More on Awards...

I had intended to post a lengthy report on the British Comedy Awards - in fact, it is written ... and I spent ages working up some graphics too... but I decided I didn't want to post it after all. Instead, I want to address some points which have arisen from conversations since.

Firstly is the idea of judging comedy at all.
Whether we laugh at a particular joke or not comes of our own circumstance, our beliefs and opinions; there is not a single joke which everyone in the world finds funny. This is why I so enjoy hearing from you all about what you find funny: people who send me links to things they feel I should watch or hear; those who post in the comments area here or on facebook telling me why they agree or disagree with my opinions; people who invite me along to events; anyone who has ever said or written the phrase "You'll love this!" You all offer up your own perspective which is no less or more valid than my own. Likewise the opinion of a panel making the choices for an award ceremony. Who is to say that what that small group of people decide is 'the best' truly represents the views of the greater public? Especially when we do not know their true motivation.

There is always a smack of politics about any award ceremony and this one is no different. Does it not invalidate the entire process that the nominees are selected from a pre-approved list? Should someone really be overlooked simply off the back of the fact they would probably not attend the ceremony to collect in person? I was always taught you do not give to receive. This is the same, surely?


Any regular readers will be aware I will never answer a "What is your favourite _?" question, because such things always depend on mood. And there is the issue: ask me now what is the best sitcom at the moment ... go one, ask! Today I will say 'Him and Her' - mostly because that was the last I watched, partly because I am in the frame of mind right now suited to the show. Ask me again later, it will be different... you won't know that until you ask but I guarantee it will change. Does this make me a fickle person? In spite of previous accusations, no. I won't think it is any less funny than I did before, just that my mood will be different or there will be something else at the forefront of my mind which eludes me right now.

So that is the problem.

I recently found myself in conversation with a very dear Cymrutalian friend Gino, which you can see in the comments here: BCA 2012 Blog Post about having some sort of "awards"-type setup here. Part of me thinks that would be fun and something I definitely want to do. But there is also a part of me that just knows there would be a huge bias towards my own favourites... and you all know what those would be.


So here is what I will do.

If the consensus is that you all care enough send ideas.

What/who would you recognise in the "No Fucking Prize it's Just a Bit of a Laugh" awards of 2013?

Categories, nominees, ideas for a better name... anything at all. You can easily find my opinion just by reading more of this blog, so if there is not enough feedback from people who aren't me I will not bother at all... such is the manner of true democracy!

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Yea, That Time of the Year Again!

2012 British Comedy Awards

I should have known better, really. I watched the nominations show thinking about the grim offerings we have seen of late thinking that if nothing else, at least the few gems should stand out. I was wrong.

I know time is an issue, that it is always difficult to fit the awards into its timeslot. Some might suggest adbreaks don't help matters and clearly there needs to be time allowed for the drivelling nonsense of Jonathon Ross between each, but there are so many aspects of comedy missing.

The most prominently missed each year would be radio. There are so many fantastic radio comedies at the moment it is almost impossible to find a favourite. Okay, maybe that is wherein lies the problem: the nominations list itself seems a rather lazy one even in spite of the poor selection from which to choose, possibly it was just deemed too much hard work to trawl through radio shows to find the best of them. Or maybe those arranging the nominations are unaware of the existence of such a new, modern format as radio. Either way, there is an enormous selection of comedy being ignored from the outset.

What of the stand-up circuit? How's about awarding those doing all the really hard work in going out in search of their audience? After all, people will always watch television, getting them to leave the house to go and find their comedy is surely far more difficult and worthy of recognition, is it not?

And those who work hard to bring the industry to a greater market by appearing in more mainstream shows. I mean, yes, okay at the end of the day appearing on breakfast and daytime television or local news shows and the like may be a means to sell more tickets, but if they are also making the audience aware of the greater live comedy circuit in the process, surely this is a good thing too. There are also a growing number of acts using their comedian personas to present factual shows. This is equally commendable, is it not?

In the modern age, there is also scope for a multi-media selection. There are comedy shows which are purely internet-based, a huge range of parody websites, the endless list of podcasts we all subscribe to; all available to the audience for free and all unrecognised by the cursory glance through the Radio Times which has clearly inspired the current choices.

Surely there is also scope to have separate Best Comic and Best Character Comic categories. I mean, how can you choose between someone who undertakes their chosen comedy format, be it as a stand-up, presenter or chairing a panel show as themselves versus someone permanently acting out a character?


So what of the nominations themselves?

It seems lazy at best. For the most part, we are just being drip-fed the same things each year. Yes, we remember those shows, now how about nominating something different for us?

Not to detract at all from the efforts of the repeated nominations, I mean who doesn't love the likes of TV Burp and Horrible Histories, but there are also plenty of new things which are equally as deserving.

There are a couple of minor irritations amidst, too. For example, how could Alan Partridge be nominated as a New Comedy? Officially, of course, it is because of being on a new channel but does that make a difference? Maybe it should simply be an award for Best New Sky One Comedy? Again, this is no derision of the show itself; I quite enjoyed the new series, but it was nothing new.
Another annoyance would be the Best Actor/Actress categories. It seems logical to me that an award for acting should cover every role the person plays, yet in this case it is character-based meaning that someone displaying the ability to play more than one role brilliantly is nominated twice. This makes no sense and does smack of laziness in finding other people worthy of nomination.

The thing which bothered me most about the whole event is the King/Queen of Comedy. Again, I wouldn't want to detract from those nominated because all have worked hard to get where they are, but why should they be nominated at all? I would like to see an award voted for by the people with a completely open forum allowing real comedy fans to vote for whoever they choose. Not that I know who I would vote for, but regardless at least it allows for those who actually love pure comedy to have something of a say before those who like their laughs neatly packaged in mainstream boxes to make their selections. Of course, the television audience will always beat the true fans of fun and laughter in the long run, but at least we can feel we have contributed something.

Stay tuned for an analysis after the event. Hopefully it won't be too much of a ranty one!

Roadtrip of Heroes

I had intended to post this a while ago. I know I promised some sort of regular soundcast - I have been recording them, but we waffle far more than we should and I have to find time to edit and I could think of a billion more excuses but it still wouldn't mean they were ready to be uploaded. I'll try though.



So daughter two and I battled the most horrendous weather to get to Cardiff in order to watch the recording of two episodes of the second series of the utterly brilliant "Pantheon of Heroes". What can I say but that you should make sure you listen! Even if you missed the first series, definitely catch this one!

First episode is tomorrow (or today, dependant on when your feed of choice picks up this post!) Friday 7th December at 6.30pm on BBC Radio Wales. Don't live in Wales? No problem: Sky customers can listen on channel 0117, you can listen live online via the Iplayer or those who use the Iplayer app (which won't let you hear regional shows) can use Tune-in Radio which I find to be a good reliable app. No excuses! (Oh and it'll probably be repeated after Rhod Gilbert's show on a Saturday too, dependant on a lack of sport!)

So here is the soundcast. Apologies for the poor sound quality in the mid-section. I spent a lot of time editing out background noise, but wasn't able to clean it completely.

Robin Ince: Happiness Through Time

I went along to see the fabulous Robin Ince presenting his "Happiness Through Time" show. The show itself was great, although I was extremely disappointed in the people of my hometown in their poor attendance. This was an issue I was able to discuss with him, though, when we met up after the show for my interview for Comedy Southwest.

Whilst I had a set of questions to ask for the interview, we had a good chat, too - because he is just such a thoroughly nice guy!

The low sales in this case he put down to being down to the power of television, believing along with the majority of true fans of comedy that television is killing the circuit; not because people are staying at home to watch it on their screens rather than go out, but because for the most part if you are not touted across the television on a regular basis the public just are not interested in coming to see you. Of course there will always be the hipster-core who would rather avoid the mainstream superacts and deliberately seek out the lesser known, but to be honest it surprised me that Robin Ince falls into this bracket.

So why do we not see him on television as often as others? In his words, because he does not consider himself an expert, in fact his show opens with a disclaimer much to that effect. Some would disagree, others would ask if that really matters given the huge amount of non-entities given screen time; but to him it is important that he has integrity and only offers himself up to talk on subjects he genuinely feels expert in.

It was interesting to hear his opinion on ticket pricing, too. He talked of how he had tried to start some sort of organisation through which acts sold their own tickets and cut out the organisations which add processing fees and other extra costs to the face value. In reality this is a mammoth task and he has found it difficult to find others who would commit as well as finding the time himself to set it up. I feel such a scheme as he described would work brilliantly if there were a way to jump straight to it being in place and working, but I doubt that anyone would be able to get it going without the aid of a time-slip. It is always nice though to hear that comedians are thinking of their audience when planning gigs and organising ticket sales. In particular there are the likes of Sarah Millican having skipped a whole chain of venues in protest at their having added premiums to ticket prices and Rhod Gilbert giving constant reminders to buy through venue box offices directly rather than through ticket agents or auction sites. Of course they are not the only ones taking such action, but being high profile means their actions are more likely to be noticed by those profitting most from the status quo.


As a wife and mum, it was also good to talk to him about his family. He mentions his young son often in his show and I wondered how easy it is to spend long periods away from him and of course Mrs Ince. There was no bravado in his response; he admitted he often finds it very difficult, especially if he has been at home for a while. The timing is such right now, for instance, that Robin has just spent the half term holiday at home after being away for a while and found it hard leave again. He does have worries about being away and brought up the fact that there is a general belief that comedians are prone to depression from being away. He dismisses this, though, and is quick to point out that the actual problem is simply that being alone all day there is time to brood. He spoke of how quite often he would have seen no-one until he arrives at the theatre for his show but he does try to make the most of his time alone in order that when he is at home he can maximise his time with the family.


All-in-all, Robin Ince is a great person; extrememly interesting to listen to, amiable, well-balanced and happy to discuss his opinions whether you agree with him or not. The show was brilliant. There are a few dates left on this run but if you can't get to them, be sure to grab tickets for his next, the Importance of Being Interested. Dates are on his website www.robinince.com so take a look!

Also look out for his DVD, "The Best and the Worst of Robin Ince" coming up next year through the gofasterstripe website (I'll keep you posted on that!)


The interview goes live tomorrow, will update with a link once announced!

Happy Birthday Comedy Southwest

There is something quite special about today; it is the first birthday of a valuable resource for fans of fun and laughter, Comedy South West.

Comedy South West was born of the frustrations felt by its two creators on discovering that all too often tickets were sold out before most were even able to discover a gig was happening, often being sold-on over auction sites at hugely elevated prices. Rather than just sit back and mumble complaint about this, they decided instead to take action and set out to report all vendors they found to be bulk-buying tickets with the sole intention of making a huge profit out of those desperate to get to the gigs.

This still wasn't enough, though, and they decided there was a need for an agency sharing details of all upcoming gigs within the region in order that local people could be aware and get in early enough to buy their tickets hopefully before the scalpers could their mitts on them. Originally simply a Twitter network sharing information, the task soon grew into an obsession and so it was that the need to set up a formal website became apparent.

Over the past year, the site has taken off in a great way; alongside the listings and news are interviews with some of the comedians who have performed locally, gig reviews and now a brand new forum to chat with other comedy fans.

Another recent venture for the site was creation of a mailing list. This is a great way to ensure everyone is instantly informed of the release of gig information, because let's face it we don't have time to check in with all our favourite websites every day to see what is new do we? Mailings are sent out a couple of times a month, although it is rather dependant on when tour dates are released by the artists, and you can sign up here

With more than 600 Twitter followers, already a huge amount of subscribers to the still new mailing list and excellent feedback from comedians, venues and the public alike, Comedy South West shows signs of growing into a huge source of information for comedy fans.

Having achieved so much in this first year, we have to wonder what more these boys have up their sleeves to the time to come...

Sign up to the newsletter yourselves to find out!

Comedy South West wish to extend their thanks to all who provide information and feedback which helps the website to grow.

In particular, they would like to thank the venues who provide updates on ticket sales and upcoming events and the comedians who have taken part in interviews and shared information on their own gigs. In particular (although not exclusively), thanks go to Chris Ramsey, Robin Ince, Carl Hutchinson, Jo Caulfield, Rob Rouse, Imran Yusuf, Alfie Moore and Mark Olver for their ongoing support and Twitter love.



If you have gigs to submit to the Comedy South West Calendar please use the form here:
SUBMIT GIG

Or email the boys directly here:

Just Another Info-Dump

It's a while since I wrote one of these What's Hot posts, but there is so very much to tell you all about right now it would be remiss not to. I know, I really should do these with more regularity but what can I say? Maybe I will now, who knows...

So what are we reading/watching/listening to?

You should all have listened to the fourth series of the utterly brilliant Those That Can't. The final episode is still on the Iplayer for a day or two, so catch it even if you have missed the rest. We were all rocked by Chris Corcoran's announcement that series four is to be the last ever, especially as this is by far the best series yet. I guess going out on a high is for the best, but I for one am very sad! Should you have missed previous instalments, there are links to series' two and three here . Links for this series will be available once the current episode drops from the IPlayer. There was good news from Elis James on his appearance with Louise Elliott today in the form of an upcoming second series of the utterly fantastic Social Club FM! A big whoop all round for that!
Whilst on the subject of the fabulous Mr James; series two of Pantheon of Heroes is being recorded next month, to be aired some time in December. Tickets for the recordings are available here! There is also a show airing tonight on BBC Wales about his career to date. The pics below link to some youtube vids of outakes from the recording of the show.


Another of those things I should have told you about sooner was the second series of Everyone Quite Likes Justin of which the last episode again is sadly all that remains for you to hear. This has been a brilliant series, far better than the last although it does seem it was given a rubbish timeslot, so I hope the listener figures have been good throughout.

Back on our TV screens at the moment is Gwlad yr Astra Gwyn. If you did not pay attention the last time, be sure to give the show a try now. It has English subtitles (although not through the red-button setup, but through Sky accessibility) so there is no excuse even if you do not speak Welsh!

Last week I was lucky enough to see Greg Davies' Back of My Mum's Head Tour, at which he was supported by the equally great Ed Gamble. See the review for the details, but do make the effort to see the show if it tumbles by your town!
I was also able to see Wil Hodgson who is very funny indeed. (Review to follow in my usual lazy, procrastinatory way!)

There is a huge amount of brilliant live comedy in the area right now. Sadly, I am not in a position to see as much as I would like as the hub-creature is still in a bad way following his surgery but I will share with you everything I do get to! (or will at least try!)

Anyhoo... there is much more to be honest. Comedy is hot news right now, with a great deal of new TV and radio shows as well as the usual glut of comedians dragging their Edinburgh-honed shows far and wide. I shall endeavour to be more organised and share things as they arise so I am not left with 812 things to tell you about!

But for now that's enough to go along with!

Greg Davies: The Back of my Mum's Head Tour

The evening’s entertainment opened to a set from the utterly brilliant Ed Gamble. Although I had seen him previously as the “other half” of duo Peacock and Gamble, I hadn’t seen a live solo set from Ed before.
As anyone with any familiarity with his work would expect, though, he was extremely funny. He interacted brilliantly with the audience and was certainly one of the more confident support acts I have seen. He displays a level of self-assurance which cleverly stops literally on the line bordering cockiness, always delivered with a smirk which looks as though it quite literally allows him to get away with absolutely anything. Content-wise, there was nothing which fell short; perfectly streamlined material delivered flawlessly yet without the over-rehearsed feel that can sometimes come of such a tight write.

Details of the current Peacock and Gamble tour can be found here: Peacock and Gamble
You’ll see links to Ed’s and Ray Peacock’s individual gigs there too!



So to the main event.

With more stories of Greg’s family and friends, this show is quite literally hilarious from start to finish with his audience drawn fully into his world. In fact when I reviewed the DVD of his previous show I did comment on the way he makes us invest emotionally in his tales and this show is in much the same vein. Obviously it comes of his drama background, but he makes literally every word matter in a way I have seen from no other comedian. Every word he speaks hangs in the air long enough for everyone to catch onto it so that the entire audience were with him from start to finish.

It is unfortunate that there will usually be a dick in the audience somewhere – ours was next to me and was irritatingly speaking out where he believed a story might be going and trying to second-guess punchlines but again because of the way Greg performs I even stopped noticing that! (Lucky really, because I was wearing my killer heels and could easily have removed one and stabbed the guy in the eye with it!)
Alongside the extremely funny stories, we were also treated to the role-play of a conversation with his parents in which audience members took part and a rather emotive song (yes, he sings and plays the guitar too!)
Okay, he did claim the song had just been written that day and might not be part of the show proper, but honestly I never know what to believe. If it remains in the show then great because it was very funny and made a lovely close to the evening. If not, I don’t care because I have seen it and that’s what matters to me!
It is difficult to give a more detailed review without wildly giving away the content, so all I will say is that the show is absolutely fantastic and you should definitely go and see it if you get the opportunity.

Channel Four Love/Hate

I am very much having a love/hate relationship with Channel Four right now at the hands of their “Comedy Fortnight”. As a concept, it’s brilliant: wheeling out old comedies we have long forgotten; mixing the repeats with some new ideas; new shows from established comedy writers and actors. On paper, it sounds brilliant.

First issue, though, is the timing. Comedy starts at 9pm and goes on until sometime in the early morning. As an insomniac, I really don’t need this kind of excuse to not try to sleep; so I have missed some of the best stuff as I turn off the TV in an attempt to quiet my brain. Some of the things shown really haven’t even needed an after-nine slot to my mind, so why they have been dropped in at 2am is truly beyond me. Some might argue recordable TV and online viewing render scheduling irrelevant, but as a freesat viewer, I have no record capability and internet here is too slow to watch 4od (believe me, I once had to write about a half-hour show which I missed and subsequently took 7½hrs to watch on the 4od player!) But anyway, this is a minor quibble, as I do have the option to watch if I choose especially since I am invariably still wide awake.

Secondly, it was not even a true fortnight. More a “Comedy 10-Days With A Couple Off In The Middle” (pedantic, I know, but there you go!)

The programming itself, though…

One of the shows was a countdown of the best Channel4 comedies ever. I forget how many, but it seems logical to think it was 30; however many it was though there was only one show in the whole countdown which I didn’t like. The richness of the comedy output from Channel4 over the last thirty years has been truly outstanding and it was great to be reminded of some of them. But as it finishes we all weep in unison; a combination of grief over the loss of these greats and the lament of what the channel’s output has become. It seems that nowadays Channel Four is so utterly desperate for ‘something new’ they are forgetting about the audience completely. Okay there were a couple of new gems, namely the comedy drama “Toast of London”, which couldn’t ever be more than a one-off show, and from the Comedy Blaps series the brilliant “Rubberbandits”, but for the most part it seems new comedy is more about trying to push boundaries and break new ground than it is about the entertainment of the audience.

And here is where I really start to get onto my soapbox. Because in the midst of the advertising frenzy surrounding the channel4 comedy fortnight were trailers for the show “I’m Spazticus”. Now the title itself prickles at me for a start.

I am going to seem a little fumbling in my language here, I am sure, but it’s not through any sense of political correctness, more that there isn’t a term I genuinely feel comfortable using to describe what channel4 themselves call a ‘disabled cast’.

The reason the term grates at me so much is because I have been lucky enough to work with some truly inspiration people, both adults and children, who have what is termed a ‘disability’ but who show such dedication that their condition, whatever it may be, doesn’t render them unable to do anything. In fact, in the light of the upcoming Paralympic games, the one thing we should be learning from the outstanding athletes being hawked across our screens is that anyone can truly achieve anything.

Not only that, but when with ‘disabled’ friends or family members, there are words I can use which aren’t considered politically correct yet which feel far less derogatory than 'disabled'.

But as it seems the preferred term, I shall use the word disabled; although each time I do, I will cringe a little and the awkward shifting in my chair will cause some sort of break in my writing … but it is simpler that way I guess than back-tracking each time to find a word I am comfortable with.

But anyway, regardless of other terms I may use, in the title of this show is a word I truly despise. In fact, my reaction on hearing this word can be held alongside the responses of some towards the word c**t and it is certainly not a word I would ever like to see thrown around freely. It conjures up a horrifyingly belittling image of people who in some cases are not able to speak up for themselves … or maybe that’s just me.


I am side-tracking, I know, but for once I feel there is value in my waffling nonsense!

Anyway, I saw the trailers and didn’t pay too much attention, just thought how great it was that the upcoming Paralympics and all that comes with it had inspired C4 to commission a comedy showing the great talents of a group of ‘disabled’ people.

I have since learned this was originally part of the Comedy Labs series back in 2005. I have no idea if this outing was a repeat or a second effort, but regardless I cannot see the basis in it at all.

The thing which bothers me most is that there are a huge amount of performers with varying degrees of ‘disability’ in comedy. I shan’t get into listing them, because I would rather single them out for their comedy than their physical condition but I am sure Google will point you to them should you ask. Much as [my regular readers will know] I despise the ‘offended on behalf of others’ culture, this show itself is a huge insult to them and their efforts to break down barriers.

At a time when the world is suddenly focussed on positive images of people with disabilities doing the most amazing things, Channel Four had a great opportunity to provide a show which empowered performers who struggle to find an outlet. I spoke with someone a while ago about a brilliant CP act I had seen (the CP being wholly irrelevant to the act itself, I simply made a passing mention of the condition) to which the response was “Why would you go see that? How could you sit and laugh at a poor disabled person?” Um… kind of the point of comedy, no? But this is the issue such performers have to fight against and this is what the timeslot should have been used for. Instead was a programme which in my mind was downright insulting to all, including the acts themselves.


I’ll explain a little, because I am aware some of you may have missed it…

This is a prank show (okay, I already had low expectations, you know how I love to hate the format!) the premise being: disabled person stuck with some sort of problem, approaches member of the public for help, member of the public is mocked… for being a good citizen and trying to help. The people who passed by ignoring pleas for assistance are not subjected to any of the ridicule; no that is reserved for the decent human beings.

And that is the thing that pissed me off least about this offering …

Alright, I can kind of see the point; I get what they were trying to achieve – but maybe this could have been better done by actual sketches. This show just came across as a bitter group being given the chance to take the piss out of some people who were different to them; there is nothing funny or clever in that, unless it is at the expense of someone who is being a complete dick – and the subjects here certainly weren’t dicks!


The show also did nothing to promote a positive image of people with disabilities. In fact, it was quite the opposite. For example:

A blind man walks into different situations carrying a dildo with ‘hilarious’ consequences … because of course being unable to see renders a person too stupid to know not to brandish a sextoy in the face of a delivery man knocking at the door, or to carry it in a bag if returning it to a shop. How is this funny?

People are stopped in the street and asked to take part in a police line-up, but are encouraged to act like the rest of the line-up. One being asked to kneel on his shoes to look like a dwarf… um… is this okay? Or funny? No on both accounts if you ask me.

I could go on but I am aware this is already a far longer rant than I intended.

Just think again, please, Channel Four. There is a wealth of talent amongst the ‘disabled community’ for want of a better phrase. Look for them, make a night of their acts, give them the audience they deserve… but no more of this derogatory drime.

And yes, I am going to continue to use the word drime in spite of my software's claims it doesn't exist because even if it isn't a real word, it bloody well should be!

Mark Little ~ THEbullsh*tARTIST

It is said you should never encounter your teen crushes as an adult and I am sure that contributed something to my initial ambivalence over attending this show. Also family members had seen Mark Little a while ago and whilst had thoroughly enjoyed their evening their accounts did not make his comedy sound like my ‘thing’ (mostly I think because their idea of what’s funny and mine are vastly separated! [blogsearch: Jethro])

That said, I left my preconceptions (and my 14yr old self) stewing at the hotel


Firstly, I have to acknowledge what a genuinely nice guy Mark Little really is. When he arrived he greeted each staff member and volunteer individually and talked with us like old friends. I know this adds nothing in terms of a true review – but this amiable, relaxed persona is exactly what he takes to the stage; he puts nothing on for the sake of his audience.

His delivery feels more like listening to an entertaining guy chatting in a bar than someone intentionally trying to make his audience laugh which creates a delightful intimacy even in a venue as roomy as this was.


It is difficult to sum up the material without giving away too much, but it was more political than you might expect and incredibly funny. It is always great to leave a comedy gig deep in thought, having either learned something new or been enlightened to a cause and this was very much the case with the Bullsh*t Artist.

Absolutely brilliant! This is definitely a show you should see if you get the chance.

Down

It’s a while since I had to post one of these “why I’ve been lazy” posts… the reason behind my silence of late should be clear to regular readers, but as I am aware I picked up a wave of new subscribers over the last few weeks I guess I need to explain myself.

Returning from my recent trip to Cardiff, I found the funk descending. It has proven quite difficult to shift; even now as I write this from beneath the duvet I have barely left for almost two weeks. I won’t clutter up this blog with the hither and thither; just suffice it to say I am suddenly glaringly aware of all that is wrong in the world right now.

But anyway – with that in mind, I do still have a job to do here, so am dragging myself back into the real world for just long enough to complete my little to-do list.

Ordinarily, I don’t share my lists with you all – but I am sure I am more likely to complete if I do so here it is:

• This catchup post
• Reviews from the Cardiff trip (x5)(x3)
• Completion of the Cardiff blog-within-a-blog
• Complete new static pages in progress (x2)
• Two vaguely topical posts which are both part-written
• Investigate image display options for a photo-set

And that is all!



Hope to be soon back to full speed, but in the mean time to be wading through treacle is at least an improvement!

Roadtrip

Because every journey is an adventure I figured I'd share a little of my trip with you all. It won't make for a deeply fascinating read unless you like to see just how miserable and pathetic my life really is, but here you go regardless:



All packed and eager, I awoke from my two-hour sleep ready to walk to the bus station.

To find rain. Not just a little, but dirty great drips so heavy the contents of my case would be drenched before I even reached the end of my road.

It is also worth mentioning at this point that I dyed my hair the day before - and it had that beautiful bounce that only comes of having newly-coloured hair. In my imaginings, I would be swishing off the bus in Cardiff, all hair and glamour. Yes, I am something of a dreamer - you really should have got that by now…
Suffice it to say I really did not want wet hair - I also didn’t relish the idea of having to dry clothes in my hotel room on arriving - so I wimped out and called a taxi.

The driver was very nice and seemed quite knowledgeable, so to hear “The weather’s great in Cardiff today” spoken with the same authority as a report on the state of traffic on the drive over I was hopeful of Sunshine. Especially given that the sky had started to clear at some time around ‘too late to walk now’ and I could see I was leaving a potentially not too unpleasant day behind me.
A glance through the social networks suggested otherwise… but I certainly wasn’t travelling for the weather, now, was I?


Arriving at the station posed an interesting situation. I thought it would be simple - head directly to the ticket desk to find which bay I needed and await my bus.
Ticket desk, it seems, is not deemed necessary on a Saturday when the majority of people do their travelling - but I was able to locate the zone, bus arrived and we boarded.
Amongst my fellow travellers were a pair of teens; a brother and sister, as mum told us all between her sobs, travelling without her for the first time. I would imagine she might still be crying. They were chatting and laughing the moment we pulled out of the station.
This made me a little sad, as no-one had bothered even waking to see me off at home, least of all coming to the station - but at least I was saved the guilt of leaving them I guess.


Travelling itself was not the trauma I had anticipated. I don’t travel well, but given that there were only ten people on the coach I was able to sit at the front with a full view and even had a little table should I decide to work. Yes, I should have I know…
I chose instead to listen to Pantheon of Heroes - and whilst searching for it discovered my mp3 player has an FM radio (travelling on a Saturday, headed to Wales; need I elaborate? Just. Pure. Joy. Or hope at least.)

As an aside, I know that some time ago there were tweetings of the writing of series two… even more anxious for it now!! HURRY UP!!!

I was surprised given that you must prebook for this journey the driver still had to call in at every town. It must be quite demoralising as a job having people shake their heads apologetically when they see you approach… and we could have arrived far more quickly had we cut out those towns and stuck to the main road. Nevertheless, it was nice to sit back and not be the driver for once, so I was a little grateful of the scenic detour.

At some point (it may have been Taunton, I really wasn’t paying attention) we acquired a group of hens and some other newcomers. Opposite me was now a Spanish guy - this I knew because he had little English and the struggle over communication with the driver piqued my interest enough that I removed my earphones for a moment. Anyway - having completed Pantheon, I had now embarked on a little Pappy’s catch-up and was working through the Bangers and Mash podcasts. Now having children I am obviously used to not giving voice to every sound I feel inclined to make (although it has been a while!) and as such the out-loud laughter was suitably stifled… the problem is, though, that stifling any noise does instill a facial expression and as I noticed Mr Spaniard watching me with a somewhat peculiar expression my initial indignation became embarrassment as I realised my face was contorting into some very strange ‘don’t laugh’ shapes as I tried to remain quiet. Not a sexy look, so I chose instead to brush up on my Welsh lessons… after all, when in Rome and all that! Very quickly we arrived in Bristol.

Now as with most cities, all I knew of Bristol was the hospitals and places we may have passed by during our many accidental detours and having the worst sense of direction in the world decided leaving the surprisingly small bus station might not be a sensible move. Thus I spent the hour and a half between journeys seated in a little coffee shop, having paid around £7 for a coffee, slice and a Double-decker watching the board for my bus. Incidentally, it is just as well I didn’t rely solely on the board, as my bus was never listed even as we pulled out of the station. I discovered at this point that the hens were also going to Cardiff - and they were to grow rowdier on the next leg of the journey!

Nearing time for phase two, I headed to the gate. There were a Polish couple headed to Bridgend who were just repeating over and again “Swansea, but” and laughing more hysterically each time. They made me chuckle, as did the peculiar lady who turned to a friend on seeing a bus with our number headed to a different gate and with ‘Heathrow’ in the destination window said:
“That’s ours”; “No, look, he’s going to Heathrow”; “Yes, but doesn’t ours go on to Heathrow? I’m sure I read somewhere that it’s going to Heathrow via Swansea.”
Were I her friend, I’d have been hard pressed to not send her to that gate and pop her on the bus regardless!

Anyway, phase two of my journey was not so great; this coach was a newer one, more designed for comfort with big seats and high, darkened windows. The seats were so high I could not reach the floor, the only thing on which to rest my feet was pumping out hot air and the guy behind me was in some sort of restless sleep that had him constantly kicking out at my seat during the journey. I immediately felt nauseous and claustrophobic and spent the entire drive scanning the radio for BBC Radio Wales to take my mind off the horrid feeling in my stomach…

I had a romantic vision that we would pass through the toll and instantly the voice of divinity would appear on my radio in some flamboyant welcome gesture. This didn’t happen. What I did hear was some fuzzy white noise a few miles after with a glint of Mr Corcoran at the back of it only recognisable to someone with a heightened interest in such things. But he was there. And I was able to listen to small moments between bouts of further fuzz until reaching the outskirts of Cardiff - the one place I thought for sure there would be a decent signal. Here he vanished altogether and rather despondent, I gave up looking for him.

We had found sunshine at around the point of the M5/J27 services and it had stayed with us for the most part through the journey. We left it at Newport, however. It’s probably just as well- Newport looked gloomy enough even with the sun we brought - in fact not even the presence of the funfair seemed to create any sort of joy.
Newport is a peculiar place. From the architecture it appears that there have been sporadic efforts at renovation which result in a new building, or maybe two or in some cases only half, of a particular style amidst a mish-mash of different designs. Even the new, modern buildings look tired and dirty. It is certainly an odd place to see!
So we left the sun in the hope it makes just one person in the town smile and drove on into ever heavier rain to reach our destination in a horrendous downpour.

Immediately on stepping out of the station I was thrown into a panic that I’d become one of those ‘rural girl killed within minutes of hitting the city’ statistics on being targeted by two guys wanting money. Being quite obviously not from round here, with my case and my bag and fully aware they were now following me (or at least walking in the same direction as I was), I hopped into a taxi rather than walking around not quite sure where I was going. With hindsight, I could have saved the money but it was raining as heavily as it had been at home and I didn’t see the point in taking chances - besides which, I needed to save the hair!

And so it was that I arrived at my hotel a little later than expected but nevertheless safe and happy into a room much lovelier than pictures had shown with most importantly a nice big mug for my coffee!

Quite uneventful as my journeys go, but the next is something else altogether!

Dan Mitchell ~ Free Egg

Although for the most part the venue is irrelevant to how good a show is, I have to say that the setting for this preview show was amazing. We were in a small bohemian courtyard, surrounded by some buildings of great character and the whole affair had a great feeling to it. I was unfortunately a little late (I’ll cover elsewhere as it’s irrelevant to this, suffice it to say my sense of direction failed me so horrendously I even used up my 15 minute Accidental Detour buffer!) but I was in perfect time to catch the first support act.

I won’t go into detailed reviews of them individually, but we were treated to four acts and all were good. Some far better than others, it has to be said, but all were deserving of being on the stage.

It was a little disappointing there wasn’t a bigger crowd, but the weather is as much a cause of that as anything else. I think with a small crowd, though, it’s probably quite hard to gauge just where the good laughs are – especially with a few who just laugh raucously at everything.

Obviously I am going to be quite vague with details… you will know from previous reviews I consider it something of a privilege to go to a preview show and as such it’s not my place to tell you exactly what to expect, rather to encourage you to go yourself… and if you get the opportunity you most certainly should!
If I were to make one criticism, it would be that Dan did the same thing all comedians do at these events and spent a lot of time constantly reminding us it will be better in future… we know that already so when things go awry, by all means tell us so we can laugh at your fallibility but then just move on – that said, I have read things written about preview shows in which the writer seems to expect the act to be going into them already word-perfect… they are idiots and shouldn’t be pandered to though!

So yes, there was a minor technical glitch and a there were a few backtracks as Dan realised he’d missed bits but that is very much a part of a preview show. From the perspective of testing material, I’d guess that makes it harder to tell if the laughs were coming from those jokes or the fact they had been forgotten – also taking the piece out of context it becomes more of a stand-alone joke than part of an act, so presumably those then get fewer laughs than they might as part of the natural flow but there was nothing I felt really didn’t work.

He made a huge dramatic entrance, which leaves you really thrown as an audience. It is difficult to know just what to expect as you see him arrive on stage as he does, especially if you have seen him before and know him to be one for just stepping up, delivering his set and leaving again. I do have photos but I’m not sharing them, because it is the unknown that makes it work so well. You just have to trust me that it was a good one… big ask I know, but I haven’t steered you wrong yet, have I?

There was a little of the material we have seen before from him, but that’s irrelevant really as there are some strong jokes that need a bigger audience than they may have seen already and they blended really well into the newer stuff. I do think he could get a bigger laugh out of the origin of the title. It’s quite creative and almost seemed as it were just dropped into the set, but that’s possibly only because things were out of order after the backtracking.

So if you are off to Edinburgh, make a point of adding Free Egg to your list – or if there is a preview near you, go… and report back please! Would be good to see how the show develops.

CCF12 PREVIEW: Jarred Christmas and Wil Hodgson

Indulge my girliness for a moment, but if there were one of those 'weird crush' lists dedicated to comedians, these boys would both be on it! Utter gorgeousness on this page right here! But anyway... to get a little more professional - they are both proper funny too!

End of message.

More? - Ok...

Jarred Christmas seems to have just been hovering in the comedy background forever and whether live or on TV or radio he is always absolutely hilarious and has been from the first time I saw him (maybe 2000/01 or something I don't quite remember now). He fires the jokes out fairly quickly, leaving barely time to catch your breath between laughs (As an aside, he did actually cause my worst ever asthma attack... cos yeah, I had all the nerd-diseases! So maybe a few sessions of Alexander before going to see him... that advice is free. You are welcome.) But anyway - do go see him... very few chuckles - just big laughs from start to finish... if you've not seen Jarred before I guarantee* you will love him!

I have not been lucky enough to see Wil Hodgson live, but am still far more familiar with his work than perhaps I should be (nothing sketchy in that, just a healthy interest in the funnies!) Regular readers will know I love a little quirkiness... and Wil has an abundance of that! I love his "nothing to see here" attitude towards the things which make him so different from everyone else in the entire world. If ever there was to be one person to inspire people to embrace their differences, he would most certainly be it as he quite openly shares details of his eccentricities with us all. Very funny, extremely original... highly must-see!



The two are performing at St David's Hall on 13th July. GO.....


*Guarantee is just a figure of speech and should be taken as such. If your sense of humour is such that you do not laugh, it is purely your own fault not mine!


Head to the event page here:
Jarred and Wil @ St David's Hall

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Ranty McRantpants

Insomnia bites!! It is almost 3am and I am not even feeling slightly tired... so instead I shall take this opportunity to file some of the remaining posts here as well as having a little moan - because there is something I stumbled across on the web earlier that really got me in a pissy-snip.


I posted recently about fandom and this is related in some ways...

See here's the thing: there is a fan-blog I visit regularly which is dedicated to a particular person (not who you think!- oh what, a post NOT about the Man!) The blog is written by someone who lives on the other side of the world from her subject, is never likely to meet him and even if some bizarre fate did make it happen she is almost twenty years his junior so I very much doubt there would be a relationship on the cards... nevertheless, she is infatuated. Which in and of itself isn't a big deal -I mean I am a fine one to comment on fangirl infatuations, I know that- but there are things in what was written that got to me.

The guy in question is a great blogger who is quite open with his audience and regularly responds to comments left. He had been blogging about his new girlfriend to which my fellow blogger had taken great exception... and here's where I started to get narked...

She was writing about how much hatred she had for the girlfriend, how she hoped the girl was run down by a bus, that she wanted her to get a heap of pustular boils over her face that would leave her scarred forever... I am paraphrasing, but this is the gist of the piece I was reading...

She and I had shared many conversations about this person and to read so much venomous bile from her really shocked me... and I know it's not just her - a glance through the twitter feeds of the Beliebers and OneDirectioners is a good place to start looking for lunatic fans, but here's the thing...

If you are genuinely a fan of someone and truly believe that they are a wonderful person, why would you want them to be lonely and single forever? And given that you think the subject of your illusion is so utterly amazing, can you not trust in their ability to choose a similarly upstanding mate? This person is someone moral, decent, honest and as I have already mentioned, extremely open... he's not going to be chosing a girlfriend who doesn't share some of those qualities - that doesn't happen!

Now when challenged on her attitude towards the girlfriend, the blogger stated that she couldn't dream of being with the guy if he was seeing someone... so here's the thing...

If you are reading this and are a person who has any sort of fanbase, you must remain single forever in order that your fans can dream of one day riding off into the sunset with you....

That's a reasonable enough request, isn't it?

Just get fucking real, people!! Everyone can dream of being swept off their feet in some hugely romantic gesture, or of being grabbed by the object of their infatuation, thrown against a wall and fucked into the next room... whatever gets you to sleep at night, eh... but it's just dreams, imaginings, illusion - in the real world life goes on. Your dreams are not subject to whether that person is with someone else or not, because lets face it, they are unlikely to ever become a reality anyway...

Truly there are a huge amount of fans across the world with a very loose grip on reality - to the point that you have to fear for their sanity (and the well-being of their prey!)

It'd be nice to inject a reality chip into some of them!



It's a while since I shared something from the Tubeofyous with you all, so because it illustrates my point perfectly, the ultimate anthem of dangerous fandom!





And a lesson in safe, feet-firmly-planted-in-reality (if a little on the letchy side) fangirling ~~ The Fangirl Page

CCF12 PREVIEW: Chapter Arts 11th July

This is a great night of relatively new talent from the Cardiff Comedy Festival. Angela Barnes and Romesh Ranganathan both participated in last year's BBC New Comedy Award, Angela as the eventual winner, Romesh as a heat runner-up and are both very funny. Angela Barnes has a great edginess to her and has a way of making you think she's already hit a mediocre punchline only to follow it up with a bigger, better one. It's almost a "BOGOF" on your laughs, so if nothing else you know you will always get value for money - and who isn't motivated by the chance to save money nowadays?
I saw Romesh Ranganathan perform shortly after the New Comedy Award and I was really hoping to have seen more of him over the year to watch him develop. He was very funny, drawing on his life experiences and referring to racial stereotypes within his family without making the guilt-by-association assumption that his mostly white audience would be inherently racist as I have seen many times before.
From the very beginning, both have stepped onto the stage confidently and delivered great comedy and I am really looking forward to seeing more from them in the future.

At just twenty, Patrick Morris is quite the comedy baby. Nevertheless, he delivers a self-assured set perfectly timed in a way that you feel even his pauses have been professionally rehearsed. One problem with this can be that the act is thrown when something interupts that flow and that was very much the case when I saw him perform, but that is something experience alone can correct and I am sure even by now he will have outgrown it.

Definitely a show to watch! Tickets only £6... proper bargain!

Head to the event page here:
11th July ~ Chapter Arts

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CCF12 PREVIEW: Inky Quill ~ Devil's Jig

Inky Quill ~ Devil's Jig

Formed of a group of writers, performers and directors, Inky Quill have been producing top quality comedy plays since 2009, having also taken an step into theatre macabre for a Halloween show in 2011.

The production they have planned for the Cardiff Comedy Festival promises to be by far the best to date.

The Devil’s Jig was originally voted runner-up in Sherman Cymru’s 2010 Scriptslam and has since been through an intensive re-working by writer Rick Allden to be now ready for a full production.

“Highwayman Guy D'amnfine, a scourge to all menfolk, an urge for all womenfolk, faces ruin. He's rubbed someone up the wrong way. Of who that may be, poor Guy has no idea... for there's been a lot of rubbing.”



Head to the event page here:
Devil's Jig from Inky Quill

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CCF12 PREVIEW: Committee Meeting

The Committee Meeting: Chris Corcoran and Elis James

Much as I like to spend a couple of hours being talked at in the name of entertainment, there is a huge delight in losing oneself in a concept show… which is what makes this offering from Chris Corcoran and Elis James such a brilliant night out!

The title tells all you need to know really: this show is played as a committee meeting, with Chris Corcoran taking the lead as chairman of the club and Elis James as Rex the caretaker whilst the audience become the club members contributing their own thoughts and opinions. Obviously the format is such that each meeting will be very different from the last, so you quite literally never visit the same show twice.

Of course, playing a show as dependent on audience contribution is always a risk, but the pair are so good at improvising and able to bring out the best in people that it just works really well and is definitely a show you should experience.



Gráinne Maguire

With a range of writing credits including The News Quiz, The Now Show and 8 Out of 10 Cats, Gráinne Maguire is equally confident whether tackling politics or telling tales of her home life. She is engaging and enthusiastic, with a charm about her that radiates to fill the room and a consistently paced delivery. She is definitely worth seeing if you get the chance, so head along to the Cardiff Comedy Festival for a preview of her 2012 Edinburgh show, ‘Where Are All the Fun Places and Are Lots of People There Having Fun?’


Head to the event page here:
The Committee Meeting/Gráinne Maguire

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CCF12 PREVIEW: Elis James and Lloyd Langford

Elis James and Lloyd Langford

Previewing their shows in preparation for Edinburgh are the brilliant Elis James and Lloyd Langford.

I hardly think you should need telling about this pair, but I have a role to fulfill, so here you are!

I saw Lloyd Langford twice last year (you can read my review of one preview show HERE) and he was great.
To my mind, the truest guage of how good an act is comes of how they respond when something unexpected is thrown at them and I remember a particular moment at one show that a couple seated near me decided quite literally in the middle of one of his rambles they would leave... knowing that where they were seated would mean making four others at our table stand to let them out. Obviously, Lloyd noticed this and for a moment it was clear his confidence took a bash (especially given that it must have seemed an entire table were leaving!) and he lost his train of thought. He took it completely in his stride, though - just left that piece of his set and moved on. I was glad to see him the second time just to find the end of that particular piece (and don't even start me on the rudeness of walking out in as abrupt a way as they did, because it wasn't even as though they hadn't laughed- let's just say they clearly had other entertainment planned!) but it just shows that even though he portrays an image of disinterest and detachment he is actually completely aware of what is going on around him and his pretense of having not rehearsed his material and claims in that instance of making it up as he goes is a complete fabrication. Quite honestly, I still haven't worked out why we don't see/here more of him on TV or radio but hopefully that will soon change.

And what do I need to tell you about Elis James? Very funny, slick and subtle; crude enough to be interesting but not so much it makes the audience squirm. It might be more to do with his material than delivery as I have only seen him do one set (allbeit more than once!) but he comes across at first as quite naïve and innocent until you realise he is sneaking little moments past you un-noticed. It's a process which is hard to explain, but is testament to his imense talent as a writer as well as his performance skills.

I will say no more, because as with these things I do feel I am descending into the gushiness I try to avoid... but if for whatever reason you have never seen either of these guys, you should definitely do along. Or even if you have... but you won't need telling because no doubt you will have bought your tickets already!


Head to the event page here:
Elis James/Lloyd Langford

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CCF12 PREVIEW: Dan Mitchell

This piece was originally written as a preview to the event. For the review, go here: Free Egg Review


My life being what it is right now, the time I can physically spend at the Cardiff Comedy Festival is limited but the moment I heard that Dan Mitchell would be previewing his Edinburgh show Free Egg I knew I had to be around for it. I saw him many years ago in a place I don't even remember at one of those shows you walk away from feeling thoroughly entertained but having forgotten the names of all the acts; in fact I only learned his name when I saw him on the ITV programme Show Me the Funny. I shan't repeat my thoughts on that show... but being the only contestant I had heard of, I would have liked to have seen him win. As with such shows, though, all those with true talent have come out of it well so I have no real issues with the fact he didn't.

Anyway, drifting from the point... my regular readers will be used to this by now, but I am aware many reading these posts are not, so I will try to keep it relevant!

I know it's a phrase I maybe use too often, but what can I say - Dan Mitchell is just naturally funny; he doesn't need to try. There is a phrase my nine-year-old used once which fits so well here: "Comedy just falls from his face".

Not much more I can add to that really!

So yes, go along to this show... entry: FREE, so even if like me you have to travel to get there you have ONLY travel costs to worry about! What more could you ask for?

Head to the event page here:
Dan Mitchell ~ Free Egg

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Time to Play

As kids, my brother and I used to record radio shows on our little cassette recorder. Nothing too special of course; I found some recordings a while ago and it mostly amounts to myself telling him exactly what to say in order to feed my precocious lines or reading poetry out of a book then telling him to say why he loved the poem. Which he didn’t; he was a boy, boys don’t do poetry; he was eight, eight year olds don’t get the subtle nuances of poems; he had a trainset, which is far more fun than making pretend radio shows with a bossy, pretentious big sister.

But I had a jingle and everything.

It was a clever use of the title of the book and made a classic tune: “We’re looking oooout of the Poet’s Wiiiiindoooooow-ooooo-oh-aaaaah-oooooh”


There is much talk of how kids today have no idea how to play, that television and the internet has rendered them incapable of making their own entertainment as we did back then… but something happened this week which made me realise that in fact things really are no different.


I have certain essentials on me whenever I leave the house. Inside whatever bag I happen to be using that day is a little bag containing (amongst other things) pens, a small notepad, nail glue, scissors, my non-music mp3 player (as in the one with podcasts, Welsh lessons and radio shows) and a Dictaphone and external mic (oh, and The Book… not nagged you for a while, so BUY IT!!). Baby had kicked off as we were leaving the house about not wanting to go out with me, so chose to ignore my demands that she take her homework or some toys with which to pass the time.

And this was a Wednesday, child one’s violin lesson which should be half an hour, not enough time to get home and back but ends up being closer to an hour which would be. So baby and I were sitting in the car outside the violin lesson for what ended up being a little over a full hour (incidentally, I don’t complain about this as I am effectively getting half-price lessons, so ‘whatever’!) and to stop the whining, I gave her my bag and settled for just reading The Book. (I know, it’s a chore but I made it through it again!)

There were notes I needed on the Dictaphone, so on returning home I went to listen back and found a batch of unlabelled recordings; some from events I had attended a while ago and forgotten all about, some to be filed into the ‘things I should write about at a later date’ folder, but then came baby’s voice:

“Hello and welcome to this brand new podcast”


Funniest thing was her face when she came into the room and realised I was listening to her. An expectant grin as she knew what was awaiting me.

Then I hear something, amidst the ‘Shout-out’ section (yea, she’s a real pro!)

Now, had I thought of a shout-out section, I am sure my poetry show would have been far better. But I didn’t.

And as she reeled off hellos and pretend Happy Birthdays to various actors and cartoon voice-overs she inexplicably holds the names of, I hear “and a shout out on my mum’s behalf to Chris Corcoran. Otherwise known as Korkey. Or that bloke from off of Doodle-do.”

And through her laughter as she watched me listen, she said “---sorry--- really--- so sorry --- I-just--- had to – I know you hate that --- just---- I can’t even --- your face---- I know ---- it’s too funny --- but I am sorry though”


And I am aware that makes little sense if you haven’t read my rambling fangirl nonsense, so here’s a little screencap of my minor rant from so long ago:

But anyway, getting bogged down in the detail again…

Point is this:

Has the constant input from direct media killed the imagination of our children? Absolutely not.

They might play through different mediums, yet still the imaginative creativity is the same.

Kids still play at schools, it’s just that their cardboard-box desks have laptops drawn on them, their makeshift blackboards are white with interaction buttons of playdough stuck along the edges, baby-doll pupils giggle and cry electronically throughout lessons and the cage containing the class pet zhu-zhus is a very noisy one indeed. But the game remains the same.

The ultimate toy of creativity would have to be Lego. Baby loves playing with my old collection and will spend hours building, but is far happier spending her time creating on Minecraft as she does not have to deconstruct at the end of the day. Is it any less creative? Actually I’d say more so, because as well as the un-ending build, she also has to make her building materials. (I don’t play myself, but I gather there is some process of using a furnace and selecting ingredients…) Were the makers of Lego to send you a bucket of plastic beads and colourings I very much doubt many would feel inclined to build anything whatsoever. Because there is no trace when she closes down the computer, does this make the process of her creation any less valid? Of course not.

It is claimed that children do not know how to create their own characters as everything is pictoralised for them but I think the opposite is true. It seems clear to me that what our children are to learn from the visual onslaught is that the mind can create quite literally anything; that the only limits are our own imaginations. Characters when I was growing up were generally just personified animals, vehicles or household objects but nowadays there is such a range that they feel compelled to create their own weird and wonderful beings. Some of the creatures drawn by baby and her friends really are quite something!



Things have not changed that much if you step back and watch how your kids are actually playing whilst they think you are not around.

Anyhoo…

Rant over.

And in other news; after her little delve into the world of recording baby thinks a weekly podcast would be great fun! I think not.

But baby has a habit of winning these discussions, so I’ll be in the office digging out my copy of The Poet’s Window ready for the poetry section just in case.

CCF12 PREVIEW: Vagabond Comedy

Vagabond Comedy


A monthly event at the Gwdhiŵ Café/Bar, Vagabond Comedy are to host a preview of the new Edinburgh show of Cornish act Matt Price on Tuesday 10th July.

Having not attended the venue myself, I asked a friend who has to give her twopenn’orth. Here is what she had to say (with a few edits!):

“It’s a lovely little venue, really intimate. If I went again [I wouldn’t go alone] because I felt like a proper outsider and there were some right letchy student types. But that’s nothing to do with the event is it.
Don’t know any names, but the guy that compered [Jordan Brookes] was really good at riling people up ready for the acts. He was good at talking with the audience and actually listened to responses. Sometimes they just ask questions but gloss over the answer if it doesn’t fit the next bit of their set, but he didn’t. I don’t think he even had any prepared material to be honest [nb: Personally I doubt this is the case, as I have never yet met anyone who MCs an event in that way, so props to him for either appearing so spontaneous or having the balls to stand up and free-flow – not sure which I think is harder!] The acts were all quite good too. Don’t think any of them were famous in real terms [read: Have not been on TV] but they were funny even if in some cases seemed a bit green. If you are around when there’s a night on you should definitely go. [Trails off into a rant about not knowing who anyone is and admits to only recognising people who have been on LATA or MTW ]”

So there you go, ticks for the venue and acts, just the audience that let it down in her case - although most people can handle a few drunken, letchy student types!

I will add that Matt Price is absolutely brilliant and just immensely likeable, so even if you do not know any of the other names you should certainly be wanting to see him! Check out his website here: Matt Price

Also on the bill for this evening are:
Gareth Brand: semi-finalist of the Gilded Balloon’s So You Think You’re Funny of 2009
Matt Rees: winner and finalist in several contests over the past year or so, amongst which he won the 2011 WUSA and more recently the Leicester Mercury Comedian of the Year at Leicester festival this February.
Rob Hughes: 2011 semi-finalist of Laughing Horse New Act of the Year and finalist of WUSA


Buy tickets here: Vagabond Comedy

More Cardiff Comedy Festival Events

CCF12 PREVIEW: Peacock and Gamble Festival Opener

Peacock and Gamble


Officially kicking off the Cardiff Comedy Festival on July 4th are the fabulous Ray Peacock and Ed Gamble with a preview of their new Edinburgh Fringe show.

In the interests of research I have endured the best part of two solid days listening again to all the old Peacock and Gamble podcasts – what can I say; life is a chore sometimes! Okay, admittedly I could have just listened to a couple and reported back, but I had quite honestly forgotten how utterly hilarious the pair are so went a bit pringled on the task.

In reality only true comedy geeks will have any familiarity with P&G as they very much represent the unseen comedy sector of writing and warm-up with the vaguest smattering of low-key TV appearances, the most notable being on Russell Howard’s Good News. This lack of exposure is quite obviously the influence of their title; “Don’t Even Want To Be On Telly Anyway”- although I have to say I quite like it that way; mostly because I relish in the smugness that comes of enlightening people but also because TV audiences can often destroy perfectly good gig experiences through their inflated expectations. (Okay, I’m sounding like a right snob so I shall shut up now!) But anyway, a very funny pairing with an amazing chemistry, both naturally funny and feed off one another so well.

Just go watch them. I guarantee* that however you find yourself at this blog, the fact that you have means you will very much see the funny in these guys. So clicky the links, get your tickets and go along. No excuses really – it’s even not as though Cardiff is difficult to get to, is it? Or if you think it is, check out the boys’ own website for more info on where you can see them!
(*guarantee has no value whatsoever)

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The Fandom Phantom

DISCLAIMER: In referencing conversations here, either verbal or written, I am paraphrasing. This is partly because sometimes word choice etc may give away the person I am referring to but is more to do with the fact that I do not save emails etc and my brain is mostly filled with feathers and soot with small pools of vodka around the edges therefore I remember little beyond context. I am deliberately vague as to who I refer to because I greatly value those who take the time to communicate with me and would not compromise them by outing them here. That said there are things I want to say and thus do need to draw on their wisdom to help express those thoughts.



So I am side-stepping the Cardiff Festival stuff for just a moment as something happened this week which had me returning to a piece I started to write quite a while ago but had not felt particularly inspired to finish.

I wanted to talk a little about fandom.

See here’s what happened this week… which will seem quite minor to some, but was actually a really big deal to me.

I write for a fiction website; nothing huge, I just send a couple of stories a month and they get published in an ad hoc fashion. The last ones that went live resulted in a message being forwarded from the site owner from a regular reader… my first proper fan mail!! Yay! Really excited… I mean I’ve had feedback through that site before, but this was emailed directly to the owner and talked about how she looked out for my stories in particular, that there was something in them that reached out, that it seemed I spoke to her personally… just generic stuff, but I just felt absolutely overwhelmed by it.


And that reminded me of something…

A while ago I emailed *generic comedian* an account of how much their work brought to a life such as mine. (regular readers will know but as I am aware of a recent influx of newcomers, I’ll simply say that my life is inherently pretty shit… you can read more about it by picking through the posts or check my other blogs for the full details, I really won’t go into it right now though as that is not my purpose today!) The response I received expressed surprise to the effect that this person had never considered that they could make a difference to anyone’s life; that they are just dicking about really without even thinking too much about what they are doing.

I read his reply at the time with bewilderment. I had almost wanted to respond with something along the lines of “How could you not know? You are BLANK FUCKING BLANK, for pity’s sake!!” – I didn’t; thankfully. But I genuinely could not understand how he did not realise how important making people laugh, giving them the opportunity to close their mind to all their worries and hardships and just be, for even the shortest of times really is.

I do wish I was the kind of person who saved emails as I’d like to re-read his words now with some sort of inkling as to what he meant, because I don’t ever really think about the words when writing for that site. Whilst writing here has me stop and think, constantly drafting and re-wording, when writing fiction the words just kind of fall out of my head right onto the page – there is no thought whatsoever given to them. And I guess that in a way is what he meant; that because what he does isn’t pre-written, it is effectively just chatting with a friend so has the same process of not really being work, it just happens.


This isn’t the only thing, though.

There was another person I felt compelled to communicate with some time ago; we’ll call him Comedian B.

A friend and I travelled quite a distance to see Comedian B; I with the hub-person in a very dark phase, my friend having just lost a very close family member in a horrific accident with another of equal closeness receiving treatment for a particularly invasive cancer. The both of us were really at the point of giving in, absolutely drained from our efforts at looking after everyone around us. The change we both felt, though, after just a couple of hours of listening to that person throwing jokes at us was amazing. We travelled home feeling lighter, refreshed and once again ready to grab life by the balls, give them a twist and make it known we weren’t to be fucked with.

And that, in essence, was what I told Comedian B. That he on that occasion had changed our lives so much more than he could ever imagine.

And the response was similar; it’s just a job; I do the same thing day in, day out without a real thought; changes as a result of my show come from you, not me… um, no it doesn’t. If that were true we could sit at home and save ourselves the money for fuel, tickets, parking etc and just cheer up; we can’t; we need someone to help with the switching off of our minds and engaging of our funny muscles…


And there-in lies the true essence of fandom. Not the blind, shrieking fangirl nonsense, I am far too old for that bullshit nowadays; but a quiet appreciation of all that a person and their efforts bring to your life; the assurance that as long as they are prepared to continue to provide the goods you will always find exactly what you want or need in their spoils.




And why The Scream? Just look at her face... she's the ultimate fangirl. Behind the artist, a devillishly handsome comedian has just entered the room... I shan't describe him, use your imagination; he could really be anyone you want him to be.

He might even be a woman....


But he isn't.


Not in my mind, anyway.


And on that note, I bid you adieu - for now!