Dublin, Day two.
Well, thank fucking dirty christ on the cross. I'm still funny.
I did my second show here in Dublin and it was unbelievably great.
I was really worried, I gotta tell you. It's amazing how, even with 23 years experience, a single show can make me question EVERYTHING. I ran five miles today. That's how seriously I took the whole thing.
Tonight, the conditions were very different. The crowd, very different. Something worth mentioning is that last night I opened for a young man named Des Bishop. He is a bit of a rock star here in Ireland and the audience mostly consisted of young girls who find him thin and sexy. I think the shock of starting HIS show with a fat old bald guy was a bit much for them.
As I said, I never use the audience as an excuse but tonight's audience was decidedly different. And better. For me anyway. They were grown-ups.
The show opened with a guy named Barry Murphy, who I'd seen before and is easily my favorite Irish comedian. He got things going with some very intelligent and well paced bits and then brought on another local favorite, a fellah who's name I am very sorry not to know. He was very nice to chat with and I couldn't really hear his set from backstage. But he did very well. And then me. From the very beginning, the crowd was great. After two simple, basic laughs, I felt myself again.
I did about 40 minutes of all new material and it was everythign I hoped this would be, in that I had a great great experience, but entirely different from what I'm used to. The audience was generous, patient and thoughtful in a distinctly Irish way, Just as the audience the night before was impatient, mean and distracted in a distinctly Irish way.
I'm glad for both sets. Actually, I learned something the first crowd. They were no geniuses, but the expereince still made me look at the material I've been doing on stage and it forced me to ask myself what of any of it is bullshit. Am I doing anything that I don't really believe in, just to get laughs?
It made me really think about my set tonight. I didn't do anything particularly different. But I ran my five miles, I paced a small patch of grass while I waited for my turn on stage and I brought my very best and truest to the set. And it paid off. Maybe I've been getting lazy. Crowds that I've been playing to on tour for the last couple of years have been great. Maybe they've been carrying me a bit. I can't let that happen.
I have one more show tomorrow. My solo hour. Then it's on to London. Thanks to everyone who wrote me with sympathy about last night. It felt a little pathetic but I surely appreciated it.
LCK
erin go bra or whatever the fuck.
Posted by Louie in on July 26, 2008 | Comments [ 3 ]
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I'm glad your second set was better. I'm also glad you were able to get something positive out of the first night! I hope to see you perform comedy live someday.
Just saw your solo show in Dublin tonight. There was a rush for seats at the front, so clearly all the discerning punters were in for your solo show. It was great. Please come again.
Glad you enjoyed! We certainly did.
I watched everything I could find of yours and then to see you do a show where everything was new was fucking classic.
The other comedian was Ardal O'Hanlon who was in Ireland's answer to Fawlty Towers (Father Ted). Here's a clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MUz0rhBews