Thursday 27 April 2006

A Day 'til Glue

A day to go until the new Glue. It hasn’t got any easier in the last couple of days. We had our last rehearsal last night. It was an unusually laid back affair. Everybody has been doing really well with a load of new material and a short time to learn it all in.

This is of course a show without Dazza. It’s also, shock horror, a show without Bertie. He’s been rested, though will be back next month. The mullet wig, a hit from the first show, is back.

Here’s this month’s entry in The List. I chose the wrong cast name to provide this time.




Tuesday 25 April 2006

Countdown to Glue

So there’s only 3 days to another You Owe Me Glue. Of course we’re up against it yet again. We have more than a dozen new sketches to learn, several props still to be purchased and no sign of a curtain or changing area.

Add to this the loss of Darran and Anne-Marie and it’s been yet another uphill mountain to climb. Sara has gamely stepped in at the last minute, just as we were about to stop girls in the street and ask if they wanted a chance at stardom.

I dare say it’ll be another chaotic show, much like the last one. There are some rehearsal photographs down below.






Monday 24 April 2006

Family Guy Talks

Here's a quick link. It's a talk that Family Guy main man Seth MacFarlane gave recently.

Sunday 23 April 2006

Some Random Links

Due to circumstances beyond our control Talking Pish's output has been hit recently. Hopefully this will only be temporary, cos we don't want to let the three folk who read this down.

So here's a couple of links. The nutcase formerly known as Nob Stewart has a video up of him performing at The State Bar. I should add that this is not suitable for work. It is manily a ten minute rant about Alan Anderson, though he also finds time to have a dig at fellow shock-comic Mudfinger.

Here's a short feature on Demetri Martin in Melbourne at the comedy festival.

Over at The Wolf Parade's MySpace they've put up a live video of them performing I'll Believe in Anything.

Tuesday 18 April 2006

Ben Kweller @ Oran Mor

Saturday night I saw Ben Kweller play Oran Mor. There was no support as this wasn’t part of a tour but just a gig he decided to squeeze in while he records his new album in London. In a show billed as ‘An Evening with…’ he took to the stage with just a guitar and a piano. With bundles of confidence and enthusiasm he opened with his cover of Vanilla Ice’s Ice Ice Baby, ad-libbing so much he forgot the words midway through.

For a show that was sold out weeks in advance there was, much like Giant Drag, an awful lot of chatter throughout the room. The last third though seemed quite up for it and he played audience requests throughout the night. This included a shambolic yet still quite smooth version of Harriet’s Got a Song and also I Need You Back where he got the audience to fill in for the missing second guitar.

Walk on Me, Wasted and Ready and The Rules were among the evening’s highlights for me, but in truth he was cracking all through his set and could have went on for another hour without losing the crowd.

There are some photographs below.

EDIT: Tommy has pointed out that BK has put on his own thoughts on the gig on his MySpace. There's also a few comments from other people who were there.







Naw, Frank, Naw Part Two

Is there nothing this guy will not do for money?

Thursday 13 April 2006

Giant Drag @ Barfly

I went to see Giant Drag play at Barfly last night. Opening up for them were We Start Fires, a 3 girls and one guy group from, by the sounds of their accents, the north of England. Loud and rocking, as support acts go they were all right. They should learn to speak in their singing voices though.

If you don’t know, Giant Drag are a boy/girl duo, same kind of idea as The White Stripes only in reverse. No bass, she sings and plays guitar, he plays drums and keyboards.

Singer Annie was like a cross between Emo Phillips and my pal Clare. She sounded like Emo and had the demeanour of Clare. I realise if you know Clare that may be a frightening thought, but it’s really not. They played a tight but rocking set. I enjoyed that they amusingly acknowledged the pointlessness of going off then coming back on for an encore at the end.

The highlights for me were This Isn’t It, You F*** Like My Dad, My D*** Sux and Kevin is Gay. Barfly was quite packed, though there still seemed to be an awful lot of people talking through their set.

There are some photographs below, first two are of We Start Fires the rest Giant Drag.












Friday 7 April 2006

Arcade Mire

Following up Tuesday’s trip to The Stand I headed out to Edinburgh for a gig last night. It was at The Arcade Bar on Cockburn Street. The trip was ostensibly to check out the venue’s suitability as a stage for a YOMG Festival show.

The trip was more or less a wasted journey as I didn’t even take to the stage. With around 10 punters in the night was taken up mainly by the compere’s smut filled routine. By 10.45 I decided it was best to go for the bus, rather than wait until midnight.

As for a festival venue I’m not sure how I can see it doing Glue justice.

I did go for tea in Tempting Tattie and that’s always pretty good. I used to live just along the street from here and their potatoes are always huge and well filled. It’s in a reasonably handy location, being just 5 mins walk from Waverley station and just off the Royal Mile at the World’s End.




Wednesday 5 April 2006

The Glasgow Stand

I was at The Stand in Glasgow last night to do a spot. It was nice to be able to walk to and from the venue instead of having to get on a bus straight from work, like playing Edinburgh.

Before the show started the sound and lighting guy gave everyone, including the compere, a stern lecture in not going over your allocated time. One of the visiting comics commented “If that’s what they’re like with the acts, how do they treat the audience?” He was quite complimentary of my spot later on, though maybe that was cos I got off when he flashed his light at me.

I was the opening act, which can be a mixed blessing as sometimes it’s good to open up when the crowd are fresh, but sometimes it can be helpful to follow people who have either warmed the room up or lowered people’s expectations.

Anyway it seemed to go better than last week in Edinburgh. I got nice laughs for most of my stuff and I started to enjoy it a couple of jokes in.

The rest of the evening was the usual mixed bag that these evenings are. Among the highlights were Graeme Mackie and his ventriloquist’s dummy Asbo. There was also an odd quiet spot more akin to a theatre piece. Although that makes it sound better than it was.

The compere John Gordillo I found quite funny. Mainly when he was explaining how his insecure middle class personality forces him to take on the accent of anyone he’s speaking to.

The Stand is always a pleasure to do in comparison to some of the rotten gigs out there. When you go to The Stand, whether it be Glasgow or Edinburgh you know that you’re getting a well run show and playing to an audience who have paid in expressly to see comedy.


Tuesday 4 April 2006

End of March Glue

The latest YOMG was about as shambolic as we had anticipated. Chris was still setting up the laptop, the lights and the PA as the audience filed in. With no backstage, we had to get changed at the side of the stage in full view of the audience. And since I started the show wearing a dress, this meant at least one full change for me.

Lines were missed all over the place (I missed several), lights didn’t always go off on time (sorry Chris) and Fraser had another of his now famed Jimmy Fallon moments. However this all seemed to add up to an entertaining show for our packed house.

The new stuff on the whole went over quite well. The Wifestealer initially got a laugh just cos I look quite stupid in it. I was just relieved I didn’t drop Alison. Isaac Delacy Montague - Riverboat Gambler probably gained its loud laughs due to the fact that it descended into chaos midway through.

The attendance for Friday was almost more than the two Comedy Festival shows combined. And this time we made up not one poster or flyer.

Everyone we spoke to afterwards seemed to enjoy the show and their evening and it was good to see a few faces that had been promising to come along for quite some time.

After the show I was asked by three different ladies “Can I meet the rabbit?” It’s surprising how endearing Fraser’s natural personality is when it’s fronted by a cute bunny.

There are a handful of photographs below.

The next show, which promises to be a little bit different, (though perhaps not in a good way) is on Friday 28th April.






Gong Show

On Thursday night I went to the Grand Gong Show final at Bluu. £1000 up for grabs it featured the good, the bad and the insane of Glasgow comedy. And a couple of folk who came from much further a field.

For me the evening was all about the appearance of Knob Stewart, a man who had declared it his mission to destroy Alan Anderson. Obviously I support him all the way on that.

Anyway Knob came on last and inevitably was gonged off early on. This was mainly to do with him having zero material, instead preferring to shout “Love me, love me. I have a website”. However he did manage through a poem before the gong sounded.

After his gonging he attacked Alan. Alan, in turn, defended himself with the gong. What with Big Scott Agnew running around trying to pull Knob off Alan (ahem) there is certainly the makings of a new Three Stooges style act in there.

The contest was won by The Wee Man, the only act to make the 5 minute mark.