So this week,

This time next week i shall hopefully be lying down after patting myself on the back after a good gig.

Im hosting an acoustic night and they've asked me to be funny, too. Of course im taking my guitar and im going to sing some of my daft/shit/fucking-hilarious songs. I've written and prepared material, too. It's all performance stuff which requires some sort of acting to pull off. Im not sure it'll work but i won't know until i try. Im very busy all week so i can't try the stuff out at an open mic that's relatively nearby, either.

Earlier the event organizer plugged the show on my facebook on my behalf. It made me laugh to be honest. I've been worrying a little too much to ask my friends to go. I don't need to now.
My main problem is nerves. I think i'll always get nervous. And when im nervous I can get robotic which needs mending. I need to flow like a stream ice-cold water on a buttered river bed.

So this week, i'll mostly be practicing my bits and my bobs. My talkie bits and my songs. Also i hope to prepare things to ad-lib which defeats the object i know but i want to be cool, like that water flowing over the buttered river bed.

What's becoming a pain in my arse is (not piles, yet) the fact that all my weird, cooky, useful, fun ideas come at roughly 2am. I can't not write them down straight away, either, or i will lose them. It seems that when i want to sleep, my mind flows like cold, cold water over a buttered river bed.

Now my insecurities have been addressed I want some toast. Buttered. In bed. A water bed.

It terrifies and excites me.

I just had the news that i may have to perform a comedy gig on my own!

I always planned on doing one this year but never got round to it. But now, I may HAVE to do one on friday. I got the news forty five minutes ago at 2:10am and i know im not going to sleep tonight. Im currently (blogging aside) bullet pointing all my ideas and wanting to try them out, knowing i cant as most of them are musical.

I’ll be honest, im excited. November has hit me with a few pleasant surprises and im counting this as another one. Obviously i would rather do the gig along side at least one of my trusted comedy genius friends. It may even turn out that way. But in my head; Right now, Im performing alone and it terrifies and excites me.

Whatever happens i know i’ll enjoy the night. I get to see some old friends and dance along to a band fronted by an old school friend. I also know there’ll be some support for me so if im not funny they’ll do some extra hard laughing to make me feel better.

I know that i will do at least one funny thing. I hope.

More importantly, i get to show off on guitar. Im more comfortable standing behind one of them. That should make me look like less of a victim in front of the audience. On a strange note, im going to tune my guitar to D,A,D,G,A,D, for the heck of it.

Anyway, no more insecure nonsense. Continue to provide yourself with ideas, Daf. Make them good ones.

Last night's show

The one i’d been stressing about for about two and a half weeks. ACRE comedy's live show about science! Oh yes.

We performed it last night. It went very well if i do say so myself. My friends are very funny and it came across on stage. I started lacking confidence which is usually the case but it grew through the night. By the end of the first half I had my confidence. Bering on stage with someone else is easier to handle. Also, i got to play my guitar which im better at compared to remembering lines.

Second half came and i started to ride my confidence well. It was an audience participation bit which my friend was managing while i played a little sting and guided the audience, telling them when to “ooh” and “aah”. The participant on stage was, honestly, amazing. Seeing him be such a good sport give me that little extra inspiration. 

We started flowing properly. Faster than we were used to and it felt good. In fact the flow gained so much momentum, my fellow performer, after being introduced by myself, came on as a baffled character. He followed his stage directions (which were to fall over and lose his papers) with such gusto that he landed on his face and lost half a tooth.

We found it, though. It was in his lip.

We wanted to rush it from there but the tooth-lost performer improvised some standup about the missing half-tooth which stalled us for about 10 minutes. We buzzed through our bits after getting him off stage, cleaned him up and, fair play, he came on for the last sketch and danced to the song. (The song was my favorite bit because i wrote it :)

The audience were very polite and i believe that they were definitely entertained.

So instead of drinking and relaxing after the gig, I drove my friend to A&E where i chatted to people in the waiting room. After the doctor told him what he already knew, we got some pain killers and drove home.

The thing i learned is this. You can stress and over prepare for anything and everything. But if a friend looses a tooth during a stage performance it will literally MAKE the night. All you have to be able to do is react well to any situation and things will go well.