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!
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