Sunday 13 May 2012

New Act Comedy

I don't write enough about comedy on this blog. I hope this will be rectified as the Edinburgh previews begin but for now I've been attending a few new act nights in London, mainly to support my friend Ian Lane but also because I don't know why I avoid new comic nights, I feel like I should support them because a select few will become established well known acts one day. I also appreciate that it is damn hard and as a punter viewing new comics I've come up with some dos and don'ts.

DO know how to use a microphone
The new comic's first nemesis (well first on stage nemesis anyway) I saw so many comics fight with a rogue microphone stand at Rudy's Revenge 2012 on 25th April. It is distracting, not only for the comic but for the audience member and microphone technique is a skill that needs to be learned.

DO speak proper!
One comic at Rudy's Revenge could not talk properly. Maybe it was nerves, maybe he is uneducated but either way he got no laughs because his set wasn't audible.

DON'T make jokes about Stephen Fry
Inexplicably jokes about how wonderful Stephen Fry don't go down well, especially when you look like a young Stephen Fry (as the comic at Rudy's Revenge-at this point you are probably wondering about the lack of names I am using. It isn't my place to embarass acts by naming and shaming them). It is also doesn't allow for the fact that some of your audience are on twitter and have witnessed Fry's petulant child antics first hand. He is not untouchable.

DON'T charge for new act nights
When you live in London there are plenty of cheap, established nights that contain known comics. If you are lucky you can get a good night of comedy for about £6. For Rudy's Revenge organisers to charge £3 for acts that will range in quality or have no quality whatsoever seems appaling when there are so many free new acts nights, like Freedom on the Fringe at the Torriano. That's a tip for promoters rather than comics.

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