Yesterday, I finished my work-in-progress run at
the Rusty Bike as part of the Exeter Ignite Festival - giving me a chance to
air the show, get more comfortable with it and try a few bits and bobs. I'm not
going to go into details but the show got progressively better each night with
me cocking up less each night too. It was a great experience and I'm far calmer
about the whole process as a result. On the various nights I think I managed to get at least a decent grasp of what worked [most of it] and what didn't [a few bits]. I had some new ad-libs, which are soon to be subsumed into the script and was able to play with the delivery styles of direct address - whether I would singe out audience members at different points. Plus, I had the microphone for the first time - rather than being a man talking into an empty microphone stand, which could have looked a bit silly.
I had some useful feedback from friends, audience members and staff at the venue [the dream team of Rob and Tiny] and a review from the incredibly kind Roger Jarman writing for Wildfire, the Ignite Festival's daily round-up paper. Highlights of the review were:
and
Over the next few days I'll be sifting through the comments myself and playing with the show a little more pre-Northcott. Plus, I may get my legs out more as the weather is lovely in Exeter and Roger seemed to like them. PS: Saw James Tapp's James Tries To Make His Life Slightly Better today too. It was excellent. Well done Tapp. PPS: I made a new image too - see above. |