BYO Comedy Capers

Well, the working week ended with me actually working in the office until midnight Friday night which saw me get home at 1:45am... and I mean work, not work PLUS drinks on a Friday night... spent the evening cursing my PC, trying to build a website for Monday launch and wishing I was at home watching Friday Night Football.

Needless to say my Saturday was nerfed on account of extreme tiredness.

But we had plans for Saturday night in the shape of tickets to see my mate Tommy play at the Comedy Store alongside Bruce Griffiths as part of the Sydney "Cracker" Comedy Festival and after a few hours snoozing I was right to go!  The funny thing was was that Tommy rang me and needed a lift to the gig, so it was kinda funny that I was going to see a show yet had to bring "the entertainment"... sort of a BYO comedy night I guess :-).  Also it dawned on me that we were going to see some comedy on April Fools Day... kinda ironic.

Having never been to the Comedy Store before, I was surprised that the place was a very nice, classy sort of venue with small tables and candle lights on each and table service... I was expecting the typical stage / floor / rowdy bar type atmosphere...  very nice.

Bruce Griffiths opened the show and he is as Tommy called him a "fourth wall" comedian.  Dead pan, 10 second one line / two line punchy jokes like a metronome.  Line - Laugh - Line - Laugh etc.  Sort of like an Elliot Goblett / Stevie Wright sort of act.... but he did do some great one liners, but 30mins of it was a bit long.

Tommy was up next and he was a bit worried on the drive in as the show was being taped for release to agents overseas - mainly US - and hence he needed to use his jokes about things that are more generic things rather than Aussie centric stuff.

And it worked very well... and it also helped that he changed the pace after the Bruce Griffiths set in that Tommy is more of a conversationalist (is that a word?) than a one liner guy and he worked the crowd really well.  The other thing was too that since the Comedy Store is a comedy club and not a pub, heckling was non existant.  Usually, you get some drunk up the back calling out, but this was a much smoother show atmosphere wise - which is good as i think heckling is down and out rude.

Tommy's routine itself was excellent and was three quarters new stuff I hadn't heard before and he also improvised on stuff that had happened to him at home that day (a bird died on his lawn and WIRES was called) and he went on a bit of a tangent, but it was good stuff and the audience lapped it up.

Afterwards, Niki, Tommy & I went for dinner in the "Entertainment Quarter" which is what Fox Studios is now called and enjoyed pasta and pizza... now I am home, its only 11:30pm (well it would be tomorrow when Daylight Savings Time stops) and have henced gained an hour. Add in the fact I had a "nanna nap" this afternoon and I am wide awake... mmm.

PS - Tommy is playing at the Melbourne Comedy Festival later this month... your Melbournites better support him or else!  He also has a spot on the Gala Opening which will be screened on Channel 10 at some stage soon...