Stephen Grant :: Post details: Frankly, no comedian is a rock star.

02/08/07

Frankly, no comedian is a rock star. - Categories: News - Stephen Grant @ 10:11:49 pm

There are lots of similarities between the world of stand up comedy and the world of the rock star. For a start, the late nights, the dark venues, the rawness of the performance, and the way the protagonists can romantically pitch way above their normal levels.

But other than that, it's a flight of fantasy that most comics need to rein in quite considerably. For a start, when a comedian is told to turn up early for a soundcheck by a venue, if they aren't a musical act or aren't heavily prop-based, this is a complete pain in the arse. Whereas your average rock star will be playing out complete numbers with band and instruments in tow, we'll be saying 'testing' about four times in a row and feeling awkward because we're on stage talking to an empty room (though this can be very good groundwork for Edinburgh in general) and then sitting down and waiting 3 hours for the gig to start properly.

So. Tuesday this week was my tech rehearsal. Between 4pm and 8pm I had four hours allotted, and I was thinking I'd need about two of them, max. Though that said, this year's show (if you haven't seen it, which you almost definitely haven't yet) is quite technical; with an interactive sequence at the beginning which I'm not actually on stage for (I'll explain another day) and a monologue ending that quite daringly does not end on a joke of any sort, over a piece of classical music, with the script timed to the rising timbre of the movement (Yeah, I know, but it's Edinburgh, where else could I do this shit!). Also there were three still sequences showing on a projector and that needed sorting too. So, for the first time in my life, the tech rehearsal meant something.

The most important part of any tech rehearsal, is your tech. Thankfully the Pleasance Upstairs (a superb room) has a great resident tech (Will), and my show has an even better one. His name is Gadget and he's also Lucy Porter's tech. His name is clearly Gadget for a reason; he has a wealth of impressive electronic bits about his person. However, once I dug out my very rare JVC mininote and my even rarer Nokia E90 (you try finding one in this country) he was suitably impressed. Here we are, comparing pre-installed applications.

Now, the projector we are using isn't ours, so it was a complete stab in the dark, and Gadget actually built a screen himself. That's right - using a duvet cover and two pieces of 2inch square wooden strutting. It's immense, if actually 90 degrees the wrong way (should be wider than taller).

Here I am in front of it.

And here I am driving the computer attached to the screen. This sequence is bizarrely part of the show - I won't give too much away, but actually it's one of the show's best bits! You have to see it to believe it. Very proud.

Once this was done - and all the sound cues were sorted - it was time to head off to meet and greet the flyerers. Getting them on side is SO important, and thankfully they seem a pretty enthusiastic bunch. Not much to say except for how annoyingly young and pretty they are so here's a few of them, alongside the other comics/shows being looked after by Bound and Gagged.

Also got a chance to speak to a couple of old comedy chums; Justin Moorhouse doesn't appear hugely on the circuit outside of his home town now because of his radio show, but it was great to catch up. I'm sure his show will be a belter. I'd love to tell you what we were talking about, but we will have to remain tight lipped, as you can see.

Finally, on the way out, I bumped into Zoe Lyons.

A fellow Brightonian, I'm overjoyed to see Zoe bringing up her own show this year. I was hassling her all last year to do this so I'm really curious to see how it has turned out. Of course, with me having a 6pm to 7pm show time, I clash with bloody nobody, so seeing EVERYONE else's show will be a cinch.

I'm beginning to worry that my early start time might make getting audiences for what is in effect a mid-evening stand-up style show a bit trickier. Oh well, we'll find out.

And in the meanwhile, where the HELL do you find decent spiced chai latte in Edinburgh? Everywhere you ask for it (including speciality tea and coffee places), they give you the same look you get in a pub when you ask for a coffee. Can't be that hard, surely?