HeadSpill

BLOG Don’t keep the magic a secret

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BLOG Sarah Jane Adventures – series three so far

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New Blog up over on the SFX Website:

http://www.sfx.co.uk/trackback/sfx/Weblog/blog_brand_new_brand_who

New Blog up on the SFX website…

http://www.sfx.co.uk/trackback/sfx/Weblog/blog_the_1980s_tv_shows

Blog for www.SFX.co.uk

http://www.sfx.co.uk/page/sfx?entry=blog_the_characters_of_marvel

The greenbelt festival on Saturday night was an absolute belter. Danny Pensive closed, and despite the gig being called short - the gig being in a tent venue, they had to wrap at eleven - the crowd were awesome. I had new dvd’s made from Danny’s video diaries, I’ve never sold anything at a gig before, and only took five, but they all went like proverbial hot cakes straight after. Top night, and lots of new facebook friends too, nice.

The Edinburgh festival finishes this week, and I’m starting to put together ideas for next year. Some comics go up every year with a new show, some never go at all. I think I’d quite like to the former, but a new show every year? I feel I’d lack consistancy. Not quality - just consistancy, I get too excited by too many things.

I had a conversation over a curry with comic chum Dan where we banged on about having loads of ideas in different forms (scripts, stand up, character stuff, etc), but then which ones do you ultimately give your time to in order to follow them through and do ‘em justice? The more you spread yourself over multiple disciples, the less time you’d have for each, and at the creative sharp end of comedy you can’t really afford to take you’re eye off one ball, let alone three. I have three balls.

Ahem. There’s Stand Up, Danny Pensive - character comedy, and Comedysportz  and I believe in them all equally, they’re like a comedy triumvirate of disciplines.

Danny Pensive is all about the writing, use of language and lack of compromise. As I am now, locked away in a room, fathoming out what I find funny and presenting it to the world. Simple, beautiful, and I refer to him in the third person, which while I appriciate is quite odd feels perfectly normal.
Comedysportz is all about the moment. No writing, just instinct being bounced around making brief wonderful moments that can’t be recreated.
Then there’s me, a combination of the two. I love stand up and writing, but it’s the hardest part of the whole. Writing is comedy, if it doesn’t jump off the page, it probably won’t dance out your mouth to the sound of laughter, and once written and delivered stand up evolves in the telling, a combination of written word,  improvised flourish and repetition.

I’ve spent most of this year doing repetition. And there’s nothing wrong with that, it’s what promoters pay for when they book you, your best stuff. While at the same time writing new stuff for Danny and on occasion taking Danny tried and tested stuff as my own, which feels like stealing, but really isn’t, though I do feel guilty, which is probably my fault for invoking the third person. It’s more evidence of decent gags, and a very long winded round-the-houses way of not getting bored with a ‘club set’ while cultivating new gags in a parallel dimension.

I’m looking at taking a Danny Pensive show to Edinburgh next year. Wish him luck.

BLOG From Doom to Street Fighter IV

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The UPS delivery man has gone to the wrong house. Again. I may have to wait the whole weekend for my new phone.

It’s thrown into sharp relief just how I’m easily distracted by something I don’t actually need. I blame the summer slow down in work load. There are new things to do but they are small, and there’s no real meat to chew on, more like a sushi bar conveyor than a Sunday carvery. Everyone is on holiday, at the Edinburgh Fesitval, or both.

Spinning more plates with less food on the make focusing difficult and more neccessary. There are design leads to pick up and chase, older jobs currently getting overhauls, and also now is the time to start writing and plotting ideas for next years Edinburgh festival. I’m doing ‘New Stuff’ at the comedy store on Sunday, which will probably be the beginnings of what I’ve got in mind.

So the key is, focus. I…..(doorbell rings while typing)…Hurray, the UPS man has come back!….

BLOG The extended Doctor Who universe

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