Talking Cock / Joy Is My Middle Name

I love Edinburgh preview season. I don't go to The Fringe, well I haven't yet, and for some reason really enjoy seeing shows being constructed. There's also an added bonus of seeing comics when they don't know their material that well, which makes for quite an exciting evening. The idea that things can go anywhere is quite appealing to me. As one comedian on Twitter said yesterday when he was promoting his preview, it's for people who prefer to lick the spoon than eat the cake.

Off I went to The Camden Head (in Camden, not Angel - it's always important to check which one it is*) and met up with my mate Andrew. He was just here for a drink, but we ordered fish finger sandwiches. I tweeted this fact, and The Phoenix had a bit of a hissy fit and chastised me. It's nice when pubs get jealous of each other. Anyway, after a couple of drinks Andrew soon abandoned me and headed home.

Catie Wilkins was on first. I had seen her and Richard Herring do these previews a week ago at Michael Legge's Private Hell, and things have come on in leaps and bounds since then. At that show, there didn't seem to be a lot of new material, but plenty of ideas, but by now she is heading towards a complete show, although one of her routines that she was reading ended with her saying "It just says 'write joke' here".

Catie's show this year is called "Joy Is My Middle Name", because, well, it is. She was much more confident in her material this time, although her nerves still show. However, I've always thought this endears her to most audiences. There was a little muddle when she tried to work out how to hold the mic and show us her rather large cards, which I imagine will be turned into slides, until audience member Alex heroically offered his services as an assistant.

The show focuses a lot on feminism (stop groaning!) and has a couple of ranting moments. All in all, like her last show it's quite sweet, quite rude, and very funny and I'm glad her AIDS joke has made a return, and I hope it stays in the final show.

This was the 3rd tie in a week and a half that I've seen Richard's preview of "Talking Cock - The Second Coming". Like "Christ On A Bike" a couple of years ago, it's a reworking of an old show from 10 years ago. He thinks it was a shame not many people saw it first time around, and is proud of it, and this gives him a chance to finally get it out on DVD. So he has a head start, although as the gigs progress, various new bits are being added.

*Remember my advice earlier about checking which Camden Head to go to? Well unfortunately Richard didn't heed it, and had arrived at the wrong one...

The show is based around an anonymous questionnaire all about people's attitude to penises. Gents, you can find yours here, and ladies, have a look here. This show is startlingly rude (as you would expect) and the looks the lady sitting near me on the front row was giving was a picture!

Richard discusses why people are ashamed of their penis, and why it is an object of laughter. Why is it not held in a higher regard? Through the show we learn where guys have put theirs for fun, we learn that even people filling in anonymous surveys probably lie about their cock size, and we hear tales about what happens when you snap your "banjo string". We also think about our dad's spunking cocks quite a lot.

At the end, as an audience, we are asked to declare our love for our cocks. Ladies have to declare their love for our cocks, and gay men have to declare our love for our cocks - and your cocks. And for the third time in a row I was the only one!

Afterwards I had a brief chat with Rich and Catie and as promised to Neale, got him a programme, as Richard has a surfeit of them from 10 years ago. And of course, Richard drew a cock on it.

I slightly let myself down at the end by attempting to briefly flirt with Catie's rather hot brother as I was saying goodbye, but I think it may have come across a possible prelude to something terribly sinister. Sigh, I'll work out how to do it properly one day.

Right, I'm off to the shops. I have made a list.

1. Toilet roll
2. Jelly
3. A spoon

Edinburgh previews begin!

Have I over-Herringed myself? This was my 4th gig in 8 days. Still, this was a triple bill with 2 other fantastic comedians: Catie Wilkins and Lou Sanders. I had just seen Catie a couple of weeks ago at the Hen & Chickens and was looking forward to seeing her again. Lou does an occasional podcast with Catie and I had seen her on the same bill as her back in September but unfortunately it was a spur of the moment decision after I had been out in the afternoon and I was stupidly drunk. I do remember really enjoying it though (and I'm quite sure I would have done sober!) On reflection I should have gone home.

Anyway...

"Is that the menu?" - @tfb62

The Edinburgh preview season in June and July is my favourite time of year. As a bit of a nerd, I really enjoy seeing comedians trying out new material, some of which may work, some of which may bomb, and seeing the show change until it is in a fit state to take up to the festival. I'm actually less interested in the final set than watching it all slowly come together over the course of a few gigs. Richard had given us a short preview of the new show "What Is Love Anyway" at AIOTM last night and from the little material there was looks like this who could develop nicely.

I had arranged to meet Richard, Simon and Rob at The New Red Lion around 7:45 for the show to start at 8:00. Poor Rob had fallen asleep after a hard day of traffic reporting so we had to carry on without him.

Catie Wilkins

Catie performed for 40 minutes or so, slightly overrunning, but we can easily forgive her for that! Check my last blog for my blurb about her show in detail, but I still love the 'over bearing mother' joke. She ended the set by saying "Let's leave you with something fun" before checking her paper and saying "...errrm... no" which really tickled us! At the start of the set there was a rather annoying woman chatting at the bar which irritated me and probably most of the audience and certainly Catie. I don't know if she shut up or was asked to leave but either way it was sorted out eventually.

The dramatic Lou Sanders start

Lou Sanders was astonishingly good. It's only a matter of time surely till she is a household name (if there's any justice) She explained there wasn't much tech but to experience the opening of her Edinburgh show we should shut our eyes (as there was no way to plunge the venue into darkness) before galloping round the stage and having a huge party popper to open when the lights went up. The audience member she decided to speak to before the "Wheel of destiny" was Simon, who when he revealed he was a youth worker,  Lou took great points to let us all know that he wasn't a paedophile (even though she told us that she takes the piss out of comedians who do paedophile jokes!) Simon was also the star of her "This is your life" segment. This show is going to be great. It's unpredictable, slightly mental and absolutely hilarious!

Lou Sanders

Richard Herring was soon up to close the show. There wasn't mush new since the last time I had seen the preview of "What Is Love Anyway", but considering that was yesterday, it's not surprising. It looks like this show could be quite a different show from his recent ones, and the stories of his childhood loves brought a few "Awww"s from the audience. Due to his rather high work rate (touring his last show, "Christ On A Bike", writing a BBC script, AIOTM, and the Collings & Herrin podcast) there hasn't been a huge amount of progress on this yet, but the potential is there for a great show. The story of his first romance as a 10 year old and not being sure what to do, as well as the crush he had on an older girl from the safety of a bus is both lovely and funny and it will be very interesting to see how this show progresses.

Richard Herring

The new material was probably around 20 minutes or so, so he decided to do some old routines and started with his "I wouldn't piss on you if you were on fire" routine. After this, he declared that he would try an older routine that he wasn't sure if he would remember. So this was the first time I had seen the "Give me head until I'm dead" routine (from 'Someone Likes Yoghurt'?) live, and was particularly good as he addressed a lot of it directly to my mate Richard, after asking him if he had ever experienced a blow job.

As I was leaving I said a brief goodbye to Catie & Richard (Lou had left a while ago) and said that it was good that he was putting different material into his "club" set. As I was walking home I thought this may have been misinterpreted and sent a message to Rich explaining what I meant. I was glad to find a reply on Twitter from Rich saying that it was what he thought I meant anyway. It's always good to end a gig with some slight awkwardness!

Catie Wilkins - Chip Off The Odd Block

I had seen Catie perform an early version of this show last year when it was called "Inheritance Tax". I mentioned to her shortly after that the one and only criticism was the title, as, if I didn't know who she was, the title wouldn't make me pay for a ticket. Anyway, after a lot of tweeting and suggestions from her followers, she has the much improved title of "Chip Off The Odd Block". The show is about her fears that she may be turning into her parents, and relies a lot on anecdotes and stories about them. Her father being logical, cold and robotic and her mother being rather hot-headed. I feel both guilty and proud that my suggestion made her change the title, as this one is better by far.

So, on Friday I had arranged to meet Rob and Simon at The Hen & Chickens (a great little theatre space in Highbury) and we had a beer before we were summoned upstairs. It was quite a "selective" audience and we took our seats at the far end of the front row.

On stage, Catie is very likeable. She has a vulnerable, shy side which you instantly warm to, and she is an intriguing mix of prettiness and geekiness. This was a preview so she referred to notes in the places that she wasn't too sure about that were rather new, reading a story she had written as a child and telling us about her parents and her fears that she may become them.

The reading of her father's Christmas circular is fantastic, as is her mother's catchphrase ("How dare you come here and say that"). One of the new lines in the show that I hadn't heard before was the story of when her brother came out as gay. "His psychologist said it may be because our mother was overbearing. We didn't tell her. She was overbearing"

The show ended and unlike most acts who would leave the stage and go backstage, Catie got her notes together and started packing up, leaving the audience unsure of what to do next. An awkward moment as we all filed out past her.

Also attending the show was Suzi Ruffell who is a very funny comedian in her own right and was seeing a full hour long show by Catie for the first time.

By the time Edinburgh comes, the rough edges will be off, and if you are going to the Fringe, this is one show you should definitely make time for!

On the way home I saw what I thought might by a "Banksy". Looking at it closer I realise it's not, but great to see this art work of Frank Sidebottom in Islington. (It's on the corner of Cross Street and Essex Road in case you're interested)

New Red Lion Theatre

Catie Wilkins

 This is a fairly new comedy venue (2 weeks old) that happens to be only 5 minutes walk from my house. This alone makes it my favourite comedy venue. However when I got inside I liked it even more. The bar used to be a rather grotty sports venue that I visited once in order to go for an emergency wee (and I bought a half to get rid of the guilt.) Now though it looks like a lovely friend's lovely living room and has a really nice vibe about it. I had made a joke on Twitter beforehand that if the night was no good I could always pop to the porno cinema next door for a wank, but thankfully this option was not needed (but will bear it in mind for future visits!) I went there with my lovely friend Richard who has seen AIOTM (aiotm) twice but has never seen Richard Herring do his regular bread & butter stand up.

The night was compered by the ever-lovely (I've used the word 'lovely' too much, haven't I?) Catie Wilkins.The club runs every fortnight and this was only the second time it was on. Some good acts coming up so keep an eye on their Facebook page !.

Me and Richard (@Chardhollis)

Catie chatted to the audience as comperes generally do (if they didn't they would be a bit rubbish) and eventually came to chat to Richard and myself and asked how we knew each other. Richard told her we used to work together and obviously we were asked what we did. He replied that we worked on a sex line, which is only partly true (I do a lot more other important stuff other than filth!) but decided to run with it. Naturally she wanted more information about what we say, but I told her she would have to pay me (I don't ask her to tell me jokes for free, do I !?)

Anyway, Imran Yusuf was on first. He was pretty good - did I see him on Stand Up Hero?  actually I didn't see him on there. It was Michael MacIntyre's Comedy Roadshow ! Thanks to Mary Bourke for letting me know, and if anyone else has any corrections for anything in any of my blogs please tell me - however, my asterisk still stands - but trying a lot of new material which spoiled the flow of his set. However we still laughed a lot and he was enjoyable.

The next act, Suzi Ruffell was absolutely fantastic! I had never seen her before, but I certainly will again. Her routine near the end about Lady Gaga's song where no matter how drunk she is, she sorts it all out with a little dance was hilarious, as was her secret lesbian salute! We had a nice interval and spent most of our time gushing over Suzi outside. (not like that!). We told her how great she was, and is definitely a name to look out for in the future.

A stage on a stage?

After the break, Catie asked us how the interval was and what was the best thing that happened during it. The audience was very quiet, so thought I would help out and blurted out "I went to the toilet". This unfortunately led to a barrage of complaints about them, so Catie took it upon herself to put the acts' payment on hold in order to fix them. (I recognise this was a joke, but I like to report this as if it is a fact.)  I wish I'd never brought it up.

Actually the toilets aren't bad (though there is only a tiny tiny gap between the tap and the sink so very hard to get your hands wet although I'm sure Richard H had no problem with his 7 year old girl hands (more of that later)

Next up, was a chap I rather shamefully can't remember his name. Let's call him Dylan Thing. (Please if you know his surname please let me know and I'll fix this!) Dylan Bray (Thanks Richard!) Anyway this was his first gig for a year and seemed a little nervous. However, he was very good and I quite enjoyed his conversation with the rather nihilisic woman who wasn't that bothered about climate change. He did a routine about eating prisoners to help (though I'm sure I've seen Billy Connolly do a very similar routine before!)

Herring & me. I don't know why my face is doing that.

Next up, and closing the night was Richard Herring. Anyone that knows me knows that I'm a big fan, and have seen him on quite a number of times. However, it was nice to have my mate Richard with me because it was interesting to see his reactions for the first time to jokes I've heard on quite a few occasions. He seemed to particularly enjoy the "sky potato" routine. In fact the best part of the night was his reaction to Rich's joke about his dark masturbatory fantasies about having the hands resembling a 7 year old girl! He made quite a shocked noise, so I turned round and his face was a picture! Nice to see Rich including some Hitler Moustache material in his regular comedy set, and the "racists might have a point" routine went down a storm.

So in closing, this is a great comedy venue, and I will definitely be back.

Anyway, I have two things I want to do with this blog:

1. Stop using so many exclamation marks.
2. Write about things other than comedy gigs.

However, that may or may not happen. It's not happened yet. I may write about an exciting event happening a week today and who could blame me?

Next Sunday, the 24th November at The Phoenix, there is a benefit gig for Shelter as Michael Legge recreates Edinburgh Fringe in one day. it's going to be awesome, so make sure you come! Follow AllDayEdinburgh on Twitter for more details! Many acts to be confirmed, but so far they have Tony Law, The Penny Dreadfuls, Jim Bob (from Carter USM !!!!) , Pappys, Robin Ince & Michael Legge, Sara Pascoe, Paul Sinha, The Trap, Storytellers, Nick Helm, Tara Flynn, An Hour of Telly Live, Mat Ricardo, Caroline Mabey and Dan Antopolski to look forward to with bigger names yet to be announced.

Get tickets to All Day Edinburgh here. But be fast as I imagine they will go very quickly.

(I may write about it.)

* by the way Stand Up Hero is a great show. Like the X Factor of comedy except most of the acts are actually good. Look out for Mary Bourke on an upcoming episode.

Big Noise and Big Fun*

I wasn't remotely surprised when Jason sat down beside me and jumped up uncomfortably before removing a chicken and a duck from his back pocket before placing them triumphantly on the table.

Anyway it was nice of Tara Flynn to practise her show in Edinburgh for a month before the big event back at The Phoenix. As usual it was also great to see some old Twitter types such as Neal, Rob, Vicky and Jason

Now, I know Tara mainly through the London Comedy Improv. You may know her through that too. Or perhaps you've seen her on Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle or the Paul Merton series, "Thank God You're here". Or indeed the lady in "Doctors" a few months ago. (I missed this performance sadly). Or indeed as we were reminded later, "The woman from the Utterly Butterly advert.

Opening tonight was London Comedy Improv's tallest and Irishest member Brendan Dempsey. I had been unaware all this time that Brendan still did stand up (I was obviously ill-informed by Neal earlier) and thought he mainly did comedy acting and the improv, but I'm so glad he does. Brendan has a very gentle calming voice and I lazily compared him to Tara afterwards to Ardal O'Hanlon before she pulled a funny face and told me that it's probably because he's Irish. Anyway the point is (and I'll come back to this later) sometimes the support acts take you by surprise and you can find a whole new realm of comedy to follow.

Tara's show (Big Noise) is a collection of comedy songs with no particular narrative. No message. No story. Now I have always been suspicious of musical comedy. Sorry, but I just don't get the whole "Beat me on the bottom with a Woman's Weekly" stuff.

She opened with a tribute to the "Quirky Ones" (Lily Allen et al) followed by a number of other songs about topics as diverse as Weetabix (with the inexplicable dry bit in the middle) as well as a fantastic 80s Hazel O'Connor style track involving science and nuclear war.

The closing song was an epic German/Irish electronic track about a "custard bastard" (she's the custard whore.) This is a phrase I shall attempt to use in conversation a lot more than I used to. Tara also gave me a new religion which I have added to my Facebook page (non-practising Buddhist) which has somehow tickled me and sounds better than the rather po-faced "atheist".  This is a show I really hope Tara can develop, perhaps eventually involving a live band.

You can see a clip of Tara, Brendan and others singing an improvised song (at London Comedy Improv obviously) here

I also went to see Catie Wilkins for the second time in a week. Now this was a spur of the moment decision and I had been "out" most of the afternoon so my memory isn't all that good ! So forgive me if this ends up rather short.

Opening was Lou Sanders.  I always get nervous seeing comedians I've known about and followed on Twitter etc for the first time. I always really want to like them, and it often isn't the case. But Lou was hilarious ! (Thus linking back to the support act thing I mentioned earlier.) Also a very humble lady. After mentioning to Lou on twitter that I had enjoyed her set, she replied:

"@AndyMcH ahhh thank you! It's true, I am cocking awesome. X"

It's good to have that confidence ! I will be seeing her again. (not like that!)


Catie is a relative newcomer to comedy and "Inheritance Tax" was her first hour long show. I remember seeing her do a short set around a year ago opening for Richard Herring at Fat Tuesday and howling when she told her AIDS joke. She was advised not to perform this routine in Brighton as gay people may be offended, but that's utter rubbish.


Catie seems a little nervous on stage, but this doesn't detract from how funny she is. If anything it makes her more endearing. She explains that the show isn't about inheritance tax or fiscal affairs but about comparing herself to her parents to see if she is turning into them. I would probably have chosen a different title, as if I didn't know who she was I may not have gone to see a show with that title, but that's neither here nor there.

Highlights include her dad's Christmas circulars to her whole extended family where her mother has been very ill but he has gone off to the skiing holiday by himself anyway and explaining mum's illness in all its gory detail whilst explaining how much he enjoyed his holiday, as well as her mum's fantastic catchphrase - "How dare you come here and say that" - another phrase I will attempt to use more often.

Conscious of how drunk I was, I made my goodbyes as brief as possible as I otherwise would have turned into an annoying pest (again) and headed back to Camden Town and finally home.


Tara Flynn, Brendan Dempsey, Catie Wilkins, and Lou Sanders - see them when you get a chance !!



* Yes I know this is mainly a blog about Tara and Catie and I know that Catie is kown as "Show Pony" in her podcast she does with Lou "Big Fun" Sanders, but "Big Noise & Show Pony" would have been a weird title. Confusing at best. If you have a problem with this, please feel free to leave a comment, or email me. Send me a message on Twitter if you like. But don't just moan about it. It's only a title. What's your problem? To be honest I find your attitude rather poor. Insulting even. I don't need to do this. I could have just called it "Catie Wilkins & Tara Flynn", but that's just two people's names, and would it have drawn you in as much as "Big Noise & Big Fun"? Now I wish I hadn't criticised the title of Catie's show. I know how it feels now. Catie, I'm sorry. But these people just... AARGH. God they wind me up. I shouldn't let it get to me, but you should see what people are sending me. Then you'd understand. In fact don't even mention it to me any more. Not interested. Now seeing as Ewen MacIntosh has put his personal number up on Twitter send a text to him instead. I'm just don't care about your opinions. What????

How dare you come here and say that you custard bastard.

Are You Here For Comedy?

I found out Catie Wilkins was playing a gig literally 5 minutes from my house. I shouldn't go out - I should be sensible. I'm up at 5am, but hey - I'd be home by 1030. Unfortunately there was a mix up with Time Out. "Are you here for comedy?" said the compere? Looking around, I said "I hope so, but I'm not sure" - Catie had already warned me in a tweet that the gig was sparse and it turned out I was the first one. Another two turned up before they decided to pull the gig.

I think it was unnecessary of the compere to go on stage and tell the 3 of us this through the microphone though...

Anyway, I decided to hit Shoreditch to the Storytellers' Club to see Michael Legge. Turns out I'd already missed Bennett Aaron. Damn. Anyway, I got my pint from the completely empty bar upstairs and headed down.

The first comedian I saw was rather dull. Actually he was shit. He came out and told us his "crazy" stories from Glastonbury, but the only people laughing seemed to be the people that ran the club and the nervous people at the front. Most of his material seemed to be in jokes though. Thankfully he finished. But seemed to go on for ages.

I went up to get another beer and the bar man said he had ran out of pint glasses. They were all downstairs. There were only about 40 people downstairs. They must have more glasses than that ?! He retreived a couple and disappeared into his secret room for 5 seconds. He came out brandishing a dripping pint glass and poured my beer into it.

"Have you cleaned it?"
"Oh yes I gave it a good scrub."
"I think I'd prefer it in 2 half pint glasses."
"Sure"

He poured the beer from the scabby pint glass into a half pint. I looked at him with disappointment.

He sensed this and poured 2 new half-beers from the tap.

After all this waiting around and nonsense I went back down to see a funny woman (whose name I can't remember) say funny things for a bit. I wish I could remember her name. And I wish the bar man got me my drink quicker so I could have seen more of her. Havng said that I wish the beer had run out as I had earlier met up with a mate - to help him shop for a hard drive in Argos - and had started the beer thing much too early. But in my defence, I wasn't planning on going out tonight at all.

Michael Legge came on next. The audience seemed undecided. Though the reading of his "Quinola" blog seemed to eventually get them on side. After Michael left the stage, the rather bland compere (name unknown) decided the audience wanted an encore. To be honest I think the audience should decide on these things for themselves.

Michael came back and read his Li Ping blog which seemed to go down very well, though I do think if he wants to use these stories he should learn them as routines rather than read them out, He has a stack of material he could base a lot of gigs on as he writes  I think at the 'Pointless Anger - Righteous Ire' shows he does with Robin Ince they work better when read, but that is probably because Robin spends some time ranting from books too.

Read Michael Legge's blog here...