And it ain't on that dimlit stage...

Friday night saw my first gig of 2008 and, given that the last two were nothing to write home about, I was more than a little apprehensive about it.

I have always been amused by the death centric nature of references used by comedians to describe gigs - "I died" is bad but "I killed" or "I burried it" is good". I tend to shy away from such phrases preferring to say "Ah it was OK" if it went badly or "Ah it was OK" if it went well. On Friday I went on 3rd of about 6... and proceeded to rip the place apart.

The delivery was animated and energetic, the timing, perfect. There were a group of English girls sitting just in front of the stage who seemed more interested in chatting amongst themselves than in what was going on. They had caused the first few acts some trouble but I managed to engage them early on, ad lib a few quick gags and hold their attention for the rest of the set. After that, it was a case of landing gag after gag, punchline after punchline and ad lib after ad lib.

My biggest problem was waiting for the laughter to die down sufficiently so I could start the next segment. Shy by nature, it can be tough enough to stand up in front of a room full of strangers when I have the task of delivering material to occupy my mind. Doing so while simply standing, waiting for people to stop laughing makes me feel incredibly self conscious and embarassed. Something of an oxymoron for a comedian I am sure.

So with my faith in the old material restored, I still need to write some new stuff.