On Sunday 1st July I made my Stand Up comedy debut kicking off the Tringe Comedy Festival as part of the Roving Comedy Night. After an intensive eight week course with comedy guru Logan Murray plus a private session with the man himself a few days before I performed a self written five minute set at four different pubs in Tring.
Me and my eleven other trainee comedians all met up before the event at the Akeman Pub to have a calming glass of coke, to do a few pieces to camera for Dee Tv, and to get our instructions for the night, along with our guides and the four professional comedians Arthur Smith, Dominic Holland, Tony Law and Silky.
I was in a group with the brilliant Tony Law, so the set up was the three trainees in each group each did five minutes and then the professional finished with ten minutes before you moved off to the next pub to do it all over again. I went on first at our first venue which was the Black Horse and despite some mic problems I did my first ever stand up gig and got a few laughs and a generous round of applause from the audience at the end.
Then it was off to the Anchor I went on third this time and delivered the same material I had done in the first pub, again I had a great time, got a few laughs and then left the stage to applause to see Tony Law come on and be fantastic once again. That is one of the great things about the night you get to see a professional comedian do four gigs with you and chat to them and ask them questions as you walk between pubs to the next gig. He was so friendly, helpful and very very funny.
Next it was off to perform at the Kings Arms I went on second here and you have guessed it delivered more or less the same five minutes of jokes, it is weird though how the same joke can get a big laugh in one pub and hardly anything in another and vice versa. Again I got a few laughs and a clap as I finished, they are a very kind and generous audience in Tring which really helped to make the night special. Thanks also to Alison our guide who did a brilliant job getting us to each pub on time and making sure we knew when our five minutes were up so we could finish up and get off.
The final pub of the night was the Robin Hood, the stage was outside so I am counting that as my first festival stand up comedy gig, another great crowd, who laughed and clapped and seemed to enjoy themselves. Then it was back to the Kings Arms for a post gig pint and a chance to catch up with my fellow first timers to hear stories of their nights and find out how they got on. The buzz and the feeling after was brilliant, I couldn’t stop smilling and really enjoyed doing it. I do plan to do some more stand up so keep your eyes open at any open mic nights and you might see me trying to be funny for five minutes.
Neil Quigley doing Stand Up
There is a little bit of video evidence of the Tringe Roving Comedy night online currently Dee Tv were filming all night so check out their videos and see if you can spot me in them http://www.deetv.tv/
I have another exciting week lined up. I am going to see the Hit Factory Live at Hyde Park on Wednesday. I will be reliving the 80′s and 90′s and hoping to see Kylie and Jason duet together. Then I am back to Hyde Park on Saturday for Hard Rock Calling to see Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band rock the place, can’t wait. I will let you know what they were like in a couple weeks. Have fun.
