Thursday 19 May 2016

Brixton Veg Bar

This evening I hopped on a train to Brixton for my first south London gig in ages. Another charity event by the same person who'd organised the night in Clapton a few months back and I was doing a ten minute opener to ease people into the avalanche of fives that followed. Sonia Aste was on MC duty so I knew we were in safe hands.

The venue itself was called The Veg Bar. A Hackney-esque vegan restaurant that served the same organic ales once the domain of the now long gone Hornbeam open mic in Walthamstow. I grabbed a bottle of Eco Warrior and put my Leyton visor on.

The unassuming basement was packed out. At least 50 people had crammed in and the acts were relegated to the back or the adjoining room. Sonia got some energy going but when I stepped up I could see there were an awful lot of well meaning people in the audience who weren't sure what to expect from a comedy night.

I probably didn't help them clarify this.

They definitely clapped on cue during Tales... and a good number also bellowed "shuffle and stop!" when required but otherwise it was a case of not knowing if any of the humour had worked until after the track finished and people cheered and clapped. 

Leaving the stage I concluded it hasn't been quite the stellar set I'd envisaged and settled in to watch a huge variety of acts. Sally Firth and Dylan Dodds were really good and the crowd clearly liked them. The rest were a predictably mixed bag. Some good, some great, a couple still finding their feet. 

As I left I chatted briefly to the organiser and was on my way. As I said my goodbyes a stranger came up to me and said "just so you know, you were my favourite".

Win.

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