This Site Has Moved

New Wordpress Site

The Old/Non Updated Content...




The home of the haikulator

 

Links

Sentence Generators
My Stand-up & gigs
The Coding Craftsman
BurberryAndBroccoli
MarkInventions

The Musical!
Incredible Productions

apostrophell
backlash
incredible
haiku


Previous Posts

It'll Never Last
Should Win... Probably Won't
It Takes As Much Work To Make A Bad One....
Take That China!
The Continuous Descent Into Madness
You've Been Cancelled
Sort Yourself Out eBayers
The Art of Not Writing
Give Me Your Voice
Not Another Virtual Choir

Blog Archives

October 2001
November 2001
December 2001
January 2002
February 2002
March 2002
April 2002
May 2002
June 2002
July 2002
August 2002
September 2002
October 2002
November 2002
December 2002
January 2003
February 2003
March 2003
April 2003
May 2003
June 2003
July 2003
August 2003
September 2003
October 2003
November 2003
December 2003
January 2004
February 2004
March 2004
April 2004
May 2004
June 2004
July 2004
August 2004
September 2004
October 2004
November 2004
December 2004
January 2005
February 2005
March 2005
April 2005
May 2005
June 2005
July 2005
August 2005
September 2005
November 2005
December 2005
January 2006
February 2006
March 2006
April 2006
May 2006
June 2006
July 2006
August 2006
September 2006
October 2006
November 2006
December 2006
January 2007
February 2007
March 2007
April 2007
May 2007
June 2007
July 2007
August 2007
September 2007
October 2007
November 2007
December 2007
January 2008
February 2008
March 2008
April 2008
May 2008
June 2008
July 2008
August 2008
September 2008
October 2008
November 2008
December 2008
January 2009
March 2009
April 2009
May 2009
August 2009
September 2009
January 2010
March 2010
April 2010
May 2010
June 2010
July 2010
August 2010
September 2010
October 2010
November 2010
December 2010
January 2011
February 2011
March 2011
April 2011
May 2011
June 2011
July 2011
August 2011
October 2011
December 2011
February 2012
March 2012
April 2012
May 2012
June 2012
July 2012
March 2013
April 2013
May 2013
June 2013
July 2013
August 2013
September 2013
October 2013
December 2013
January 2014
February 2014
March 2014
May 2014
July 2014
January 2015
February 2015
March 2015
April 2015
May 2015
June 2015
July 2015
August 2015
January 2016
February 2016
March 2016
April 2016
May 2016
July 2016
August 2017
January 2018
August 2018
September 2018
July 2019
August 2019
May 2020
June 2020
July 2020
August 2020
September 2020
December 2020
January 2021
July 2021
September 2021
February 2022

Wednesday, June 30

Between Posts

I'm in a strange place right now. Home life is good, so let's put that out of the equation for the purposes of this discussion. Life with kittens and domestic bliss is just that, homely happiness. However, in the other worlds I inhabit, office and comedy, I'm in a waiting pattern.

Office - WHY!?
I do an office job because it's an essential way for me to earn a living and make all the other things I do, and want to do in my life, possible. Simple as. I'm not motivated by the money - it's a life I've subscribed to. I feel a sense of loyalty to the commitments I've taken on, and the people I work with. The office is a sort of a community, and it's one of whose outcome I am invested in.

That said, the office is in a strange shape at the moment, figuratively and literally. I've just moved desk. As such I'm feeling a bit displaced. It's been a growing sense of displacement, really. The world was simpler back in November. Back in November, there were three of us sitting in the UK, backed up by a further six in Budapest. We set in a group in the UK and kept closely in touch with the Budapest people. Then things changed. The work didn't, but the responsibilities moved around. One of our UK three stopped working on our specific stuff, and we all stopped sitting together.

Desk move one had me sitting with some people who do something similar to me, but aren't working on the same stuff as I am. I'm still in touch with the other people in the team working on things, but we're not co-located. This breaks community. It's just one of those things.

I've just gone through desk move two. I'm only a few feet away from where I was. But now, I'm surrounded either by empty desks, or people doing stuff that's quite unrelated to what I'm doing. There are still similarities and areas of overlap. I will work with these people from time to time. What's the problem? There are two problems.

Firstly, I can't help but feel like I'm as far away from my community of like-minded people as I could possibly be. Secondly, I can't help but feel like the people in this part of the office consider talking loudly to be a higher priority than working. There's a lot of chatter and playing music loudly through headphones will not obscure it. I'm probably going to end up quite angry. I'm already rather pissed off, and I've only been at this desk for a few minutes today so far.

So, these will be interesting times. I've half a mind to invite the more loud-mouthed of the people to meetings in remote parts of the office, and then not turn up to those meetings myself, to at least buy myself occasional 10 minutes-es of quiet. Grrrr.

Comedically
I'm in a real down at the moment relating to my show. It's periods like this which sap your confidence. A part of me knows that I'll not improve any flaws in the show by using excuses to take away from the fact that the end hasn't worked for the last couple of performances. By the end, I mean the last 15 minutes. That's not good.

The official excuses are that I've done an hour-long set in a comedy club not used to such a length of performance, starting after 10.15pm in both cases, with a relatively small audience. However, why am I expecting the show to suddenly start working again just because the time may be earlier? Should I be guaranteed a larger audience in Edinburgh? Will I possibly be able to drum up a large audience if I'm currently worrying about the quality of the show?

Well, of course, there's plenty of time to fix things and rehearse it all a bit better and generally tighten it up. I'll be making running repairs to the show in Edinburgh too. Plus, it's really brimming over with ideas and invention, so why shouldn't I consider it good.

Tomorrow night's my next gig. A local MCing role in Cirencester. It should be a great night of comedy and I should aim to get some enthusiasm out of it. That should fix that.

So, if I recharge my comedy batteries and stick some batteries into the loudmouths I'm now lumbered with sitting with, then life should be back up to over 75% joyous in next to no time.

Tuesday, June 29

Myth Up

Here's the quick version of this tale. I had a stressful day on Saturday. It involved a certain amount of driving around more than I had expected/required and I wasn't in the best of moods. Stressed and feeling like time was a weight on my shoulders, I decided to take a stop for a coffee/tea break in the Esso garage on the local dual carriageway; it has a Costa "in-shop", a licenced version of the popular coffee chain, run by the Esso people.

My girlfriend wanted tea and I wanted coffee.

Me: May I have a medium sized tea...
Her: We only do small. We're a coffee company, so we only do one size of tea.
Me: Can you give me it in a medium sized cup with a bit of extra water.
Her: No. Sorry. It's company policy.
Me: How about you give me a small tea in a small cup and give me a medium cup separately, with a little extra water in the bottom.
Her: No. It's not allowed. Company policy.

At this stage our "Hero" starts to lose his temper.

Me: Which company?
Her: Costa.
Me: But I've been into Costa and bought tea of this size before without ever being refused.
Her: They're the shops, though. We're just a licence. They won't let us do it.

Then I had a tantrum. I bellowed at her to stuff her fucking tea up her arse and get her jobsworth face up there with it. I screamed that she was being belligerent. I didn't need this sort of shit added to my day. There was no logical reason for this restriction and it sounded like a pile of bullshit that was either there to piss people off, or to avoid litigation that would never happen. That was my tantrum. It lasted about 8 seconds. The member of staff didn't experience any of the things I just described. This is because I just my eyes and my mouth and waited carefully until all of these thoughts and visualisations of unnecessary rage had abated. I'm not an angry person. I get crabby and irritable, but I don't perform acts of violent abusive behaviour on a Saturday evening in a roadside services. When I opened my eyes again, in a calm and measured voice...

Me: I'll have a SMALL TEA please.

I also had to explain to my girlfriend why she was getting a small tea. She, quite reasonably, next to me in the queue, described all the same "workarounds" I'd just asked for and I calmly, in a voice which warned her not to push because we'd both end up savaging the little old lady serving us, used sarcasm to explain to her why it was obviously NOT POSSIBLE.

After the aftermath
So, we got on with our lives for the rest of the weekend and I vowed to exact some sort of revenge on the people who had so smited us with their irritating behaviour. This morning I decided I was calm emough (and bored enough) to give it a shot. Here follows a description of the chain of calls I made in order to solve the problem. I should point out that there was something bugging me about this "policy". It seemed like a myth. It seemed very unlikely that Costa or Esso stood to gain anything from this belligerence - it seem more like a "cult of the no". So, perhaps I could actually fix it.

Call 1 - Costa Customer Services
Me: Excuse me, is there a policy which stops the licensee from providing me with tea in a medium sized cup?
Them: We just sell the Esso garage the cups and the tea and the coffee and the equipment and they can do what they like.

Call 2 - The Garage in Question
Me: Why can't you sell me a medium tea?
Lady: We're not allowed to. By Costa.
Me: Costa say that they don't prevent this. Where's this policy actually come from?
Lady: Not me. You'll have to write to head office.
Me: Can I have their number.
Lady: No. You can have their address, and this is it...

Call 3 - The Head Office
Google is quite good at giving telephone numbers for head offices
Me: Can I talk to the person responsible for coffee shops in Esso stations?
Reception: We don't give out names and numbers.
Me: I don't want their name or number, you can transfer me.
Reception: Are you a sales rep?
Me: No. I'm a customer. I need to talk to the person who made the policy where...
Reception: You should call customer services.

Call 4 - Esso Customer Services
Me: I was in a garage, I wanted tea. They were mean to me. They said there was a policy, where did it originate?
Her: I'll have to contact the area manager for you. Give me your name and number.

Call 5 - Area Manager Rang Me
Him: Hello, my name is something you can't hear because I didn't say it clearly. What seems to be the problem.
Me: You wouldn't sell me a medium tea, which isn't pragmatic.
Him: I wish it wasn't the policy, but it's not our choice. Costa dictated it. You're not the first to complain.
Me: But I spoke to Costa and they said they didn't care.
Him: They provide us with menu boards and brand guidelines. We can't deviate from those guidelines. We get audited, so can't put a foot wrong. We can't sell you a larger tea than small. It's not allowed.
Me: Your staff could just be helpful and provide a larger cup on the sly when requested. Why be so obstructive?
Him: We're not allowed, by Costa.
Me: Who at Costa? They said they were happy. Give me a name and number.

Call 6 - Costa Sales Manager
Me: Hello, I'm a customer, tea, medium, why can't I have one?
Him: But you can.
Me: What that's what I would have thought.
Him: You can have your drink however you like. The brand requirements are a minimum standard. If the customer wants their drink their way, it should be ok.
Me: Sounds like a myth about what they can't do then. Can you tell them that they're allowed to do it, please. I'll also ring the manager I spoke to and tell him.
Him: Sure thing.

This guy was a really laid back pragmatic fellow. I'd buy him a coffee any day.

Call 7 - The Area Manager Again
Me: Great news. I've solved the problem. Costa say that you can sell me a medium tea. It's a misunderstanding.
Him: Well, I'll have to hear it from them.
Me: Got it covered. The chap will be in touch to tell you. Isn't this brilliant, though. We solved the problem.
Him: ... general sounds I can't remember ...

Conclusion
If you ring enough people in the two organisations I managed to ring, you may get an answer. In general, though, people should use their fucking common sense and make me a fucking drink when I ask for it.

Monday, June 28

And now your "Reading"

Dear Reader,

I have decided to do a psychic reading for you. Please read it carefully and feel free to email me on ashley at ashleyfrieze.co.uk with a description of how well it applies to you.

You are looking forward to an event in the next 14 days which has been a long time coming. It's been a bit tense recently, and you deserve a break from the tension. There are a few things on your mind that you wish the people around you could understand a bit better. You will find it easier to communicate about at least one of these things over the next few days as things develop.

The colour green has been significant to you over the last week.

You have been worried about money in the past, but things are looking a bit better right now, and you will be making plans for the future soon.

Someone whom you've not seen in a long while will be making contact soon, or may have just made contact.

Though you sometimes feel sad about the past, you will be able to bury it and move on.


Hope that's all good.

Lots of love.

Ashley

Shazam

I'm listening to an album I bought. It's by an artist called Duke Special. Heard of him? No? Me neither. Well, obvious I have heard of him at some point, but how? Well, I was in a shop and I heard a track that sounded a bit like a Divine Comedy track - I was sure I could hear vocals by Neil Hannon. I'd never heard the track before and I didn't know what it was.

Shazam. That's the answer to that question - you point your mobile phone at the shop's speaker and capture a clip of the song. Then it's submitted to the internet and you get the title and artist of the track on your screen. This is almost a miracle. I've got theories about how you make a computer program like that. Only theories, mind. It's a brilliant tool to have. As a result, I've discovered a new artist. I bought the album which had that track on - it's actually a collection of B-sides and rarities. Subsequently, I bought the album I'm listening to, and I'm now able to enjoy something a bit different from the average music I find.

Strangely, in a world where I listen to my iPod more than the radio, I think the music played in shops, coupled with Shazam, may be more influential on the bands I discover than the charts. I don't even know what's in the charts. In fact, let's have a look:

As of 27th June - the official uk chart:
  1. Katy Perry - California Girls - I've heard of this Russell Brand-infected buffoon, but not of the track
  2. K'naan - Wavin' Flag - Football song? curry tribute act?
  3. Shout - Shout (with James Corden) - I've not heard the track, I'm guessing it's a football song, with the ubiquitous-as-chlamydia Corden
  4. Example - Kickstarts - huh?
  5. Eminem - Not Afraid - used to enjoy some of Eminem's stuff, not heard this
  6. Kylie Minogue - All The Lovers - so she's still making music then? Oh.
  7. Eminem - Love The Way You Like (feat. Rihanna) - Not heard this. Heard of Rihanna, whose name annoys me. I think it's the spelling
  8. Lady Gaga - Alejandro - sounds pretentious. I don't think I could sing or even name a Lady Gaga track I'd heard. Is she a man? Does anyone care?
  9. Tinie Tempah - Frisky (feat. Labrinth) - there's a lot of people featuring other people, have all artists decided to form ad-hoc combination acts to sell more records these days? No idea who or what any of this is!
  10. David Guetta - Gattin' Over You (feat. Chris Willis) - nope... you've lost me
I realise it makes me sound like someone's fuddy duddy dad. Actually, I'm quite happy with there being new music, but I'm clearly not being exposed to it. By the looks of it, I'm not missing out.

Wednesday, June 23

That's Fantastic

A very sad news story turned into something else today. I am proud to have been involved, even though I can't claim any credit. The comedian Chris Sievey, who played Frank Sidebottom, died this week and was destined for a pauper's funeral, as there was literally no money to pay for his funeral arrangements.

Dying penniless is a tragic end to a life which involved providing entertainment to many people. It's not how I'd like to go.

The internet proves that you don't need to be a church to be a community. Some stuff happened on twitter and facebook this morning. Then someone, a writer called Jon Ronson, set up a PayPal account, and then people put a couple of quid in.

Apparently, £6000 was raised in a couple of hours. That's how to treat the departed with a bit of respect in the modern age.

The comedy website Chortle had to keep updating their article and its headline changed from "Pauper's Funeral" to "Fans Save The Day". It's like historical revisionism happening in the moment. This is what the internet revolution can do, and I'm proud to know I can be a part of it.

Why I Hate iTunes

Ok. A quick rant. I don't like iTunes. I don't mean that I hate the idea of downloading digitally protected software from an online store; that's actually perfectly reasonable, and iTunes.com does a reasonable job of selling stuff to me when I want it (though why they pander to AOL users is anyone's guess).

I'm not even going to bleat on too much about Apple's deliberately proprietry approach to what is a generic sort of a problem - the management of mp3's. The fact that the iTunes program is a portal for buying music and managing your iPhone, iPad, iPod, iPoo or whatever, is a fact of life and one which I am not going to get too hot under the collar about. Thinking about it differently, they also provide iTunes, the program, for free for several platforms for all people to manage any form of music collection for listening on the PC/Mac/Whatnot.

So why do I hate the iTunes software? because I do!

A quick list of reasons:
  • I don't want my PC to look like a Mac - why give me the Mac user interface on my PC, comply to the desktop standards I expect, like where to grab to resize a window, and what title bars look like!
  • It's sloooooooooooooooooooooooooooooow! - I mean really really slow, it can take forever to start playing when I click on something - ultimately, there's a little mp3 file to play, why the delay?
  • You can't configure it to connect to the internet properly - it'll pick up the system defaults and that's the best it can manage, so if those defaults are a bit dodgy, you're screwed
  • It is HARD TO USE - I know! It's a Mac application and it has usability issues. Why hard? Because you never quite know what mode you're in. What will actually play next? It's hard to switch around from one context to the other, because it's not clear.
  • It's all things to all men and nothing specific - the fact that it manages devices, playlists, libraries, a store and a whole bunch of other stuff - it means you don't really know what it's doing at any given moment
  • Did I mention it's slow?
  • It's not that flexible when it comes to managing a CD collection - things like consolidating multi-CD albums into a single virtual album are just not there
  • It's also slow.
What makes all of these things worse is the simple fact that there are millions of users of it out there. Reports vary between 10 and 200 million users. I'll go for 10 million as a start. That's 10 million victims of Apple's quirky obscure software engineering mistakes. A bad problem, made worse through "popularity".

Rant over.

Monday, June 21

Inscrutable

"No, you're not what I expected, either." It's one of my favourite opening lines when the comedian hits the stage and the audience applause dies down. A nice ice breaker. Sometimes an audience's perception of what they're going to get and what is laid in front of them are at loggerheads.

I did a show last night.

Let me quickly point out that I owe a big debt of gratitude to all who came, gave of their time, money and laughter, and that it was really really appreciated that people got each other to come along and generally filled a room in a way that other publicity and my name alone simply couldn't have done.

Now I'll give you a list of the sorts of audience members that any comedian would find difficult to play to. The reason behind this comes down to the lack of the audience-performer tension that needs to exist for the comedian to be funny. This doesn't mean that there's anything wrong with these people, it's more a transactional analysis of the situation. For the roles to work, the following archetypes can make things harder.

So, the comedian's perfect tough crowd:
  • Parents
  • Grandparents
  • Any individual who is two generations older
  • People who aren't sure what they've come to see
  • Those who are unaware of the cultural references
  • People for whom the language of the show is not their first language
  • Anyone who has seen the comedian naked
  • Anyone who has looked after this comedian when they were a child


This tough crowd would be magnified to unplayable if the audience were small in number, say under 10, and made up exclusively of the above.

I'm not describing last night's audience in every detail. However, it's fair to say that it was a most unusual crowd, with more of the above elements present than I'm used to playing. It was in a large arts centre, with a high raked seating. This also takes some playing - you need to lean backwards to play to the whole room. It was a big challenge.

And we got through it.

Just.

I've got plenty of editing to do of the show before Edinburgh, and last night showed me some of the strengths and weaknesses of the piece. This can only be considered a good thing.

The last few weeks of show-obsessed warbling have come at a cost, to my levels of energy, sanity, and stability. It's proving harder than I expected to do this. I think my ambition to really milk this opportunity to make the most of it isn't making my life any easier. It's the right thing to do. Doing it by halves, or treating it as a done deal, is too complacent a way to make something of a sufficient quality. But to quote Coldplay - "nobody said it was easy".

Why did I just quote Coldplay? Nobody knows.

Last year's show seemed easier. This may be because it was simply aiming at a lower standard, or that it was a less sophisticated show, or maybe it was that we had twice as many people in the writing and editing process, so it ended up being stronger. Maybe it was even the case that the other person was the strength behind the script and I can't do it alone...? Actually, I've no idea.

My instincts tell me that I'm close to a core show that I can be proud of. My instincts are also telling me to ditch various things which were originally what the show was built on... while other instincts are shouting "noooooo... not thaaaat biiiiit". It's an inner turmoil, for sure.

If I don't change some things quite drastically, Edinburgh won't work for this show, so there's work to be done. Last night's show overran because I waffled my way through it, trying to customise it to the audience and soft-soap them through the tricky bits. Tonight's show will have to be tight and polished, like Mr Sheen's wooden arsehole.

Friday, June 18

On The Brink

So many things rattle through my brain and would be ideal candidates for sharing on this very screen. There is a lot of stuff happening at the moment and I could use a chance to put my thoughts into some sort of an order. A quick bullet list of events from the last week or so will get the juices flowing, so to speak.
  • I've been an awfully absent nursemaid to an ill girlfriend
  • I was on Radio Leeds last night
  • So I drove a long way
  • I had my car broken into
  • I did a gig in London
  • I did a couple of previews of my Edinburgh show>
  • I did various other gigs, including a Jongleus spot

There's enough there for a much longer discussion. On top of that, the day job still manages to challenge and befuddle. So, in some sort of structure, here are some thoughts on some of those things.

Poorly Girlfriend, Poor Service
As is quite apparent from the way I run myself ragged, I'm not the best of people to rely on if you need time from me at short notice. The gigging has me committed to doing stuff all over the place all of the time. I have limits in place to avoid overbooking myself and making it impossible to spend any time at home with loved ones. Sometimes I overcommit. In a normal circumstance, the overcommitting isn't the worst issue - it can be overlooked.

My girlfriend has had tonsilitis for the last 2 weeks (well, various illness and then being made better while still week) and I've been trotting all over the place, with a heavy heart, unable to do the right thing - either stay at home with her, cancelling a gig I feel I can't cancel, or go to the gig and neglect someone who's ill in bed.

I need to review the way I conduct myself. If this is the normal way I go about my life, then it's not victimless.

Sorry.

Luring Friends To See Shows
I feel a bit bad about it. I don't want all the people who've ever known me to think that I only see them as "potential audience". However, when you've got shows to do, you have to push your social network. So I've been pimping myself on various channels. Hopefully it comes across as reaching out across the years, distances, and whatnot. In short, I'll like these people if they don't come to my shows...

... just not as much as if they do. :)

Previews I Have Done
So, a couple of notable previews of . Firstly there was my own showing at The Hen and Chickens. I know a lot about this showing because I've watched the video I made of it, and I've also listened to the soundtrack of that video several times over in the car. It will very much be the reference point against which other shows are measured.

A lovely audience came specifically to see me and did their best to see the funnny in the material. This led to a number of laughs I wasn't expecting. It also showed me where the lulls are in the material and delivery. People seemed to enjoy themselves, and that's the pay back for them coming to see me.

I knew that the follow-up would also be a "tricky second album" and it proved to be challenging. That said, it went pretty well and was a great learning experience. I am clear in myself that this show needs a lot of performance energy to carry it off, and that I'll be slowly, but surely, trimming bits of the material to leave only the strongly strongest strong stuff.

For now, though I've had two London previews of a show, which I've already performed twice in Brighton and which I did an audience-present read-through of in Stafford. So, that's 5 shows down. The next show is good old "Show 6". This is the one where it re-gels. Probably.

To be honest, if I knew how this worked that scientifically, I'd be more in control of it. I'm enjoying the process of doing what seems best at each stage along the way. Bring it on!

The Bastards!
Returning to my car after Wednesday's gig in central London, where the car was parked in a reasonably well lit area in what should be a decent part of London, I found a police car parked next to my car. Broken glass on the floor. A break in. Bugger!

Flashback to earlier in the day. Shall I unpack the car? There's a piano in there, a piano stand, a PA system, mic stands, a case full of tricks, a box full of wires, a box full of props and other stuff. Basically, the whole of my show equipment's in there. What did they take? Shit shit shit.

I checked out the equipment, it was all there.

So I gave some details to the police and then arranged for the window to be replaced. It would have to be a temporary plexi-glass repair. They sent a man to central London at midnight. He constructed me a new window out of perspex and then fitted it into the frame, so that the car is rain proof and secure enough for a bit. Wow.

I had a late night coming up the following night, so I was feeling a bit sorry for myself for the loss of sleep that this incident had caused... then it struck me. The laptop bag? Where is it? Uh oh.

No laptop in the bag, so that wasn't lost. However, my recent purchases from Amazon were in there. Also, there were my notebooks. Words I wrote down to store them for later... gone for good. That's what hurts. I've had three car break ins now, for various reasons in various situations, they always take my notebooks.

The thieves also got my cheque book and some bills - let's hope they can be arsed to sort the bills out, because I'd been procrastinating.

It's a nuisance, but I'll live. Not even sure it's worth making an insurance claim. Sigh.

Gigs are...
Generally speaking, the stand-up is going well. I can't recall a "phoned in" performance of late, which is a good benchmark. I enjoyed my trip to Hammersmith Jongleurs. You get all manner of insecurities and forebodings playing to a larger audience than usual, especially in a massive room. However, I stood up there and did my thing, and felt like I was in control of the situation.

And when it works, you can sometimes slightly step out of yourself and say "will you look at that, I DO feel confident just being up here and doing this sort of a think like this". And that's probably part of the drug that makes you want to go back and do it. And you should start a sentence with "And".

In a more intimate situation, you can have more inspiration. I've done a bit of MCing recently, which requires more spontaneous material and witticism. You jump off the cliff and grab onto something funny as you fall.

I have a new resident MCship in Cirencester, the first of which I've done recently. It was good fun. Indeed, it was a nice gig from start to finish, proving the simple fact - if you put good comedians in a room with a good audience, great stuff happens (I'm excluding myself from this description).

I want to do a rant about pseudo-edgy comedians at this stage and how they don't understand how to make comedy (compared with funny edgy comedians who do), but not now. I'll rant about it another time.

So I love comedy still. Which is good, because I do a lot of it.

Looking Forward To Leeds
At the moment, my head is sort of jingling with the half-formed re-writes that came out of the show I did on Monday. I could really use a rehearsal, though I think I could get some of these things right pretty quickly. I'll make time to corral my thoughts into order before show time on Sunday, I'm sure. Small tweaks, only.

It's weird organising a show 200 miles away. I've done my best to spread the word. I've done the press. I did the radio (though I suspect that the radio won't turn out to have had a great effect on things - to not try would have been a guarantee of 0 effect). There's not much more I can reasonably do except turn up to the venue and do my thing.

On the one hand, I'm looking forward to another show where it's all about me - I'm the only one on the poster, and people are coming because they want to see what I'm offering. On the other hand, I'm utterly mortified at the whole self-promotion bit. What's the best way to feel like a fraud? It's to say "Hey, I'm really brilliant" and then immediately fail to live up to your own hype.

However, I've come to the conclusion that I've made something which is enjoyable and illuminating, so hopefully people will enjoy their hour with me on Sunday. I can't say more than that.

Clippety Doodles
I uploaded a couple of YouTube clips:


This is my "Writing a Love Song" routine from
.


And with a song from last year's Seven Deadly Jokes, here's a pop video that Hannah George made of our Amy Winehouse Song:



Looking Forward to Edinburgh
I've been on the Edinburgh trail since February, when I decided to do this show. With the Brighton run in May as the first waypoint on the trail, the Fringe really takes over one's life. It's sort of a good thing. It's also a bit much from time to time. So much stuff to organise.

However, we're getting onto the final, very very long, straight. Basically, I'm about to pay the rent for the flat. We're at the middle of June. By the middle of July, I should expect my preview shows to be pretty robust versions of the show. The first half of August will be weird as the festival starts without me, and I have a few gigs to do before I go up there.

Then I'll be there, and I'm definitely over-committed. My first week may hurt. I'm doing three shows a day minimum in week 1:
  • My solo show
  • The stand-up show I do every year
  • A nightly MC slot at a gig


And I've got guest spots in other shows hither and thither.

However, assuming I keep my voice, and there's a risk there, I should hit week 3 with vigour. Hopefully I'll work up a nice lather and get into a health kick to knock away some of the excess flab that's making me a bit of an articulated lorry of and individual.

I wouldn't miss the Fringe without good reason. I'll also be glad when I can stop obsessing about the whole process of putting my show together.

Sunday, June 13

The Seven Deadly Sings: Writing a Love Song


Friday, June 11

Amy Winehouse: Toast


All content ©2001 - 2020 Ashley Frieze