Goodwill to All Men
Apparently its the season for it.
So, I did three nights in Glasgow, doing sets rather than in my comfort zone as MC. I was more than a little nervous, and on Thursday night it seems my nerves were well placed.
As I walked into the venue with the loveable scamp that is Johnny Candon, we were told that there were 40 drunken sailors in and that they were already on their second warning. The first warning was for smoking indoors, gawd knows what the second one was for.
Aaah the lovely smoking ban. Got a real taste of what it'll be like from next July onwards. Somehow in the summer its not such a big deal, the room is much fresher without all that smoke and its a great way of smoking less as you really think about each cigarette. When it's raining and freezing cold, it does seem more of an infringement on our civil liberties.
As the gig began, Mike Milligan, who was MC'ing, went in hard and took control of the room, and even the sailors shut up for a bit. Sadly this wasn't to last. Johnny did a great set but it was kinda spoiled by these drunken wankers.
One of the good things about going on second is that you get a chance to read the room. I went on and ignored them for a good 2/3rds of my set then their noise became unbearable. It was as if I'd left my iPod headphones on. I couldn't concentrate on what I was trying to say, and I could see that the rest of the crowd were more than a little pissed off with the Navy boys.
The old me woulda ranted and raved at them, calling them all the c**ts under the sun, but I tried a different tack, I calmly explained that they were very selfish, that the rest of the room were on their Xmas nights out too, and they were spoiling it for everyone. It was as if I was their mum, I just kept telling them how rude and selfish they were, to cheers from the rest of the audience.
Within 10 minutes of the interval, there were eight of them left! I suspect their commanding officers had as much to do with that as the bouncers.
Needless to say, as Johnny and I sat shivering outside Dino's cafe drinking cappucino's and pretending we were abroad on Friday afternoon, the pair of us were not looking forward to that night's gig.
What a contrast! Friday night there was like a really good, regular Saturday night. All of us knocked em dead, and I even got back to the hotel in time to watch Johnathan Ross on the telly! I like doing sets!
Saturday night was tougher, but I had another cracker...it felt good. I've always MC'd these shows in the past, I thought it was cos my act was too rude for the 'corporate' audiences. Times have caught up with me, I'm really only mildly saucy these days, and it's kinda nice to be done and dusted in 20 minutes.
Having said that, I'm back in the comfort zone this week, MC'ing shows all over the shop - Watford, Oxford, and Birmingham. I'm doing six nights on the trot! Blimey its like having a proper job! The line-ups look great tho, so we should have a great week...I'll keep ya posted.
So, I did three nights in Glasgow, doing sets rather than in my comfort zone as MC. I was more than a little nervous, and on Thursday night it seems my nerves were well placed.
As I walked into the venue with the loveable scamp that is Johnny Candon, we were told that there were 40 drunken sailors in and that they were already on their second warning. The first warning was for smoking indoors, gawd knows what the second one was for.
Aaah the lovely smoking ban. Got a real taste of what it'll be like from next July onwards. Somehow in the summer its not such a big deal, the room is much fresher without all that smoke and its a great way of smoking less as you really think about each cigarette. When it's raining and freezing cold, it does seem more of an infringement on our civil liberties.
As the gig began, Mike Milligan, who was MC'ing, went in hard and took control of the room, and even the sailors shut up for a bit. Sadly this wasn't to last. Johnny did a great set but it was kinda spoiled by these drunken wankers.
One of the good things about going on second is that you get a chance to read the room. I went on and ignored them for a good 2/3rds of my set then their noise became unbearable. It was as if I'd left my iPod headphones on. I couldn't concentrate on what I was trying to say, and I could see that the rest of the crowd were more than a little pissed off with the Navy boys.
The old me woulda ranted and raved at them, calling them all the c**ts under the sun, but I tried a different tack, I calmly explained that they were very selfish, that the rest of the room were on their Xmas nights out too, and they were spoiling it for everyone. It was as if I was their mum, I just kept telling them how rude and selfish they were, to cheers from the rest of the audience.
Within 10 minutes of the interval, there were eight of them left! I suspect their commanding officers had as much to do with that as the bouncers.
Needless to say, as Johnny and I sat shivering outside Dino's cafe drinking cappucino's and pretending we were abroad on Friday afternoon, the pair of us were not looking forward to that night's gig.
What a contrast! Friday night there was like a really good, regular Saturday night. All of us knocked em dead, and I even got back to the hotel in time to watch Johnathan Ross on the telly! I like doing sets!
Saturday night was tougher, but I had another cracker...it felt good. I've always MC'd these shows in the past, I thought it was cos my act was too rude for the 'corporate' audiences. Times have caught up with me, I'm really only mildly saucy these days, and it's kinda nice to be done and dusted in 20 minutes.
Having said that, I'm back in the comfort zone this week, MC'ing shows all over the shop - Watford, Oxford, and Birmingham. I'm doing six nights on the trot! Blimey its like having a proper job! The line-ups look great tho, so we should have a great week...I'll keep ya posted.
posted by JoJo Smith at Monday, December 11, 2006
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