" category, which seemed appropriate as what they'd done had been so fascinating, that I wasn't in the mood for praise, so much as analysis. However, there were acts on the bill last night who were just in the "mate, that was great" category. So that's the sentiment I want to record.

Chortle is a good place to do this sort of a thing. Their forums allow comedians to comment on each other. Back in the day, I think this was also a bitchy sort of place, and maybe it still can be, to an extent, but these days I use it in the form of "if you've got nothing nice to say, then be quiet". There were some outstanding contributions last night, so I recorded my thoughts on them. This makes me happy, and I hope it's nice for the acts in question to read about themselves.

Having said that, the last post on this blog, suggests that a review can be a bit reductionist; it turns all that effort into a few glib words. For all I know, my review may make the act feel like they've been lessened in some way; do they even need my blessing? No. But I know what I like, and I like to share that. So don't let's start reviewing the reviews too much.

Positivity in the tea-cakes
I want to be positive today. Today is a new day. The start of a new world. It's the end of a week, and the start of a mental weekend... with a pretty damned ridiculous week next week to follow. So today I will exercise being happy for a bit.

The hatred will follow in the next post. :) Really... it will.

One final thought
A few months back (not quite two years) I did a gig in Huddersfield. I knew from the bill that I wasn't the right act to close that night. The opening and middle act were more experienced and advanced in their comedy careers than me. In fact, when I'd first spoken to that promoter, I had decided not to ask them for a closing spot, but my "booker" had gone in afterwards and up-sold me to the closing spot at the last minute.

I wasn't going to turn down a reasonable paying gig on the basis of my own status. I was going to go out there and do my damndest to be worth the money that was being paid. I don't recall exactly how well I did. Luckily, there's a little record of it. I recall feeling a bit apologetic around the other acts. It made me raise my game and I gained from it, even though the promoter didn't.

I didn't want to be slated by anyone as a resulf of what happened on that night. I also didn't want faint praise or false praise to be heaped on me. So I was glad not to be reviewed back then.