02/06/08
Unexpectedly Headliner -
Categories: For the first time ever I headlined a gig tonight. It was not quite what was intended and the gig was just a very nice charity gig, but it was my first headline spot nonetheless and I bloody well enjoyed it. Yeah I said bloody like a posh Englishman, what are you going to do about it punk?
There is something about the headlining spot that is at the same time both alluring and frightening, like Jessica Alba with an axe. People expect you to be the best act of the night, which is uber-pressure but also seem to give the act a slightly easier ride as they are more relaxed knowing that what they are going to see is going to be good. In the same way the first spot of the night has excellent pros and terrible cons. Pros - you can go home early, you can talk about any topic and it wont have already been said (unless the MC's said it). Cons - if the audience are not warmed up properly then your set can essentially be taking a bullet for the team and if you screw up you can set the precedent for the whole night. Basically, you should always try and go in the middle, although then it can be presumed at some clubs that you are the open spot and people sod off for a fag. The more I type this blog I realise that perhaps there is not a single part of the comedy evening that is 100% guaranteed fun. Wow, comedy can suck.
But mostly it doesn't. Unless of course you do, and if you do, stop it or get better. Grr. Aside from those wonderful words of wisdom, I think the headliner does get the best spot of the night. Tonight as they introduced me as the headliner I got more applause than any had done all night, just because of presumption of my ability. They were wrong, but it was nice of them to assume. I was meant to be the penultimate act, but the headliner had a mini-crisis and had to leave early, so I followed him. I wasn't entirely happy about this for several reasons. Firstly, the gig didn't seem great as I arrived and the audience had talked through most of the acts before us - part of the problem of a no entry ticket charity gig in a student bar. Secondly, I would have to follow the headliner which for the audience would be somewhat like being given a glass of champagne followed by a flat can of Tizer.
Yet strangely despite all this it went really well and the audience were really lovely. So well and so lovely infact that I also combined this first headlining spot with my first ever encore, which was another set of problems all together mainly because I had exhausted a load of material. I did however manage to pull it off because I'm super bad.
I got home after the gig and immediately wrote 5 minutes of new stuff, 3 of which won't work. Its amazing how forcing your brain to churn more material out, gets it working double speed and creativity ensues. It also explains why, by sitting on my arse playing Mario Kart all day, I am nowhere near writing an hour show anytime soon.
I shall end this blog with a moment of cheekiness. Someone gave me the idea to do this, so I've done it, and its working better than I thought. If you are a kind soul and understand the financial pressures of the Edinburgh Festival please do take part and not only will I think you are wonderful in every way, but karma wont hit you in the face which means there is less chance of the UK seeing an earthquake anytime soon, according to brainiac Sharon Stone.
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