Episode 13: Theme Tune

Two months after the show, here's a follow-up episode, in which you can hear a recording of a conference paper I gave at the University of Kent on 14 January.

An audio recording of the second half of my show, performed at the Gulbenkian, Canterbury on 6th December 2015. For the first half, see the previous episode of this podcast. A video of the show should be posted online some time in January, so you may want to wait for that instead.

An audio recording of the first half of my show, performed at the Gulbenkian, Canterbury on 6th December 2015. The second half will follow in the next episode. A video of the show should be posted online some time in January, so you may want to wait for that instead.

So, the show happened. This episode was recorded immediately before the show started, at the interval and two days afterwards. So now you can find out how it all went. How many people came to see it? Did they enjoy it? And at the end of it all, did I think the months of work that had gone into it were worth it?

The final episode before I perform the show itself, this features various bits of audio from the few days building up to the final event. There's a tiny snatch of rehearsal footage, plus bits of reflection recorded at various times, and even snatches from an appearance on BBC Radio Kent talking to Lembit Opik. It's a right old sound collage.

Here I talk about the poster for the show. In the process, I touch on such issues as visual design, digital vs. analogue, hand-drawn lettering vs. chunky sans serif fonts, portrait vs. landscape, and the general concept of visual design in stand-up comedy. In the course of all this, there's a passing mention of Ross Noble.

Here I talk about - and play - the song that will close the show. It's a serious song rather than a comedy number, and as such it's pretty much the only bit of actual material that I'm happy to give away here before I perform the show.

Here I talk about the emotional effects of struggling to put together a new full-length stand-up show. And I refer to a bit of academic research published nearly 40 years ago, featuring an interview with a successful comedy writer who describes pretty much exactly what I'm going through right now.

I've recorded a theme tune for my upcoming stand-up show BREAK A LEG (at the Gulbenkian, Canterbury on 6th December). In this episode, I explain why I've recorded a theme tune, and why I think it's going to make an important contribution to the start of the show. AND I PLAY YOU THE ACTUAL FREAKIN' THEME TUNE! Check it out, it rocks!

I finally get down to it and spend an entire day rehearsing the show. But what are the pros and cons of rehearsing stand-up comedy? Have a listen, and I'll tell you my thoughts on the subject. Meanwhile, it's less than three weeks until I perform my show. Scary!