Maureen Younger - You Should've Been Here Last Week

[00:00:00] You can count the punctures on one hand

[00:00:08] But on sweet they were completely wrapped

[00:00:12] They were filled up to the guddles

[00:00:14] They were chewing down the street

[00:00:16] They said you should have been your last week

[00:00:19] I swear, you should have been your last week

[00:00:23] Oh yeah, you should and at one point Berlin and Coventry Leicester, that was the empire, did last long. Well, that's funny women as well, funny women was on. Hazel Keefe started laughing cows in Manchester.

[00:01:40] And then I started running the London one

[00:01:41] and made it a success.

[00:01:43] And then I moved to, I did a Birmingham gig

[00:01:45] which became more successful.

[00:01:47] And they also did Leicester and Coventry at one point self-deprecating, which British people are. I'm self-deprecating my self, a lot British people are. If you're too self-deprecating Germany, nobody laughs, they just come up to you afterwards and go, I think you need to talk to somebody about this. And you're hyped. No, no, they're just jokes. I lived in Austria, so I've got, Austrian sense of humor is very different to German sense of humor. And Austrians have a great sense of humor.

[00:03:01] So I, there was once an American copy whoastered here. It's true. You know, this is true about the German set. I had an uncle called

[00:04:23] here, my auntie married a German guy. And he were, it's all changed though, because when I started doing all female comedy nights and you two can back me up, you'd never get more than one female act on the bill. And you'd also never get a female act and a acts of color on the bill, because you didn't want two specialty acts on at the same time.

[00:05:40] That was quotes there, air quotes.

[00:05:43] And so you'd never, you'd never actually,

[00:05:46] you'd never gig And for female comics, it's a good time to catch up

[00:07:00] because to be honest, in the old back in the day,

[00:07:01] that was the only time to see another female comic.

[00:07:04] I mean, for female comics, I'd never seen

[00:07:06] because I was never on the same bed with her. It's just astronomical. Alternatively, if they don't like you, you are aware of this. They don't tend to heckle. What they will do is they'll just tend to ignore you. They'll get on their phone, they'll go up to the bar, they just won't pay attention. I mean, I did the gig work. I mean, normally I do really well, but I did the gig once where I did not do well.

[00:08:21] I would say the audience despised me, but that isn't a strong enough verb. cruelest and funniest thing I've ever heard said to be after slaves. You're adorable. We just ate you. Go on, go on. I mean, do you find, I mean, because you, what's the difference with your promoter hat on? I mean, how difficult was it to promote? You know what comics are like? We're very flaky. Did you find it to be a pain? Sometimes? I tell you, I think it's really good,

[00:09:42] I've been vaunted and disappointed. It's something good, I've been wanting to promote.

[00:09:45] I think you two guys have done it. And then I got a text from going, oh, I fell asleep at seven. Sorry, Mr. G. That's a great one. What's the best, is that the best excuse you've ever had? What to those? Oh, somebody, I was doing a pride event. So like out of London. So, you

[00:11:01] know, if somebody messaged you around in London, there's comics everywhere. But you know, book is turn up. You look at brownie points from turning up to the gig, do you? I think it's more than half the battle. I think one of the most important things is just get there. Luckily I got Barbara and I used to take over who was a much better

[00:12:21] choice. But I was like, I'm talking about. They would go on stage, they would die and they go, well, I didn't work. And you're thinking? Yeah. You know, so I think with promotion, I kind of knew my audience and I was very lucky because my audience was very supportive. And it, because it was a gap in the market, it, it kind of sold itself in a way for quite few years.

[00:13:40] But it was a quite interesting watching experience acts when they're faced with like an audience there, which is a middle-aged black audience, that I was absolutely fine. So I remember doing one of them, it's in Derby, Derby County Football Ground. All black audience, all black acts, but one of the acts is the first time he's done it. And he was panicking like, what was pan do it, he doesn't do comedy anymore, but he went on. And these were old-school caribbeans. And he went on and the first joke he did was about shagging it. Oh, it was anal sex. Me and Jason, passing with the back goes. No. No, no, no, no. And then he talked about shagging his mother, me and Jason, they're like, no, no, no, no, no, no.

[00:16:20] And then he talked about the size of his penis.

[00:16:23] And then this guy got up and went,

[00:16:24] you need to judge your audience and sat back down again.

[00:16:26] And he came off and went, why are you doing this for two? But there were groups and forums that were really supporting me because they wanted that night to succeed. So that was very lucky for me. Yeah, that's good. But you actually targeted it in a sense. Yeah, you see it'd be different now because people don't really do those websites and those forums now, do they?

[00:17:40] It's all social media, but this is before social media.

[00:17:42] So that really, really helped me.

[00:17:43] I had lesbian websites really positively supporting it. white pencil I was 18 and then I lived abroad a lot so I'm kind of used to being the odd one out if that makes sense. Yeah. And for black gigs like the first time I did one was for upfront comedy for John Simmitt, great gigs if you ever get to the movie. We're going to try and get John on to do this. Yeah he's so good and it's with Felix Dexter

[00:19:01] who sadly died he was a lovely comic and I remember asking a black journalist to spend about that. And he said, it's because you're comfortable, like you don't give a shit. And that's because that is how I, obviously if you drop me in South Central LA,

[00:20:21] I would give a shit.

[00:20:22] But this is so would Paul.

[00:20:23] You're the main, but like you know it.

[00:20:26] I'm actually doing the black circuits and just said the word black you could feel people tense up. I think you just committed a hate crime. Oh my god I think she said the word black and you'll be like oh for god's sake. So but I think sometimes you probably agree with me. Sometimes you throw a gig because you invent,

[00:21:41] you've decided that they're not going to like you. And I get to a gig type of gig that I used to play for 20 or 20 years, now I'm done with doing this now. Do I have to? The kind of club where if you ask to work, do you use the good microphone? They go, no, the good microphones. Save for special occasions. Oh, that's for Bingo. Bingo is a good one.

[00:23:03] I think it's a good time for us to talk about. And so I think men, men, predators like that, avoid women like me like the plague, you know mean, I remember when I was in an open spot, I was on with again, the all men and they started talking about when they get an erection in the first thing in the morning. And obviously, I did not feel comfortable in that conversation. But I just ignored

[00:24:21] it. I mean, you know, you get things like, you know, I always

[00:24:25] find the biggest supporters of male comics. I mean, I remember when I opened spots in front of the, the big gig and the MC afterwards,

[00:25:42] and I only found out when I looked at the DVD,

[00:25:44] went fucked her.

[00:25:46] I mean, obviously, hadn't, I basically walked up to him in the interval frog much to him outside and so you talk about me like that again on stage I'm gonna punch you No, so I've got a clock you want huh and he went back on stage introduced me as the act who threatened a clock in one You know but all female comics can tell you of that kind of

[00:27:03] Do you think there's less of it now I

[00:27:07] Would think so I mean I think I'm hard happy, but if people piss me off, my North London, I went to a rough school in North London, that young girl turns up.

[00:28:22] Well, yeah, I felt sorry for the person you were taking on because you were winning by a long shot.

[00:29:28] offering you the gig and giving you the the gig details. Yes, back to follow the most overused three words in the English language apart from I love you. And often

[00:29:34] not true either. Well no, I mean it is my favourite out of the three choices of

[00:29:41] yeah I mean cash on a night. Yeah, I'm a enforceable criminal gang. Oh, yeah, my dad's in one of them. Yeah It's kill free people You know the thing about cash on the night though that to bring free bats that thing because there is there is a thing on the Circuit isn't it back in the day? I'm used to get cash is that certain people didn't mind being paid before they went on

[00:32:07] 200 drunken squadies saying that to you. I ended up doing it. And even then, as I saw the money in my pocket bulging out of my trousers on the floor of the stage,

[00:32:13] bought to myself, that's the last time I take the money before the gig.

[00:32:17] Oh, okay. I once started the gig go so badly. I won't tell you the area of the country.

[00:32:22] It was, but it went really work at the tunnel and not decree, run by a delayed

[00:33:42] great Malcolm Hardy, he deliberately used to want light, you're like, oh god. There was a promoter who has now disappeared but he actually gave me free bouncing checks in a row and I was just saying to him, well, one, I can't believe your pain with check. I mean, it is such an old-fashioned

[00:35:00] way. There's a part of me that's proud that related, R.P. There are the odd occasions, especially in corporates. If you don't do the time, you don't get the money or they try not to pay the money.

[00:36:22] Even if it's going absolutely horrendously, you have to stay on. Just watch,

[00:37:27] comment underneath and ask us any questions or just to tell us your stories or even suggest promoters that we could talk to and there's another one. Oh yes, ring the bell. I finally

[00:37:32] remembered. Ring the bell for notifications for when the next YouTube one's going to go up.

[00:37:39] We'll see you on the next one, which will be in the fortnight's time and have a good time