It's Sunday night in Glossop and eight comedians are gathered in the function room of The Oakwood together with six audience members. It's nearly 8:30pm and I've played a song, two acts have brought chuckles from the assembled and Paul Campbell is about to come on stage.
A couple arrive and sit in the second row. I welcome them in and welcome the final act of the first half. The couple smile and sip their drinks. Paul literally rips the roof off (well, makes the windows shake a bit given the size of the audience). The audience are laughing a lot. Except for the new couple.
The new couple look at each other.
The new couple sip their drinks.
The couple look at each other again and one of them whispers to the other.
The other one whispers back.
The audience laugh very loudly. The couple miss the joke.
The couple get up and leave.
Incapable of laughing couple aside, the show went well - especially considering the diminished numbers. Glossop is proving hard work for audience despite flyers at the bar, posters in both the bar and local shops + a hefty does of social media / online listings activity but I'm not going anywhere (literally, I don't even want to think about how much we've spent on the house in the last year). The fun continues in December both with CotTT on the 15th and Anything Goes Open Mic on the 4th - message me for a spot at the latter, all are welcome to do what they please for 5 minutes.
Have I made new videos for the parody songs? Have I heck, I've been repairing a shower. However, it's on the to-do list so you never know. Tonight I'm in Chorlton at the trendy sounding Beechwood Tap House doing ten minutes. Official beard count to be announcedc when I write next.
Last Thursday night I departed a rapidly submerging Glossop to London for a weekend of comedy antics.
On Friday night I joined Sonia Aste for Comedy at the Castle in Aldgate East. The original home to Clash of the Tight Tens, I handed the reigns over to everyone's favourite exuberant Spaniard in the run up to departing the capital. Now a buzzing new act night, I put in a quick ten at the start of the show with my guitar and a couple of Parodies from the Peak District songs. As a tester for what a Southern crowd would make of a song full of northern references I was pleasantly surprised with the reception for "I Will Eat", but the big laughs came with "My Ex". A while later I was down in the main bar with the ever brilliant Andy Onions having a drink and a pint.
Saturday was a day of friends and family but on Sunday it was comedy time again with a festival meet and greet at The Bill Murray organised by Simon Caine. Attending both as an act and as founder of The Glossop Comedy Festival (formerly The Oakwood Fringe) I was shown to my group of chairs with my logo on a little sign for what turned out to be a session of comedy speed dating with acts moving around the room. I met plenty of interesting people with a range of different shows to offer and ended the afternoon with a pile of flyers and postcards (pictured.) I also got chatting to other promoters in the room and now have a shortlist of festivals to which "Andy Quirk and Anna J Have Issues" may be visiting. Largely guided by locations where we know people who live there!
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If you're wondering why the Parodies From The Peak District Youtube channel hasn't updated for a while it's because I've been away a lot. More will be coming soon. For the while, check out the channel here.
