09/10/06
Clapham & Re-Opening Old Wounds -
Categories:
Oh hello...
Right, I've checked and it was the Secombe theatre that was rubbish and refused to pay PRS so had no music. That's the Secombe Theatre. It's in Sutton (the one in Surrey, not the one in St Helens).
I should be in bed really, I have another full day of rehearsals tomorrow and I have been yawning for a while now. Better get on with this.
So, tonight I did a gig in Clapham at The Railway. It was relatively quiet, as one might expect from a Sunday evening, but the vast majority of the audience were perfectly agreeable (there was one woman who looked at me sternly throughout - utterly devoid of fun and completely reluctant to retain an open mind to the prospect of having any). I really wished to enjoy my gig tonight, given that due to my filming/rehearsing commitments I don't have another gig until next Sunday in Hull Uni (that'll be good that one - always is - although thinking about it...if Hull beat Saints in the Rugby League cup on the Saturday it might not be...Ah, it'll be all right...they wont beat us).
Tonight, it was one of those nights where it felt like you were just stood up in somebodies living room, but for some reason I found this quite a nice feeling. I placed everything very low-key, made lots of eye contact (avoiding the witch in case it turned me to stone) and ambled along at a leisurely pace, it was genuinely pretty much stress free and relaxing.
There's a massive inherent inclination to speed up delivery in such situations, but I think that allowing yourself breathing space and not being panicked into filling every silence is a base prerequisite of being a comedian. That and, at least giving the illusion of, knowing what you're doing.
I remember Barry Cryer talking about Les Dawson once and he said that Les was such a magnificent comedian because the second he walked on stage you felt safe in the knowledge that he knew what he as doing, you knew you were all right. I think there's wisdom in that. Obviously it massively helps if you do know what you're doing, but attitude is a big part of that battle won I reckon.
I go out of my way to appear half-arsed on stage. My manager has often accused me of being too good at it, and the other night when I did that gig with Brendon Burns, Burnsy said it was the least arsed he had ever seen a comedian or audience at a gig, yet he really enjoyed it (or so he said). Fact is, I was working my bollocks off, but it's a way of lulling an audience into believing you are perfectly happy doing the job your own way. Audiences can be savage beasts and there's nothing awakes their bloodlust faster than the smell of fear. As Brendon said, the fact that my apparent "fuck it" attitude infected the sensibilities of the audience meant I had effectively rendered impotent the prospect of disappointment - there was nothing worth being disappointed about.
See?
But of course I was trying really...
On that night it came off, but on the other side of the coin sometimes an audience may truly believe you simply aren't trying and get the arsehole with you for that, perhaps rightly so given that they have paid cash to see you do your thing. It's a delicate balance, and one that I don't pretend to have gotten right 100% of the time. In fact, it is proven that I don't always get it right as earlier this year I received a complaint letter after a gig I did at the Theatre By The Lake in Cumbria (a truly beautiful theatre, in a beautiful setting run by wonderful people).
It was from Harry and Judy Marsland from Brackenrigg. I didn't have to look up those names just now - they are burned into my memory because, much as I would like to put a brave face on it, that letter really upset me. Depsite my mock protestations on this blog about my Chortle review in August, I can actually handle criticism. Course it bothers me superficially, same as it would anyone, but I am aware of it's place in any artform and am able to differentiate between personal taste and constructive critique. The letter I got though was fucking nasty. I got absolutely obsessed with it. I had it in my back pocket for months, producing it at any given opportunity, brandishing it at people and demanding they read it and agree with me as to how unfair it was. In fact, I was overly obsessed with it, and I must have come off as pretty desperate and for want of a better phrase, a 'sore loser' to keep bringing it to light.
So I'm going to talk about it briefly here, a last fling, and then that's an end to it once and for all.
My main issue with it was the basic misunderstanding of comedy as a performance. This couple had a very specific view of what comedy was and would not be swayed from it one iota. They opened their letter by pre-empting this as my argument against their views by saying that if I said they just didn't "get it" then they would like to point out that they had lived in London and been regulars at Jongleurs and The Comedy Store. At the risk of getting myself a catchphrase - make of that what you will.
They went on to rip me to shreds, marvelling at how I had managed to fill 50 mins with such pointless and unprepared drivel, and condemning how 'unbothered and uninterested' I was about entertaining them. Interestingly, they added that my support act wasn't particularly funny but "seemed a pleasant enough person". So not only was I bad at my job in their eyes, but I was also deficient as a human being. It was a horrible assessment of the evening. It was also inaccurate on many points, it failed to mention I was encored at the show, instead implying that the rest of the audience were in total agreement with them, and the fact was, my part of the show actually ran for 80 minutes (I know all these things as I record many of my gigs so I went back and checked). So you see what I mean about the half-arsed thing? Attempting to create some sort of 'style' can sometimes make a rod for your own back.
I was desperate to reply to them. I was so infuriated that within an hour of receiving the letter I had found their address and telephone number on the internet, and it was all my management could do to restrain me. I composed letters in my head to them, ranging from pure vitriol to listing all my press quotes with the postscript "But what would these journalists know? I bet they've never been to Jongleurs and The Comedy Store like you have". I never did write the letter though, never sat down and did it - the reason being, the only letter I actually wanted to write consisted of me saying that their attack really, really hurt me. No smart arse defiance - it just made me feel shit.
But I'll tell you what bothered me about the letter the very most, and it's on my mind because I have had, by and large, a heckly week (if such a word exists - 'heckly' I mean, not 'week' - 'week' is definitely a word); The fact that they went home and wrote a fucking letter. And if you read it you would know the sort of persons they are, it has an exceedingly holier-than-thou tone to it, yet for all their proclamations of comedic authority and self-importance they didn't have the courage of their convictions on the night in question. They were in the same room as me - face to face - they had the opportunity to voice their displeasure but not a fucking peep. That would have at least allowed me the courtesy of immediate defence and discussion. As we know, I am all for heckling - always have been - I would never oppose someone's right to shout out at a comedy gig. I may disagree with their point, their timing or their manner of doing so, and I may reserve the right to deal with said heckle in any way I see fit, but I think heckling is a brilliant part of this job.
But to be heckled a month later in a letter - that's bad form I reckon, and only leads to this that I am doing now;
The most delayed, public, and long-winded put down I ever did.
But I had to explain it properly.
If I'd just typed "cunts" you wouldn't have known what I was on about.
Night x
Comments:
· http://www.tfw.co.uk 'Tis true that you, as a comedian, have to take on board heckling and be able to be allowed to fight back.
It is not correct that someone a month later should be slating your arse.
I'm not a comedian - I didn't ask for a 'slating' or a random phone call years later...which led to further heartache at the time.
I haven't given a crap for years but happened to stumble on your site - and the hyprocrisy that runs rife with you is slightly sickening, Ian (Jackson was it?).
Permalink
13/10/06 @ 23:49 · http://www.tfw.co.uk As a comedian you should expect to be heckled and have the right to fight back of course.
And this chap who oh-so-dreadfully slated you a month/months? later was one of a dubious moral code.
Funny thing is I stumbled on your site just now and was struck by your hyprocrisy. I was never a comedian, didn't ask for a 'slating' which I ended up with and received a phone call a year later in which rejection/heckling -same deal was again elicited, which caused much heartache.
Nice bullshit Ian (Jackson) was it?
I give you 12 hrs to delete this.
Be rich, be happy and be full of shit.
Permalink
13/10/06 @ 23:58 · http://www.myspace.com/raypeacock I'm not entirely sure of the point of this, but I'm intrigued and as I am at a loose end I'll play.
There was much debate as to who had posted this. Incidentally, it is completely up to me whether I put these posts up on this site, and I thought seeing as how you had written it twice and with varying degrees of vicousness I'd allow you (both of) your says in this highly exclusive public platform, so your 12 hours comment is confounded - not only did I not delete it, I fucking published it. Then I saw you had left your initials, so hello Fiona(Dunlop, wasn't it?), long time no hear, of all the billions of pages on the internet you "happened to come across" mine - what a lovely coincidence...
Anyhow, I don't really know what you're on about, but am happy to listen. if you wish to send me a message through this site. It would be welcomed, as long as you say what you mean rather than speaking to me in code. I will not publish anything that you ask me not to, you can use it a bit like an email.
On the subject of 'hypocrisy'...let's not hold the man responsible for the crimes (whatever they were - I genuinely don't recall) of the boy. I wrote at some length about this in my post entitled "badly judged posting" (or something like that) the other day.
Despite your attack, in a gesture of good will and maturity, if you add me on MySpace (www.myspace.com/raypeacock) I will accept you as a friend. Can't say fairer than that...
And for a local newspaper journalist, the language in your second post was a fucking disgrace.
Permalink
14/10/06 @ 01:47 This post has 133 feedbacks awaiting moderation...
RSS Feed