Stand-up, up at The Stand

I got my Red Raw slot at The Stand in Newcastle and had a great night!

I have been waiting for this date for weeks. Wednesday 6th of March, 2024, my biggest audience yet. 200-odd people squeezed into what is already a decent space in the basement of The Stand, a well-known comedy club in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

I arrived at around 7.30, in good time for the stated 8.15 arrival and my 8.49 slot (the scheduling is very precise, military precision!). In the green room, I chatted with various comedians who had arrived before and after me.

Sallyanne Fellowes was there when I arrived. She was very nice, and we chatted about where she had been recently (Edinburgh and Glasgow on the previous few evenings). My wife was in the audience and thought Sallyanne was her favourite on the night (she’s including me in that…).

Later, I briefly chatted to Helen White, who I had briefly seen previously, but never had the opportunity to speak to. She had a 10 minute set later in the evening, before the headliner (Nicola Mantalios), but I had the time to ask her about Whitby (this fact may be more for my benefit than yours).

Also there was Laurie Brewster, who I sort of recognized, but it wasn’t until he told me that we had met in December (at the first Too Grand) that the penny dropped. I also chatted with Cooper Robson, whose poem about the King was the sort of thing that would get the whole room arrested 50 or 60 years ago!

Finally, Lauren Pattison was also there. She’s superb, but I didn’t recognize her at first, she wasn’t on the running order (she went on after Helen White) and she didn’t come into the green room so I assumed she was there supporting someone. Sorry Lauren.

This was on the wall. Even though I’m from the north of the country, I spent a few minutes trying to work out what it said.

Obviously, it is “Enjoy yourself” but for at least a minute I thought it was referring to a Jewish festival I hadn’t heard of.

When 8.49 arrived

I went on after Robin Fodor, with a slimmed down (5 minute limit here) version of my original set, finishing off with a one-liner that works with a particular age and social group. More on that later.

Quick shout-out to MC Harry Ford who was absolutely brilliant in holding the evening together and chatting to the audience with utmost professionalism.

I got an early laugh and relaxed, although I did miss a joke out. Luckily I avoided getting a light at the end, so there is that. The main story went well, but I think the joke I chose to close with needs careful selection - younger and middle class audiences are unlikely to get it as quickly as older, working class groups, I think. I certainly spent a few moments thinking it over before I had a good look at the audience to help make my decision.

And finally…

I’ll end this substack update with my video of the evening. If you have viewed my earlier videos, you’ll notice it is a more compact version of my first set, but with references to my youngest daughter removed and additional one liners. This is purely due to timing, as the slot is pretty strict (I came in at around 4 minutes 55 second I think).

On the matter of one-liners, I think that is a topic for a future update, as my thoughts on that topic have changed somewhat.

Sorry, but it blurs out in places due to the lighting, so apologies in advance.

(I’m back at The Stand in May, might have to get someone to film it for me.)