I am mentoring the hip hop rapper (I originally mistyped that as "raper" which would have added a different tone to this entry)
Example in his attempt to become a stand up comedian for the BBC programme, "The Culture Show". Basically this involves me meeting up with him for one day and giving him the benefit of my comedic know-how. I am not sure how useful I could be or was, as really I think the key to being a good stand up is to have some innate talent and then just get as much stage time as possible, but Example is an interesting and likeable man and it was fun talking to him. Not surprisingly he is very confident and slightly cocky, but there is a vulnerability and charm to him that makes him a lot of fun to be with. He is clearly ambitious and focused and there's a disarming lack of pretence to him, which is clear from his music and his general attitude.
I gave him some general tips about performing, whilst acknowledging that he would already know most of this from his own gigs and also that ultimately comedy was down to the individual and I could only give him opinions, but hopefully it was a little bit helpful. He was performing at the 99 club in the Round Table pub in central London, which is probably the smallest comedy club I have ever seen and I wondered whether his big personality would be too much for the small room.
I was fairly confident that he'd storm it, without having really heard any of his stuff, because he had the necessary bravado, but I think I had forgotten how hard it is to get up on the stand up stage for the first time. And even if you've performed in another medium it is not the same. I was pretty nervous for him as I sat amongst the crowd of tourists and eccentrics who had been enticed into the club by flyerers and a 2 for 1 ticket deal. It was probably the hardest possible gig to play.
Example finally came on and admitted it was his first gig and the audience were supportive - I had suggested he didn't admit this, being mindful of some of my early gigs where I was booed off before I got on stage because people knew I was an open spot, but this was a much friendlier club. He was more self-conscious than I had expected, but he did a good job, mainly jettisoning his script to play around with the crowd. He got some proper big laughs, whilst predictably a few bits fell flat, but he did his six or seven minutes and got off and I think it had gone pretty well.
Having learned nothing from Cookie-gate the director wanted to pretend that we hadn't already given Example a slot at my Lyric Hammersmith gig on Sunday. But anyone who was in the audience last week will know that we have as I mentioned he was going to be on. And he would have been doing it however things had gone today. I feel slightly uncomfortable with TV's lies, but also think it's ridiculous the amount of fuss that is being made about them at the moment. Though it's bad that the 0898 numbers were still being rung when the competitions were closed, the point surely is that 0898 phone ins are a rip off whether run "honestly" or not - your chances of winning are tiny and they are a way to generate money. And of course all TV shows contain lies. For example, when Example and I had to meet up for the mentoring session, on camera you see him coming in with a couple of pints an greeting me as if for the first time, whereas in reality we had been sitting talking to each other for over an hour already and someone else had bought the drinks and carried them upstairs. It was all a LIE!
But I guess it makes it a better programme if we pretend that the Lyric gig is an extra surprise rather than something pre-planned. And in no way is this show as bad as some of the ones I have worked on. "Best Man's Speech" which I filmed in July last year was almost a lie from start to finish,
as I documented at the time. I would rather see shows like that hauled up in the media, for blatantly lying about the time period in which a scenario took place, than Blue Peter having to sack someone for giving a cat a different, but equally innocuous name. Or if someone were to look at a show like "Balls of Steel" to determine whether all those stunts genuinely happened or whether some of them might possibly have been set up with "victims" in the know. I don't know if "Balls of Steel" is set up. I'd just be interested to find out if it was. I can't imagine that they can, for example, have a man jumping on the backs of strangers without first checking that the man does not have a back injury or a history of mental illness.
TV is a lie.
I went home and watched Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe, which did some excellent stuff on the lying TV phenomenon last week. I was surprised to discover that my
Big Cook, Little Cook discussion was on so early in the series. But I have to say that I was very disappointed by the what they had edited out and what they had chosen to use. It was quite a dull piece, looking like a rather hackneyed bit about taking a children's TV show seriously, with nearly all the funny stuff taken out and with none of the ad-libbed more fanciful stuff in it. I appreciate they only have a certain amount of time in the show, but had I known how little they would use I would probably have done something else. Because I really like the show I assumed they would get it right, but it's an unneeded reminder that if you leave someone else to edit together stuff that you have written then it can come out looking a bit crap. The show is repeated throughout the week on BBC4, so have a look if you want. It's still worth watching for everything else.
Ah TV, how I love and hate thee.
