I may not have gigged at all yet since moving to London, and I may have discarded my entire set after my last gig up North to try something new, and I may have written a new five-minute routine in a different style which I ended up chucking in the bin because it didn't sound like 'me', but it's not all bad on the comedy front.
Since I discovered that a certain comedy chain runs a weekly joke competition on Twitter, I've been spending a lot of time and energy on writing new one-liners for said competition. Since I've won third prize, and then second prize, within the space of two months, I must be doing something right. (Although that £100 first prize still eludes me, but would come in bloody handy.)
Asides from the accolades, the competition - and Twitter itself - are helping me to become a better joke writer. The 140-character limit, and the fact that I'm gaining a bit of a reputation (and more followers) from other tweeting comedians means that I have to work harder to craft a decent one-line joke then ever before. When I have my days free I can write and post up to a dozen gags a day, half of which are at least half-decent. Even when I'm working a day job, I can while way the hours by thinking up a few gags and then posting them to Twitter via my mobile phone.
The downside of course, is that by immediately posting my brand new jokes to Twitter, they become public property and can be shared across cyberspace, which renders them void for use in a live set.
The previously aforementioned new routine took me several weeks to write and didn't come naturally. When it was done, and after I performed it for Yvette, I decided it was not much good and decided against performing it live. Although it made some interesting points, it wasn't really my voice and the joke count was rather on the low side.
Therefore, I've decided to return to one-liners. Except that I don't want to go back to my old stuff, because I think I can do better, and I can't use the Twitter stuff for the reasons I've already mentioned.
All of which leaves me in an unenviable position for a comedian - a willingness to return to live comedy, but a blank piece of paper with "JOKES" as the heading...
Hey Phil
ReplyDeleteMy name is Clive Tonge. And I am stalking you! Look outside your window - I am there.
Actually, I'm not.
I'm a newbie stand up. Did my first gig in January. There were laughs in the right places and a couple of cold, tumbleweed silences where laughs should have been. I blame the audience. They were acting like bastards at those particular points.
I found you because I am living in the North East and your name pops up a lot in my Twitter feed from some mutual comedy friends.
Just wondering - how do I find out about the Twitter one-liner thang.
FYI - my 2nd, 3rd, and 4th gigs all occur within the same 2 weeks in April. To say I am shitting it is quite an understatement. I am doing Hartlepool Flix on the 17th. Is that an ok place?
Clive
PS - I am also a film maker. You can check out my vast contribution to world cinema here:
http://clivetonge.tumblr.com/
Hi Clive
ReplyDeleteGood to hear from you!
Re: the Twitter joke competition. Follow @comedyhighlight and when you post a gag in your status add the hashtag #win100 - you will then be included with the other entries. But only do it between noon Monday and noon Friday. Any other times won't count. The winner is announced around 4pm on Friday through Twitter.
Don't worry about the Tumbleweed moments. I've had plenty. Some gags work better written than spoken. Just need to discover which ones work in a live setting.
Flix is a lovely little place to play. I gigged there twice when they first started doing open mic comedy nights. The night has changed a bit since I was last there but apparently Adam & Eric have a really good gig going.
Good luck with the gigs. I did about the same amount in that time frame too. My fourth gig was in front of 300 people at a gong show at Stockton Arc - now THAT'S shitting it!
I used to make films in Hartlepool, back in my younger days. Gave it up as it was too much hassle trying to film on the streets without idiots interrupting us.
Let me know how you get on!