My second gig; a new start.

My second ever gig as a stand-up, and with totally new material. The Hollybush, in Cradley Heath was the place. Nerves rattling, I did my ‘Vasectomy’ routine, which I had only finished writing at midnight the night before, so spent the day trying to learn it and get the timings right.

Arrived at the pub - on the far side of Brum from me - with moral support (and photographic assistance) from Mark West. I had heard a lot about the pub from conversations at the We Are Most Amused open mic night in Northampton but it was much better than I expected, such a pleasant atmosphere and Dave the barman/compere made me feel at home.

None of this stopped me from having a big bout of nerves as I walked in though and I totally lost confidence, so I couldn’t even say “good evening”. I stepped outside again and gave myself a sharp talking to that put me right, as did a chat with some of the other acts. Felt good again.

On to the gig. I was up third and my self review is that there was much to improve on my performance, but I have to say - for a newcomer (second gig, remember), it went quite well. In addition, I really enjoyed being up there, I enjoyed the banter with the audience and - quite frankly - if I had more material I would have booked to go back straight away.

We stayed until about 11 and the acts were very good and I’d definitely like to come back to the venue. Great place, great crowd, had a brilliant evening.

So that’s that then, new material here we come!