Tonight's "What Is Love, Anyway?" had some slightly unusual moments. When I first picked the mic out of the stand it fell apart. This sometimes happens with the microphones with an easy release button, but this time it seemed to disengage a bit easily. It didn't matter as I hadn't started talking yet, but was a sign of things to come.
It was just under half full tonight, which can make this room hard to play, but the audience were generous and I was giving a crisp and unfaffy performance for the first time in a couple of days, but I seemed hyper sensitive to extraneous noise. Some people were moving around backstage and it really interrupted my flow. Then the mic fell apart again, which was more annoying, but I joked that I had clearly upset the backstage crew and they were having their revenge on me for being such a diva. I am fairly confident that that is not the case.
Then there was more backstage noise and I nearly commented on it in a narked fashion, but luckily I didn't as it was one of the excellent venue staff with an alternate microphone. Again this interruption slightly threw me, as did some audience members leaving at the same time. I was surprised as this isn't a show that has caused walk-outs, but I learned from Twitter later that it was actually a man leaving to be sick - because of the heat in the room rather than anything I said.
I managed to get back into it again, but was surprisingly easily distracted, first by someone clicking their empty plastic glass and then by Sam, my tech shining her tiny torch right at the back of the room. Was I developing super senses? I wondered if I was about to become able to hear the thoughts of everyone in my audience. That would be an unwelcome power.
It was a good show despite the weirdness. Just five to go. Be lovely to see you there.
On the way home afterwards I bumped into Rhod Gilbert who I didn't know was in town and then when I moved onwards I saw another familiar face. It was Pete Hornberger from 30 Rock, which my girlfriend and me have been watching daily during the Fringe. Had my superpowers got so strong that I was able to conjure up fictional characters? I had no idea that the actor who plays him was in town and I was genuinely excited to see him in the flesh. But so surprised I had no time to ask for a photo or autograph for my girlfriend - who is even more a fan of the series than me. I was properly excited and had to ring her to let her know who I had seen! She was well jell.
And it had been another enjoyable day all round. Somehow my five beers had not led to a hangover and I had a great time chatting to Dave Fulton on the podcast. He's not a comic that I know all that well, but he's certainly lived a life and furthermore had an astonishing story about me and my drunken behaviour in 1999. Something which I have no memory of whatsoever, which makes me a but worried to think about what other things I have done and forgotten. I hope I didn't kill anyone. It's certainly worth a listen just for that, but Dave's other tales and our somewhat serious chat about the state of comedy were also interesting. This show started as a bit of fun and a way to hopefully make a bit of extra cash at the Fringe (thanks to the Stand's very fair treatment of its acts), but I am very proud of what me and the 19 comedians I've talked to so far (and the 20 who have done stand up) have created.
Listen here if you haven't already. Hope it introduces you to some acts who you will be interested in seeing more of.
I bumped into Stew in the coffee shop after the gig and it looks like he won't be coming on the show this time round. But it was fun to catch up in an unrecorded conversation. But there's Omid Djalili tomorrow and Paul Provenza on Thursday, Isy Suttie on Sunday and Adam Buxton on Monday and I am sure we'll get a couple of fun names in for the other two days as well.
And the Richard Herring's Objective I recorded last week was on Radio 4 this evening. If you missed it, you can
listen on iPlayer - they're not giving me a podcast, the BBC idiots - but maybe the first of the new series (I am doing four more in the autumn) might be podcasted.
Plus I saw the poshest baby in the world today. I don't think life could get any better. Unless more spooky superpowers kick in.
