A Triumvirate
Day one of February saw us back to running the 3 gigs on the same night. I was at The Duke of Wellington in Stanwick, Mike at the Picturedrome Northampton and friend of the Crate Ryan Mold looking after The Rivermill in St Neots. I had roped a couple of friends in to give me a hand over at the Duke, it was another sold out show and the line ups were great at all the venues, even if we do say so ourselves…
Pulling double duty was the exceptional Darren Harriott and Patrick Monahan. I remember seeing Patrick live for the first time in Edinburgh many years ago, like the Duracell battery, full of energy and seems to go on longer than expected. But there aren’t many people that can light up a room like Pat, just one of the nicest guys on the circuit and a really funny one to boot.
This night also involved a very interesting conversation in the car on the way back about the ever evolving comedy scene, is it better to have TV credits from appearing on comedy panel shows or having a million TikTok followers…? Answers on a postcard.
Pictured below: Darren Harriott
More Acts For The Weekender
This one is for Sunday 21st July, confirmation of the brilliant Dane Baptiste. Dane was due to perform at last years weekender, unfortunately it clashed with some TV work. It’s been a while since we saw Dane, so we’re looking forward to seeing the new show. (Fingers crossed those lucrative TV offers don’t come a knocking again, solely from a selfish perspective :D)... 3 IN 22 to GO….
Bradlaugh 8.02.2024
February at the Bradlaugh was another sell out, packed in like sardines to see Dan Tiernan, Jack Skipper, Lindsey Santoro and Tom Toal. The weather was absolutely dreadful, but the atmosphere was euphoric. What more can I say? If you weren’t there, you missed a great one!
With that being said, Dan Tiernan has been booked for our Weekender… 4 IN, 21 TO GO
On the Saturday after this show it would be Mike’s Birthday. Iain happened to say in jest we should ask Tom to do a shoutout so everyone can sing Mike a happy birthday, but I thought it wouldn’t be right without a cake. So I ended up hounding Trav who runs the Bradlaugh for some form of cake and candles, to which he panicked and gave me one of his choux buns he’d just bought from the shop. I asked Tom to get Mike on stage at the end of the show, then I surreptitiously appeared from behind the bar with a plate with 2 tea lights on and the newly claimed choux bun. Reaction video below…
Flashback - September 8th 2022
This date might instantly spring into minds as the day the Queen sadly passed away. It was a strange day, and we had a gig booked in at The Charles Bradlaugh. I remember Mike messaging me earlier that day to say news had broke, the Queen had gone into hospital and it didn’t look good. I know there were a lot organisations treating this situation differently. Some cancelled their plans, some carried on as usual. It was difficult to know what to do, should we cancel and attempt to contact everyone that had bought tickets and apologise to the acts. Or do we go ahead and see whether people actually turn up. Comedy is something that is supposed to bring people together, create an escape and make people laugh but this was an unprecedented situation. In the end we opted to go ahead as planned, it was only when we got to the Bradlaugh to set up that we heard confirmation. I remember me and Mike just looking at each other saying well what should we do? We genuinely wasn’t sure whether people would show up, it was a very unusual situation to be in, not just for us but the whole country. We opened the doors at the usual time and just went with it, worse case scenario the acts turn up and we have some form of soirée.
What ended up happening was a lot of people turned up for the gig. Tom Toal who was hosting this particular night and made one thing clear, we couldn’t not acknowledge the situation, that could potentially make the night feel even weirder. Tom hit the stage that evening with “Welcome to Comedy Crate, it’s what she would have wanted.” That kicked the gig right into gear, those who turned up that night chose to escape, laugh and relax in the company of like minded folk. It was a great night of live entertainment, a reminder of why stand up comedy exists. Also, we had Nick Helm headlining, I saw him observe the room and write a whole new set within an hour, went on stage, tore it up and leave. Got to love Nick Helm.
VandB 13.02.2024
Back to V and B, with a really fun line up including Andrew Bird, Jules O’Brian, David Tsonos and Pete Teckman. It was a lovely full room. Occasionally on these nights I’ll take a break as Pete covers all the tech and runs the night with Mike. However I thought I could squeeze in some more practice with the camera in a different venue. Plus, there are times where you don’t see an act for a little while, and although you know they are brilliant, every time you see them you have this weird reminder of just how brilliant they are. Birdy is one of those acts.
Have to credit Stu here, I went through some photos he took at V and B last time we were there. Saw this angle through the door and thought I’d give it a go. Pictured below: Andrew Bird
More Weekender acts…?
I know a few people who were really keen to get this guy to Northampton, it’s John Robertson! Improv overlord Mr John Robertson NOT TO BE MISSED says the Guardian, tests his new interactive stand-up show with you! Bring the things you love and the things you hate to this immersive party from the creator of the legendary show The Dark Room. Sunday 21st July! 5 IN, 20 TO GO…
Good News, Bad News
Do you want the good news or the bad news first? I’ll assume you went with bad.
Unfortunately the staple act of our Weekender events, Abandoman will not be joining us this year. I know! First time since we started doing them. Rob intends to have a year off going to the Edinburgh Fringe and wants to give the preview slot to an act that is going to need it. Got to respect him for that.
With that being said, we all love seeing Abandoman so we’ve booked him in to headline the Bradlaugh in October. Tickets on sale soon.
Another Weekender Act
It’s been a good few years since we worked with this act, since then she has appeared on Live at the Apollo, Mock the Week, Late Night Mash, QI, House of Games and even appeared in the 2020 movie The Courier with Benedict Cumberbatch… That’s right, it’s Olga Koch, Saturday 20th July. 6 IN, 19 TO GO
Way Station Thrapston
New venue, first collaboration with Ian Hayes at Hats Funny Comedy. We managed to get a decent crowd in for a Sunday night in Thrapston and it was a good atmosphere. It’s an interesting venue, sort of a warehouse space attached to a brewery. We’ll be back for more at this venue that’s for sure.
Pictured below: Eddy Brimson. Quick shout out and congratulations to Eddy and Lou Conran who got married the following weekend! Two amazing acts to work with and genuinely lovely people.
Weekender Act Anyone?
For all you Tik Tokers out there, you might be familiar with this guy. Someone who has gained an impressive following on social media, with over 14 million likes on TikTok alone and 270,000 followers on Instagram (likely even more at this stage). From the mobile screens to the live scene, it’s Jack Skipper. We’ve seen Jack a few times now and he continues to get better and better, this will be his debut show at the Edinburgh Fringe this year. So come and check it out. This is your headline act at The Lamplighter for Saturday 20th July. 7 IN, 18 TO GO….
Vittorio
22nd February we were lucky enough to host the Northampton date of Vittorio Angelone’s tour show. It was packed! Another act who has amassed an impressive online following and is managing to sell a succesful tour off the back of it. This night involved a bit more behind the scenes effort then usual, the primary reason is Tom Grennan’s drummer Adam Gammage was doing a drum clinic during the day and after it finished we would need to turn the room around. It was a real team effort, the staff at the Bradlaugh were moving furniture around at top speed, we hired Geoff the sound technician to provide a professional touch to proceedings, myself and Mike tried to co-ordinate all the moving parts whilst looking after the acts and liaising with the tour manager to make the night go smoothly. It was one of those nights just as you were catching breath it was time to open the doors and get the night underway.
Overall, it was a great atmosphere and an enjoyable show. Considering we had a tech on hand, I technically had one less thing to worry about, which would have been a perfect opportunity to focus on taking some photos. Unfortunately this muppet forgot to put the SD card back in the camera aaahhhhh!!! Amateur move.
BBC New Comedy Awards / Weekender Announcement
Last year I was catching up with the Final of the BBC New Comedy Awards 2023. It’s a interesting watch, especially to see which acts will be breaking through onto the circuit. The first ever award went to Julian Barrett in 1995, beating the likes of Lee Mack and Daniel Kitson who were also in this final. That would have been one to watch! Other winners have included the likes of Northamptons own Alan Carr, Paul Foot (Who had Peter Kay in his final), Rhod Gilbert, Angela Barnes and more recently Anna Thomas, Janine Harouni and Dan Tiernan. A long list of incredible comics.
I’ve always been more of a fan of the alternative comedy scene and I think this has only increased since working in comedy because you enjoy seeing something a little different. I think growing up watching the likes of Monty Python, The Young Ones, Blackadder has moulded my sense of humour in some way. But I digress, basically when watching the BBC New Comedy Awards Final, there was a particular act that really caught my attention and actually went on to being crowned the winner for 2023. His name is Joe Kent-Walters, playing a character called Frankie Monroe, and we just had to book him for our Weekender on Saturday 20th July. 8 IN, 17 TO GO…
New Act & New Material
First show back at Saints Coffee for this year. I must admit, more often than not we don’t make a lot of money on these nights, if any, same goes for a lot of the acts. But they are a stand up smorgasbord. They are an opportunity for acts to try out new stuff, a chance for us to see new acts, and the audience get a cheap night out watching grassroots comedy. It often ends up being a lot of fun, we’ve had many great acts want to come back to Northampton to try out some new material.
The other thing that is so great to see, is how many familiar faces come along to these nights. It’s the regulars that remind you that you’ve built a little community of comedy lovers and let’s be frank, without them this hobby wouldn’t have gone on for this long.
Pictured below: Paul Mutagejja
A Personal Favourite
I spoke about this act on our Year of 2023 blog. A personal favourite, someone who I most certainly would have seen if I was going up to Edinburgh this year. So if you can’t get to Edinburgh, bring the Fringe closer to home. July 20th in the Black Prince, we’ll be joined by the amazing Jordan Brookes. 9 IN, 16 TO GO…
Cheyne Walk Club
An interesting night that involved a professional golfer, a vicar and someone who purports to 'paint flagpoles'. All four acts were on excellent form, Paul Revill, Ross Smith, Karen Bayley and Nick Page. Karen certainly proved her knowledge on West Brom as well.
Weeeeeeeeeekender
Someone who learned the art of stand up comedy in Japan whilst being over there as an exchange student. This comic went on to headline the Tokyo Comedy Store. You may have seen her on Live at the Apollo more recently, it’s the brilliant Spring Day. 10 IN, 15 TO GO….
February Completed
Woah, a surprisingly busy February in comparison to previous years. Plenty of cool stuff in the pipeline. I’ve managed another months worth of whatever this is…
If you’ve made it this far down and eagerly eyeing the next Weekender announcement, well you’ve had your fair share, come back next month.