Weekend at The Store
Dawn let me lie in this morning until 12.30 in the afternoon. I did four gigs in town last night and am doing four more tonight so I’m a bit of a zombie.
I’m appearing at ‘The Comedy Store‘ this weekend, which is my favourite gig in the country. It’s just the atmosphere of the place is so fabulous for comedy. Due to its history and the fact that people know the great names that have played there, you walk out and people expect you to be funny, rather than walking out and having to prove to them that you’re funny. This is what really famous comics go out to all the time. Once your audience knows you, you don’t have to jump that extra hurdle to get them onside and laughing. The downside of the gig is that you are on the bill with the top circuit acts in the country and everyone’s doing their best stuff. I was looking forward to the show on Thursday because I knew I was on second after an open spot. To be brutally honest, this is an ideal situation because Thursday open spots at the Store are often doing their first gig there and can struggle, with the result that the crowd are extra receptive to a more experienced comic coming on after them. I sauntered into the dressing room arrogantly anticipating a storming gig. I looked at the running order and my blood ran cold. The ‘open spot’ was Michael McIntyre!!! One of the fastest rising comics in Britain, he’s already been seen on the Royal Variety Performance, hosts a show on Radio 4, has appeared on all the panel shows, including ‘Have I Got News For You‘, and is, in my opinion, the best live comic working in Britain today. He wasn’t an open spot, he was trying some stuff for an ITV show he’s doing. I hate following Michael and he knows it. He’s walked into many a dressing room and been met by me going, ‘Oh fuck!’ It’s not just how good he is but the fact he’s a posh boy like me, and two posh boys in a row can annoy an audience - though not the electorate it seems (Bloody Tory government’s on its way). Anyway, I needn’t have worried. The Store is just such a great club that, despite Michael storming it, I still had a fab gig. Store audiences seem to have the energy to laugh throughout the gig, rather than running out of steam after one act has destroyed the room.
Last night was great as well. I went on first but missed Jack Whitehall doing a short spot after me. The other acts said he was amazing. Watch out for this kid. Jack Whitehall is 19 (still I think) and is quite simply the best act of his age I have ever seen. If he keeps ontrack he will be the biggest name in stand up in the next ten years. You heard it here first. He opened for me at a gig in Munich a couple of months ago and took my breath away.
What the hell am I doing? This site’s meant to be about publicising me not other acts. Let me conclude by merely stating that Michael McIntyre and Jack Whitehall, if they work really hard, will one day be nearly as good as me.
October 27th, 2008 at 7:21 pm
Greetings
Gotta love google, very good stuff. All the best.