14th Mar - My stand-up comedy debut

In early 2018, I attended a night at the world famous 'Comedy Store' in the heart of London's Leicester Square, where I witnessed a series of up-and-coming comedians take part in the 'King Gong' night, an evening where 30 aspiring comics would each be given 5 minutes to keep the crowd laughing, and most importantly, impress the three judges who would hold up a red card to indicate a lack of amusement throughout the routine. If all three judges held up red at the same time, BONG, the host bangs an almighty Asian-style gong and you're turfed off stage and back into the dressing room.

The method itself is highly brutal, but I can understand why there's such a cut-throat nature to proceedings. Rowdy drinkers easing away the troubles of their Monday at work don't want to spend their night guzzling overpriced lager from the venue's bar, only to sit through 5-minute snooze-fests containing as much laughter as a prostate exam. The system has birthed several of the nation's finest comedians over the years, with the likes of Lee Evans, Jack Whitehall, Joe Lycett, Alan Carr, Frankie Boyle, Lee Mack, Kevin Bridges, and many more, all taking to the iconic stage at one point or another. 

Since that night in 2018, I've been working - on-and-off - on my own stand-up script, a venture which I'd originally started on all the way back in 2009, but later abandoned due to other projects and life commitments etc. I ran the idea by a good friend who assured me, "You're naturally very funny, but are you scripted funny?". Across the weekend, I spent the vast majority of my time honing the final product into a more polished version, and performed it for the first time last night, to a public audience - albeit it, only to my other half whilst in bed. There's certainly a vulnerability and emotional rawness felt from airing creative material like this to others, but the first review was a positive one, and it's given me enough courage to air to a larger crowd. 

Truth be told, I've been wanting to get back into the 'arts' side of things for a while now. I started this year with several new year's resolutions, all of which have been met and achieved so far, with one minor exception; To gain an acting role. From my earliest schooldays, I've always been something of a masterful actor, regularly acquiring the lead roles in all productions, throughout the school system, and even in amateur dramatic societies outside of the educational environment throughout my teen years. But despite maintaining my sharp ability for accents, emotional-based interchanges, and from time-to-time (usually when home alone), musical numbers in 'swing' style, I abandoned this talent to pursue another of my skills... Writing (and all things English-based). 

Now, in 2022, I'm ready to ditch the potential return to acting, (and even briefly flirted with the idea of a drag alter-ego named 'Violet Revel'), in favour of quenching my thirst regarding a return to the stage, in the form of comedy. I'll be speaking with The Comedy Store shortly, in a bid to get my name on the line-up of one of their forthcoming 'King Gong' nights, and I'd be honoured if you'd come down and join me, to provide some moral support for...

... My stand-up comedy debut.