Guy Thomas - You Should've Been Here Last Week

[00:00:00] You Could Count The Punters On One Hand But I Sweet They Woke Up,

[00:00:10] Playin' Lea Rammed They Were Filled Up To The Gun Homes

[00:00:14] They Were Pueing Down The Street They Said You Shouldve Been Here Last Week,

[00:00:19] I swear You Shouldve Been Here Last Week, oh yeah,

[00:00:24] You Shouldve Been Here Last Week, ooh!

[00:00:31] Hello and welcome to The Podcast You Shouldve Been Here Last Week,

[00:00:35] presented by myself, Steve Gribbin and Paul Ricketts,

[00:00:39] in which we interview some of the UK's top comedy promoters

[00:00:43] and ask them some very searching questions about the hidden meanings behind the comedy circuit.

[00:00:52] Such is the Illuminati, etc., etc.

[00:00:55] And with us today, our guest is Guy Thomas.

[00:00:58] I was going to say the dooyen of Northwest comedy clubs.

[00:01:03] We'll get started. I mean, the first question we ask everybody is why did you actually become a comedy promoter?

[00:01:11] I'm going to guess it was probably like quite a few people,

[00:01:14] is I was starting out on the circuit and I wanted gigs

[00:01:18] and I was like, is that thing of kind of,

[00:01:21] what's the best way of getting a gig?

[00:01:24] I apply to myself, I'm going to say yes, aren't I?

[00:01:27] Cool. If I win a gig and apply and don't get a slot,

[00:01:31] I'll be really annoyed.

[00:01:33] So, right, I win a gig, I can't turn myself down

[00:01:37] and I will get some MC experience.

[00:01:41] So I thought, right, no one's going to give me it.

[00:01:44] So, sorry, I'll do it myself.

[00:01:47] That seems the best thing to do.

[00:01:50] Yeah. You'd have to have really low self-esteem, wouldn't you?

[00:01:54] To turn yourself down.

[00:01:56] Really low self-esteem.

[00:01:58] I know I'd be lying on my own CV.

[00:02:00] It's like, you've not closed the store.

[00:02:02] This is kind of, yeah.

[00:02:04] That's...

[00:02:06] Thankfully, I made the paper sift and yeah, I am seeing my first gig.

[00:02:11] I'm sure.

[00:02:13] What year was that then, Guy?

[00:02:15] What time frame are we talking about?

[00:02:17] 15, 16 years ago?

[00:02:21] Things are very different then.

[00:02:23] Things were different then.

[00:02:25] Yeah, yeah, it's in some aspects.

[00:02:27] In both the world and in my life, things were different then.

[00:02:31] So what steps did you take?

[00:02:33] I mean, how did you go about becoming a composer basically?

[00:02:37] What did you do?

[00:02:39] I made the smart decision of holding it in my hometown in Saltburn.

[00:02:44] And I moved away from Saltburn.

[00:02:46] But I'd occasionally go back there and have friends kind of be there.

[00:02:50] So I was like, right, okay, I'm going to contact the theatre.

[00:02:53] And I've always worked in bars and restaurants at that point.

[00:02:57] So I'm like, right, cool.

[00:02:59] I know a kind of hospitality to have to look after people

[00:03:01] and I'll get the word out.

[00:03:03] But, dear, I thought, right, people are going to want to see

[00:03:05] who went to school with me.

[00:03:07] And I know, and Saltburn just born his town, but I knew people there.

[00:03:10] They're going to have the same reaction I would have if I saw a friend

[00:03:13] from out the blue, say they were going to be doing stand-up goal.

[00:03:16] Oh, cool.

[00:03:17] I'm going to go along and watch him fail.

[00:03:19] That'll be hilarious.

[00:03:21] So I banked on the kind of rubber necking car crash brigade

[00:03:25] of kind of like, cool, we've got to get to this.

[00:03:27] This is going to be awful.

[00:03:28] Let's go see it.

[00:03:30] Anytime we see guy in the future, we can say, remember that time you put on a gig

[00:03:34] and you weren't funny?

[00:03:35] That was brilliant.

[00:03:36] And I thought, right.

[00:03:37] But if they buy tickets for that reason, hopefully I'll have enough quality

[00:03:41] to act on that they'll laugh at that we'll get away with it anyway.

[00:03:44] So, yeah, that was my plan.

[00:03:47] Put it on my hometown where I had where I knew people and just encouraged

[00:03:51] like friends to kind of get the word out and bring people.

[00:03:54] That was that was the trick there.

[00:03:57] Well, where was the first gig?

[00:03:58] Where was the first ever one?

[00:04:00] Saltburn Community Theatre.

[00:04:02] Saltburn Community Theatre.

[00:04:04] Oh, okay.

[00:04:05] Yeah.

[00:04:06] Yeah.

[00:04:07] 10th It's all Pete Vincent does gigs there now.

[00:04:10] And it's but I did it there to start with.

[00:04:13] Did three gigs there?

[00:04:15] The first two of which sold out, which was brilliant, then the third one wasn't selling as well.

[00:04:20] And I was wondering why and because the theatre put out a program

[00:04:25] and delivered it to every house in Saltburn

[00:04:29] and they put the wrong date of my comedy now on.

[00:04:32] Oh, you're welcome.

[00:04:34] And thus it took quite a bit of word to get out.

[00:04:37] So, yeah.

[00:04:38] But it's still charged with the full fee for the hire.

[00:04:41] So I worked like that.

[00:04:44] How about we just forget this one don't charge me and I'll go again.

[00:04:49] And they said no so I moved it to the hotel.

[00:04:52] But interestingly enough, the first two gigs we'd put on at the theatre

[00:04:56] was their busiest bar take ever.

[00:04:59] And yet someone didn't have the foresight to say,

[00:05:01] oh, we've made a mistake here that's hampered guy.

[00:05:04] But we wanted knowledge it and they moved and then that's that.

[00:05:07] So I moved to the hotel.

[00:05:09] I did there for nearly two years.

[00:05:12] But then the owner tried getting a younger and his friend tried getting on stage

[00:05:17] and thus that night got came to an end.

[00:05:21] Oh, dear.

[00:05:22] Yeah.

[00:05:23] I mean, is it funny because we talked a lot of promoters

[00:05:26] and they seem to have this problem with them, especially if you're in venues

[00:05:29] that they've got a landlord in situ.

[00:05:32] There's a kind of part of them that's a bit jealous of the comedy

[00:05:36] and because they think of themselves as performers in their own rights.

[00:05:40] And of course that is disastrous.

[00:05:42] 100% that was the case with the saltworm one, him and his friend had a few beers

[00:05:48] and he's like it's my hotel.

[00:05:50] And I'm like it's kind of my room for the night though.

[00:05:54] Oh, you don't just you don't just rock up to weddings and go look I know it's your wedding

[00:05:58] but it's my hotel and I fancy a dance with a bride.

[00:06:01] Not going to happen.

[00:06:02] So yeah, you don't get stage time just because you own the license.

[00:06:06] So did they both get up?

[00:06:08] Oh, well, no.

[00:06:09] What his friends tried, he's fed a gone to the toilet like a walk right down the centre

[00:06:15] to get some attention while style was waiting to bring in acts on.

[00:06:19] And obviously so I mocked him for it.

[00:06:21] And then he came up and said, oh, I think that's funny.

[00:06:24] I can do a bit because it's like, right, like trying wrestling the mic

[00:06:27] from me.

[00:06:28] Oh, no.

[00:06:29] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[00:06:30] I'm so...

[00:06:31] Oh, what the hell is going on?

[00:06:34] Because this is the other thing in that gig, in saltburn, small town,

[00:06:38] a lot of other people knew each other.

[00:06:40] No one really knew who this guy was.

[00:06:42] And you know when you'd get booed in that scenario anyway but instantly everyone was like,

[00:06:48] get off kind of what you do with it.

[00:06:50] Wow.

[00:06:51] Where the owner kind of like, right, was my place.

[00:06:53] You know what I mean, stop telling my friends it's like, oh Jesus.

[00:06:56] Yeah.

[00:06:57] So yeah, booze and watching what it's like.

[00:07:01] I once did a gig in London Booster and the landlord, the bar was opposite the stage

[00:07:07] and he had like a microphone in there where he used to call the bingo.

[00:07:10] This is about 20 odd years ago and he used to echo the hacks with the microphone.

[00:07:16] I mean only last, I think I wasn't promoting it but only last about two weeks people said

[00:07:21] I'm just not coming back because you just go, well these are it, this is new.

[00:07:26] Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's what you need.

[00:07:29] I'm amplified heckles.

[00:07:31] That's exactly what the comedy world needs.

[00:07:33] Oh no, don't be giving them ideas.

[00:07:36] So what gives you the most amount of pleasure from booking the comedy?

[00:07:42] Well you said it's the biggest hire for you.

[00:07:46] The biggest hire is and luckily I've got some good gifts of well attended audiences

[00:07:51] and it's good.

[00:07:52] But each gig has, there's a little side door always glass door and I can just everyone

[00:08:00] there facing the stage but I can look in and just face the audience and there's genuinely

[00:08:06] when you see a comic on stage smashing it and you look out on the audience

[00:08:10] and they're not paying any attention to anything else.

[00:08:12] You could be two foot away from staring at them, they wouldn't notice you

[00:08:16] because they're just totally lost in laughter.

[00:08:19] It's just the best thing because you think it's alright.

[00:08:22] I've tried booking the right people, I've worked hard getting all these people in now

[00:08:26] and that's got to be the culmination.

[00:08:29] Is it going to go well?

[00:08:31] And when it goes so well where you know people have just absolutely lost the plot with laughter.

[00:08:38] I mean it's just the best thing to witness.

[00:08:41] Yeah.

[00:08:42] Yeah.

[00:08:43] I mean I love your, because your club is at Graffin Halls, you've got the other room in it

[00:08:48] that you can see it through the other room and I do like it so I'm sorry.

[00:08:52] Yeah, it's the wall of the other room.

[00:08:55] Yeah and it's brilliant because they go in mental in the main room but you just look in there

[00:08:59] and I think it's great.

[00:09:00] There's just guys just there playing darts.

[00:09:03] It's like nothing's happening next door.

[00:09:06] It's great.

[00:09:07] I'm playing darts.

[00:09:08] Phil and Michael absolutely tearing it up in the main room.

[00:09:15] They're like everyone's starting their feet singing only gay-esky-mo.

[00:09:18] I went into the, and it's God's waiting room and it really is.

[00:09:21] And it's just kind of like, yeah, it's the poor opposites of kind of night out.

[00:09:28] And they're there and they're separated by one door.

[00:09:31] And it's, yeah.

[00:09:33] But it's funny because they never bother going to see what all the fuss is, do they?

[00:09:37] No, no, no.

[00:09:38] They just stay in that room.

[00:09:40] They don't get it.

[00:09:42] And funnily enough when I first started the Golden Wall which is the ones being going the longest

[00:09:46] when I 12th year now.

[00:09:48] When I started it, I started putting posters out and flying everywhere.

[00:09:52] I remember not seeing my numbers on it just getting a text out of the blue,

[00:09:56] which I thought this summed up kind of maybe the people who are in that next room.

[00:09:59] And it was a text just the, at the time, to get to £8.

[00:10:02] It's like £8. Watch comedy and goblins.

[00:10:04] You're taking the piss.

[00:10:06] Just like you don't have to respond to it.

[00:10:08] They've seen it and not only they want to know, they want to tell me and ripping people off

[00:10:14] and saying, I'm taking it as like, I don't care what you do it.

[00:10:17] I'm not a man United fan.

[00:10:19] I don't call up all trafficking.

[00:10:21] 45 pounds in a ticket.

[00:10:22] You have an alarm.

[00:10:23] I'm not like, you said, go up one United.

[00:10:24] No, no, no, no, no, no intention of coming.

[00:10:26] I just thought I'd let you know that.

[00:10:28] That's hilarious.

[00:10:29] God almighty.

[00:10:30] When you said you started your club to get stage time,

[00:10:35] did you also start the club?

[00:10:36] So then you can do other people's clubs by gig swapping,

[00:10:39] which I've talked a quite a few places about this that you can start tonight and then you can say,

[00:10:44] well, if I book you a fellow promoter, then you have to book me.

[00:10:48] Do you know what?

[00:10:49] I did think that how it was going to go straight away on what I do.

[00:10:55] But I got some good advice quite early on when I was doing that sob on gig from Lee Martin running the

[00:11:02] Poget and Gag Greenlegs.

[00:11:04] He told me about the structure of it that I needed to change,

[00:11:07] which is the best advice God there needs to do.

[00:11:09] But also it was, look, don't make your night weaker by putting someone on who runs a gig for your benefit.

[00:11:16] You went get better at gigs yourself.

[00:11:18] And kind of you'll do that just go out and do it.

[00:11:21] Don't try and take a short call and make your own night rubbish.

[00:11:24] You're in because all you'll do, you'll end up your night, I'll end up rubbish,

[00:11:28] and you'll stop doing it anyway.

[00:11:30] And therefore you won't get the stage time.

[00:11:32] So you're better off kind of going no put on brilliant nights.

[00:11:35] And it's when you first start that out, that is a hard thing when you've started to turn people away from spots

[00:11:43] who kind of especially when you've done their gig.

[00:11:47] All I can do is you're like, oh that's difficult thing to do.

[00:11:51] But yeah, that's advice and I'd say that to anyone.

[00:11:54] It's a good way of getting your own experience but I advise anyone from staying clear of that reason.

[00:12:00] It's like don't weaken your mind.

[00:12:01] Fine if they're great, I think they're going to be good.

[00:12:03] But if you're doubtful it's like don't do it.

[00:12:06] You're harming yourself in your own gig and it's not worth it.

[00:12:10] What for another 10 minutes in Coventry?

[00:12:12] You'll get that yourself fine.

[00:12:14] Don't worry about it.

[00:12:15] That's a great alternate title for this podcast and it's 10 minutes in Coventry.

[00:12:23] I mean we talked a lot of promoters and they always say this about,

[00:12:26] I mean you touched on that there about, you're hyper aware that if a night goes badly

[00:12:33] you've only got maybe another couple of nights to save it because people talk amongst themselves.

[00:12:39] And it's hyper now because of social media etc.

[00:12:43] So you constantly got to be on your guard against it.

[00:12:47] It's got to go as well as it possibly can.

[00:12:49] You can't afford two bad nights in a row, can you?

[00:12:52] No even though my gigs have been going years and I've got a lot of audience

[00:12:56] that's the thing I'm always worried about.

[00:12:58] I'm always concerned if kind of like, and thankfully it's, you know,

[00:13:02] I can count on one hand the kind of bad nights I've had in that time which is,

[00:13:06] I'm thankful for but I've had a headline of crash and I'm like

[00:13:12] Jesus Christ, I hope people come to the next gig.

[00:13:14] The next gig has to be good and you just panic.

[00:13:17] And even then when they've been coming to like,

[00:13:19] ah, I might give the last one a miss.

[00:13:20] I might give the next one a miss.

[00:13:21] And you just, sometimes it is the tolerance level is almost nonexistent.

[00:13:27] You've got, I've got hopefully a bit of credit in the bank now.

[00:13:30] People, well, it's a regular audience but it took a while,

[00:13:34] took a long while to build that up.

[00:13:38] So, yeah, it's the hardest thing because if you know,

[00:13:42] you spot your football team and I'm a middle school fan.

[00:13:44] If I stopped going to a game because they were shit one time,

[00:13:47] I've been to two games in my life.

[00:13:49] That's the way it happened.

[00:13:51] So yeah, we need to get more license.

[00:13:55] And if you saw a crap film at cinema,

[00:13:57] you don't never go to cinema again but with comedy,

[00:14:00] it seems to be that kind of like, right?

[00:14:02] Yeah, it's weird that isn't it?

[00:14:04] Because no other art form.

[00:14:06] I'll be so invested in it.

[00:14:08] Yeah, I am see the gigs every month and kind of.

[00:14:11] And because then runs a right new material each time,

[00:14:14] it's usually like what's gone wrong in guys life since the last gig is a good part of the show.

[00:14:19] But obviously you're going to embellish it and the amount of people who kind of like,

[00:14:23] oh wow, I didn't know, you know, that must be hard.

[00:14:26] Yeah, I made that up.

[00:14:28] That's truly so you laugh.

[00:14:31] It's like how have you not worked that out yet?

[00:14:34] And it's kind of like, that's why we're here.

[00:14:37] It's not terribly.

[00:14:39] Not therapy for me.

[00:14:40] I was trying to make you want to find me.

[00:14:43] That's hilarious.

[00:14:44] I can't believe you did that.

[00:14:45] I didn't get myself rocking with Donald's toilet.

[00:14:47] I just thought that would be a funny thing to tell stories about.

[00:14:51] But yeah, that's it.

[00:14:52] Then all of some things.

[00:14:53] So how long does it take to establish a night?

[00:14:56] Go on to a year.

[00:14:58] Yeah, and I worked hard on that.

[00:15:02] And that several months in that year where gigs were losing money.

[00:15:08] I was spending so many hours doing flying and post-ring that he worked out my hourly rates for the gigs.

[00:15:15] It was kind of like cool, you're only 50 p an hour.

[00:15:17] Kind of what you're putting in here.

[00:15:19] But I knew it was a good show.

[00:15:21] So as I'm right, just have to build it.

[00:15:23] It was building just, but just really slowly.

[00:15:26] But then after one year, it suddenly just took off.

[00:15:29] I went and went there, but the gobbling won.

[00:15:32] The crap and all one because of the people running it took about five, six months before people go,

[00:15:41] ah, right, there's something really good on there.

[00:15:43] Who we can keep?

[00:15:44] We can go to that.

[00:15:45] And the home bridge won't talk slightly longer because COVID broke it up just as it was just a momentum was building.

[00:15:52] But it's, but yeah, I'd say you have to give a gig six months.

[00:15:58] You have to do it.

[00:15:59] So if people try two or three and it's not working, it's like, yeah, this thing you can change.

[00:16:05] But you've got to give it at least six months, definitely.

[00:16:09] Well, that leads us onto the other question.

[00:16:11] Is there any top tips you've got for other aspiring promoters for things to do that would make a gig work?

[00:16:19] Yeah, I mean, I, the lineup is everything.

[00:16:22] And that's new things work.

[00:16:23] And I say, if you're going to start promoting.

[00:16:26] Be realistic with your ticket price cost compared to your lineup.

[00:16:31] Don't charge people 20 quid and put open spots on your loose right away.

[00:16:35] Have a realistic match.

[00:16:36] Look around what other people are charging and what kind of level acts they're putting on the show has to be brilliant.

[00:16:42] If the shows brilliant, it will make money, of course, but the show has to be brilliant.

[00:16:48] And if it's brilliant, then that's what it'll build up.

[00:16:51] But if you're entirely reasoning for doing it is to make money, I don't think that's you've got to do it either way around.

[00:16:58] So it's kind of like right, make the show, but it makes the show as best you can and be prepared to lose money.

[00:17:03] If you're not, don't do it.

[00:17:05] Don't do it because one, the stress of not making some money on a fairly will kill you anyway.

[00:17:10] And two, it's just kind of unless you're really lucky on your there.

[00:17:15] You're not going to happen straight away.

[00:17:17] You're kind of going, you might set up the first one like I did my first team in sober and then great because people wanted to say that Ruben Eckin viewed come along.

[00:17:25] And because it was good they came along the second one within the third one I lost and admittedly I'd like to think do no fault my own and it been emphasized the wrong thing.

[00:17:34] I lost hundreds of pounds and I was like, right, okay.

[00:17:37] And that taught me straight away was right, be prepared know how much you can live.

[00:17:42] That my dad just say with gambling guns the races don't go there thinking right.

[00:17:46] I'm going to say go then go right.

[00:17:48] I'm going to I'm prepared to lose this amount of money.

[00:17:50] What can I do? Hopefully you won't and you do things right.

[00:17:53] But if you don't have that in your head, then the stress levels will go through because you're thinking yeah.

[00:17:59] Yeah when people go to the race course they are generally pissed, aren't they?

[00:18:02] Yeah, one of your tips with don't promote if you're pissed.

[00:18:05] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[00:18:08] Yeah, don't promote when drunk or taking heroin that'd be my kind of yeah, I'm going to rise.

[00:18:14] Okay, you could probably get away with.

[00:18:16] Yeah, unfortunately I know plenty of promoters that break all the then rules.

[00:18:21] Don't name any names.

[00:18:24] No, I'm dying too because we probably won't interview them.

[00:18:28] You got any idea guy because this is a question we ask all of our votes as well.

[00:18:33] How would you characterize your typical audience?

[00:18:36] Have you got an idea of what, you know, what they look like at age class whatever.

[00:18:41] Well I start putting the kids on in a way that a guy wanted to go to.

[00:18:48] So for example there's a few people kind of like all right because I do cabaret seating.

[00:18:53] They're like oh no theatre seating works best but I'm like look.

[00:18:57] I'm married with kids.

[00:18:59] I don't often get to go out and see my friends.

[00:19:01] I want to be able to kind of socialize with them as well.

[00:19:03] That's kind of your host's for courses.

[00:19:05] I've got a good age range and the gender split of my gigs audience wise is about 50-50 because it's lots of couples.

[00:19:11] Friends getting together.

[00:19:13] Yeah, there's so many rainers but it's probably on average mid-40s late 30s early 40s.

[00:19:22] But then there's people in their 60s and people in their 20s.

[00:19:26] Yeah, people never traveling that far.

[00:19:29] And yeah either five years either side of 45 is probably 75% audience.

[00:19:39] How far would you add? I suppose most of them on social media but what's the sort of radius of the area you would go, you would promote around?

[00:19:49] I don't think there's anyone coming to my gigs who lives more than 10 minutes away from the venue.

[00:19:54] Right, I come.

[00:19:55] And I think and that's kind of the venues I like.

[00:20:00] I always make jokes on stage of kind of look keep supporting this gigs if you don't.

[00:20:05] There is fuck or else happening.

[00:20:07] Yeah, and I think that's the thing.

[00:20:12] If you put it on, if you put it on somewhere where there's not a great deal going on but you make it really good.

[00:20:18] Then they're kind of like cool, we can go to that.

[00:20:20] We don't have to go to see if the goal when I'll go on.

[00:20:23] We don't have to go to Liverpool or Manchester to go see something just of the same quality.

[00:20:29] Yeah, so it's like if you could walk to the gig and walk home is like yeah that's that's my other thing.

[00:20:36] I always think right, I want a couple to be able to have a night out quality comedy have a few drinks and spend no more than 50 quid.

[00:20:42] That's yeah for a couple of that's why I try to keep kind of pricing in in soon.

[00:20:48] So it's the Grappinol one in Grappinol village.

[00:20:52] It's yeah, Grappinol wanted to Grappinol X Serviceman's club.

[00:20:56] Oh, yeah, because I used to live there.

[00:20:59] Yeah, many, many years ago and the idea that not in the village in the bitness just over the next to the ship canal.

[00:21:06] Yeah, and the idea is a comedy club that seems weird even to me now.

[00:21:12] It's that's the surprising thing and I think thankfully that one had a goods.

[00:21:18] A secretary kind of there to help break the word on doing it but that's the surprise in the conversations with so many people who come along as kind of that.

[00:21:30] I had no idea something like this existed here or kind of I didn't think something like this could be this good kind of local.

[00:21:36] Yeah, yeah cool. There's you know the circuit is thriving with excellent comics and it's kind of you know it getting people past that I've not seen or heard them on TV.

[00:21:48] You do then you've kind of like cool we've cracked the code now you know that that exists that there's quality around so but again when we talk about weird outpoms.

[00:21:58] People would always go see a band on locally think that's fine but they need convincing.

[00:22:04] I've seen comedy locally although they think oh that's terrible and I don't think that happens with any other kind of forks.

[00:22:10] They've go see a band that goes see something else but with comedy it's almost like yeah we need to have heard of them before we go nice.

[00:22:19] That is weird as you say because with the live band yeah part of the joy of it is you're taking a puns on something you've never seen before.

[00:22:27] Well you were saying about your establishing time is getting the audience to trust you as the booker.

[00:22:32] Yeah, yeah that's the talking now now thankfully because I compared him each month and I go around and I chat to the audience and I've got I've made friends I've been to people's birthday parties have been invited weddings now from all years kind of people.

[00:22:47] I've stayed I sometimes stay over at some of the house if I'm kind of staying in the goblins one I've had people over at mine kids and it's kind of like there's a trust it's kind of like right okay I think at my gigs they know they're not just a ticket number and it's kind of and it's built up and so occasionally you know who you put on even the best comics that could have a bad night sometimes.

[00:23:09] If they have a yoghurt that's it but now people know and I'll go sorry that didn't quite work out and it's like it's all right so I you're not going to next the next after the great don't worry about it you're like few you've built up that kind of trust and you've built up the trust that people who will get to the gig and then go who's on tonight

[00:23:27] and if not bothered looking because it doesn't matter them because they can't like cool no we've been coming a few times we know the standard that's never dropped they'll be fine but I'll just use the ass their names at the start of the night so so that's what you get to that level.

[00:23:41] And that's why I said earlier on just make the night brilliant as you can put the best quality on that your budget allows and that's that's the key to the city.

[00:23:51] And what what sort of changes do you think you've seen in the time that you've been involved in comedy what what the major changes probably a title man.

[00:24:03] The radius been a change in and I think that's true society though of.

[00:24:08] Or it is in all I've got good ones and so even.

[00:24:12] I want to make it recently there's a table who come in there always really good was one act and they just work on them funny so I could see some of them got their forms out and I went over here and I went what you guys do anyone didn't like that guy I mean right you know

[00:24:29] But you know how the night works we're all invested in this to make it better and want you start this engaging with it but it was that thing of kind of like he's not making me laugh right now so cool I can go on my phone that's fine because it's.

[00:24:42] So what else kind of doing it and it's and that's rare at my gigs but I do see it if you think you can switch off from something straight away you then switch off

[00:24:54] completely and you're not but you're right so I can't make my do it for three minutes that haven't got you.

[00:24:59] But if you switch off complete from listening to it you're not going to get the next 12 minutes where if you do sit there and then you go oh god no that was funny then you're back in but once you get your phone out of doing it and disengage you're switched off the entire set and they've got no hope of getting you back.

[00:25:15] Yeah so yeah there's definitely a kind of I think slightly more of that kind of why isn't this this should all be about me it's kind of even in some people

[00:25:26] seating arrangements and I put oh Brad want to sit there I'm like yeah cool but they're already sat there and kind of they've been coming for four years but it's kind of so if you can come in regularly I'll let you pick your old table too.

[00:25:39] Oh right that's it's just kind of like look that's yeah you're paying 12 pounds you're seeing these acts it's kind of like that's you shouldn't be taken out of

[00:25:48] any way shape or form you're getting the good edgy stick.

[00:25:52] Do you even know do you get people who actually start picking up their tables and moving them to places they want to sit?

[00:25:58] Oh that's happened people have done that and I'm like look people are waiting and done that you haven't have you this is the same thing I worked on it

[00:26:07] oh I prefer to sit there I'm like you've just turned up and it's people who usually come for the first time because then they'll go

[00:26:13] yeah and I'm like I'm like would you do that anywhere else go into a restaurant and go all right like I said

[00:26:19] next to the windows I'll let you just say that I'll tell you what I was like so look the certain things you want to see

[00:26:25] message me next time you call and I will do my best and even if I can't get you in that time

[00:26:30] I then try and I like to rotate people around if I've got six front tables on the front but 10 lots of

[00:26:37] people want to sit there I'll go right I'll put you on this time but next time I'm going to move you slightly further back

[00:26:42] I'll try and make it fair try and make it around but yeah some people have done that kind of I'd rather sit here

[00:26:48] yeah we have been talking to quite a lot for a moment they saying the thing about bad behavior is

[00:26:54] getting you know it is getting worse you know that famous story about you should never ever get

[00:27:00] people on stage there's a gig in chat and Paul knows it it's a horrible gig and somebody was on

[00:27:06] stage and I can't generally come in everywhere but there's a woman heckling all the way through

[00:27:10] this trunk she was in her 50s and he said well if you think you can do any better you come up here

[00:27:15] and have a go could hard on the state she comes up walks to the microphone pulls up her top she's

[00:27:21] got no bra on just flashes it hits right and from the back of the thing a voice goes oh mom

[00:27:35] nobody was with the way he said it she's obviously done this sort of thing before

[00:27:39] so yeah you know the bouts has came to God off stage and they're both bundled out of any but

[00:27:44] the person that was there that told me like something the MCs that it was basically the gig was

[00:27:49] on playable after that because they just seen something that was completely out of the norm

[00:27:53] and they're kind of getting them back yeah yeah that's I remember I drove for Jason Cook for a

[00:27:59] little while and he was MC in the gig and he was a lady who was just heckling and he was like look

[00:28:06] you're clearly not going to leave now and he put it down a few times in the audience laughing

[00:28:10] and they said the audience right I can carry all my set or I can just rip the piss out this woman

[00:28:15] for the next 20 minutes and they're like yeah take her apart and he ripped the piss out of her

[00:28:19] everyone was laughing and her friend came up afterwards to Jason and went I think the way you talk

[00:28:24] to my friend was dreadful and he was like I think the way your friend fucking behaved is dreadful

[00:28:29] and it's just you know that I tell him what I'm thinking yeah she was just like what

[00:28:35] she deserved it oh god

[00:28:39] so how do you see things going not just with live comedy but with comedy in general

[00:28:44] if you've got any predictions about how you think it's gonna go

[00:28:48] it's I mean it and I think when you're sorry to us on it's by he might be kind of like how hot water

[00:28:54] are kind of doing things I think there's gonna be more of that and I think you're gonna

[00:29:01] I don't I think you can have less and less of a traditional 30 minute headline in sports

[00:29:06] because I see so much content getting put out it's smaller and around what people being able to do

[00:29:12] that I can see more people doing kind of in a city center say four gigs a night but literally

[00:29:20] doing 10 15 minutes sets and I kind of hope I'm wrong on that because I love

[00:29:25] they've been being able to invest in a closing act doing 30 minutes seeing where it goes

[00:29:30] because you can take it with more places doing that and you can build up something more but yeah

[00:29:34] I think because of everything is getting shorter and shorter and shorter I mean

[00:29:38] cricket's gone from test match to one day to 2020 to the 100s or to even less deliveries soon

[00:29:43] you'll just be like right one delivery that's it we're gonna go ahead

[00:29:46] do you know comics like with the content getting put out on my it seems to get

[00:29:51] shorter and shorter and I think to myself will that transcend to clubs of getting short and

[00:29:57] short sets I hope it doesn't but I could conceive we see it happening um but yeah do you

[00:30:03] do you think I don't think anything can have a really replace the live comedic experience though

[00:30:09] can it can't be replicates no no and that's that's the beauty of it it's it's bizarrely undervalued

[00:30:16] yet it's you say to anyone who's been to a brilliant comedy night because this is what I always

[00:30:21] put on my tagline what better than laughing what better than laughing drinking with your friends

[00:30:27] I just big totally lost in the moment I love going to see live bands and the music that's amazing

[00:30:32] but when you're just uncontrollably laughing just filming the joy it's the best so it's kind of

[00:30:38] I'm hoping to go that's it people still keep investing in it yeah but I think you're you're

[00:30:43] you're all you're thinking about shorter shows I mean they already happens in America where the

[00:30:46] shows are much shorter than the ones in the UK uh I remember going to New York and telling them

[00:30:53] how long we had and how much we were getting paid for it and they were just going I can't believe

[00:30:57] it I really they just found it really short 30 minutes was that was a dream for that I've been to

[00:31:04] New York and I went to a couple of comedy clubs the same reason and I was like class I just watched

[00:31:07] eight acts do kind of eight minutes yeah exactly the world was living around New York and doing that

[00:31:13] and I was like god you can't really get into a story here no and it's really and ridiculous to drink

[00:31:19] minimum yes yes yes oh there's no intervals and once you've seen I just say I went to L.A.

[00:31:26] to the comic strip and I must have seen 15 acts because being British I wanted to get me more

[00:31:31] this worth my American friends wants to stay for three drinks and go and I know yeah yeah and by

[00:31:37] I'm telling you after you've seen 10 acts go so I'm half tuition heavy yeah exactly it's like oh god

[00:31:44] the same thing exactly you're only just getting started and then you're off it's like no give

[00:31:49] yourself time to kind of take your places where you can't go in eight minutes that's what you want so

[00:31:53] yeah it's that kind of thing that I think that might happen obviously but I hope to go do

[00:31:57] yeah I mean I'm trying to practice or get the idea of just just the punch lines no setups

[00:32:02] just

[00:32:05] just don't even know what to say you get them printed out just hand them out of the audience

[00:32:09] and then go they can make up their own setup I think the problem comedy has got is that good comics

[00:32:18] make it look really easy so then other people think you can just do this in any scenario can't

[00:32:23] you yeah if there's any comics that want to get on in your kicks have you got any top tips for

[00:32:28] how they should approach you yeah I mean generally speaking to make sure the quality is good

[00:32:33] I try and book acts I've seen so that's always kind of easy but outside of that then you can have

[00:32:38] it's send send a link with a good length video not just two or three minutes no use to anyone

[00:32:47] and also if you're putting on recommendations from people put on recommendations from other

[00:32:52] promoters other acts mean nothing to us promoters I want to hear someone who's paid their money

[00:32:58] for you to play to say yeah that's the key so when these people say oh yeah you're even like Jason

[00:33:06] Manfred till I was brilliant who Jason Manfred can say all he wants but did he give you any money

[00:33:10] to play no he didn't right which guess he doesn't be prepared with your brilliant or not

[00:33:17] yeah yeah I'll take a recommending recommendation of Rob Riley more than I will Eddie is art

[00:33:23] even though one is a hero and don't you don't need to bullshit we all promote his talk

[00:33:29] it's literally he's like I don't have you if they go for a job in him you I tell people I've got a

[00:33:33] first degree in politics and I haven't you know I got you know a second class group they'll never check

[00:33:39] but promote which we'll check it's costing us money that's that's good it's interesting because

[00:33:43] we get such different varied answers from promoters because one or two promoters said no I don't

[00:33:49] want a long clip I just want a short yeah yeah it's really well people vary don't stop in there

[00:33:57] because sometimes I get loads and I'm not going to reply for more because I don't want that admin

[00:34:00] in my life but just because of not reply doesn't mean you shouldn't not do then in the future just keep

[00:34:05] sending away me now you know every few months just think to yourself what is it reasonable amount of time

[00:34:09] of regularity to message and just do that and please don't stand outside your house yes

[00:34:15] on a Sunday morning that's not going to get the key any advice to any comic is concentrate on

[00:34:20] your material concentrate on being brilliant and you'll work out all the other stuff no worries

[00:34:24] yeah that's it that's a good that's a good place to end I think Paul's yeah something so all right

[00:34:29] well all I'm gonna do is thank guy for doing the interview that's yeah thanks guys that's great

[00:34:35] really good genuine pleasure I really enjoyed that yeah it's really interesting to get the other

[00:34:42] you know a view from the other side does it work it's not the other side we're all the same side

[00:34:48] we are all the same side yeah

[00:34:51] it's not comedy eats itself too often but we are all on the same side yes and that's that's

[00:34:57] where we should stop right there

[00:35:19] this show is part of pedomity the podcast comedy network

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