Quote: Grace Cunnington @ February 25 2010, 3:03 PM GMTDid my first gig last night. Ten minutes at the Comedy Balloon in Manchester. It seemed to go pretty well, what an amazing feeling - I'm still on a high. Are people who are further into this game than me totally addicted? I've got another spot on Sunday and can't wait.
Nice one.
Comedy Balloon's really nice, I like it there.
Only been doing it a few months so not addicted yet. Glad to hear you enjoyed it so much!
Where you playing Sunday?
Quote: Grace Cunnington @ February 25 2010, 3:03 PM GMTDid my first gig last night. Ten minutes at the Comedy Balloon in Manchester. It seemed to go pretty well, what an amazing feeling - I'm still on a high. Are people who are further into this game than me totally addicted? I've got another spot on Sunday and can't wait.
Well done Grace.
I only did it a couple of times but I was buzzing for ages after my first gig.
Thanks guys. Yeah Sglen, I saw you at Comedy Balloon, you were ace. Was a really warm crowd, maybe I had it too easy! I'm doing the Packhorse in Leeds Sunday for the Discount Comedy Checkout. Fingers crossed, although I feel it may burst my bubble!
All I can say is I now totally understand the 'just enjoy it' advice I kept on being given, although it made no sense whatsoever at the time.
Quote: Grace Cunnington @ February 25 2010, 9:37 PM GMTThanks guys. Yeah Sglen, I saw you at Comedy Balloon, you were ace.
Thank you.
Quote: Grace Cunnington @ February 25 2010, 9:37 PM GMTI'm doing the Packhorse in Leeds Sunday for the Discount Comedy Checkout.
Didn't know about that one. If you can be arsed to report back, I'd love to know what it's like!
Good luck, have fun!
Quote: sglen @ February 25 2010, 9:44 PM GMTThank you.
Didn't know about that one. If you can be arsed to report back, I'd love to know what it's like!
Good luck, have fun!
Discount Comedy Checkout was great. Really warm crowd (have been there before and it always is), and supportive promoters. Also other promoters there who offered more gigs afterwards, so a successful night! Let me know if you're playing there, would be good to see you in action again!
Quote: Grace Cunnington @ March 1 2010, 7:59 PM GMTDiscount Comedy Checkout was great. Really warm crowd (have been there before and it always is), and supportive promoters. Also other promoters there who offered more gigs afterwards, so a successful night! Let me know if you're playing there, would be good to see you in action again!
Cool! Sounds like you're doing really well! Nice one!
I'll see if I can get a spot but I'll have to sort my set out first. What I did in Comedy Balloon only works in Comedy Balloon 
I'm getting there though.
You on Manchester Comedy Forum, Grace?
If not, get on it - www.manchestercomedyforum.co.uk
If anyone wants a copy of Logan Murray's excellent book, I've got a spare copy, as new, which anyone can have for a crisp new fiver (cost £9.99 brand new).
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Teach-Yourself-Stand-Comedy-General/dp/0340939575/ref=cm_cr_pr_pb_t
Saw Daddy Maz perform at a very unusual gig last Thursday. An audience of the four organisers and three other attendees. In spite of this he was funny and engaging with a finale that would go down excellently at a venue with an audience.
Thanks SGlen, signed up, just need to be approved.
So, other newbies, or the more experienced...what did you do when you realised you wanted to carry on all this stand-up malarkey? Just try and get gigs anywhere and everywhere? The thought is terrifying. Go and check out some nights, then try and get booked? Time and money are severely limited. Get recommendations from others? Sounds good, but every club with open spots that gets recommended is booked up until after the apocalypse. Is this a familiar struggle, or am I just missing a trick?
Quote: Grace Cunnington @ March 4 2010, 1:52 PM GMTThanks SGlen, signed up, just need to be approved.
So, other newbies, or the more experienced...what did you do when you realised you wanted to carry on all this stand-up malarkey? Just try and get gigs anywhere and everywhere? The thought is terrifying. Go and check out some nights, then try and get booked? Time and money are severely limited. Get recommendations from others? Sounds good, but every club with open spots that gets recommended is booked up until after the apocalypse. Is this a familiar struggle, or am I just missing a trick?
Are you living in London or somewhere weird?
Quote: Grace Cunnington @ March 4 2010, 1:52 PM GMTThanks SGlen, signed up, just need to be approved.
So, other newbies, or the more experienced...what did you do when you realised you wanted to carry on all this stand-up malarkey? Just try and get gigs anywhere and everywhere? The thought is terrifying. Go and check out some nights, then try and get booked? Time and money are severely limited. Get recommendations from others? Sounds good, but every club with open spots that gets recommended is booked up until after the apocalypse. Is this a familiar struggle, or am I just missing a trick?
Familiar struggle, although it seems to have got worse over the years. When I started out, about 6 years ago, open spots were relatively easy to get (in London anyway) and sometimes you could even end up doing 5 minute spots on pro line ups gigging with people like Russell Howard, Alan Carr and Jimmy Carr (I gigged with all of them in my first year or two).
Now it's a case of supply and demand, every week or so there's a course somewhere that chucks out another 10-20 new wannabe comics into the mix and there's only so many spots, combine this with the fact that a lot of headline acts had to start taking lower spots at lesser clubs when Jongleurs got into trouble, it means that there was a knock-on effect all the way down the comedy food chain.
Booking gigs is always a slightly odd process as the gigs you book now will probably be for 3-6 months in the future, so if you only book every now and then you find yourself gigging excessively for a while and then hitting a barren patch, so try to get some gigs booked in.
One of the worst things when you start out is having a great gig, getting all addicted to stand up and then looking in your diary, only to find that your next gig is in 4 weeks time.
One tip is to find out where your local clubs are and befriend the promoters, offer to do any last minute spots they might have and help out if possible, make contacts with the other acts etc, generally get yourself known on your local circuit.
Quote: David Bussell @ March 4 2010, 1:58 PM GMTAre you living in London or somewhere weird?
Somewhere weird - Leeds. Manchester has a pretty healthy scene, and there's a few clubs in Leeds. Then it's the other smaller towns; Huddersfield, Doncaster etc. Maybe I need to venture to York or Sheffield. Wow, if you're London based this must all sound very strange to you.
Tony - thanks very much for the insight. I guess it boils down to putting the effort in really. I may have to do the old-fashioned 'holiday to London' to see what the streets are paved with! Shame to hear about how the scene's changed, let's hope it doesn't go too much further in that direction.
Quote: Grace Cunnington @ March 4 2010, 4:15 PM GMTSomewhere weird - Leeds. Manchester has a pretty healthy scene, and there's a few clubs in Leeds. Then it's the other smaller towns; Huddersfield, Doncaster etc. Maybe I need to venture to York or Sheffield. Wow, if you're London based this must all sound very strange to you.
I don't really know the scene outside of London but there's absolutely no shortage of open spot nights here - it's a case of deciding which one you'd rather do on any given night. If you want to do this in any serious capacity I see a lot of travelling in your future.
Have you signed up on the Yorkshire Comedy Forum?
http://www.yorkshirecomedy.com/phpBB2/
As far as I know Leeds has a pretty good and burgeoning mini-scene (get on the forum and find out who's who to get involved), and like you say Manchester is only a short(ish) hop over the Penines.
Good luck with it.
For what it's worth I'd steer clear of London for a while until you're happy with your progress as an act, that way you can travel down south and you won't disappear in amongst the morass of comedy dross which makes up a large part of the London open mic circuit, you'll stand out as a shining beacon of laughs in a sea of mediocrity.