LAST NIGHT saw the final week for the hopefuls on Theo Theobald’s Comedy Skool at Bromsgrove’s Artrix.
Leon Hunt, Craig Dixon, Aaron Smith and The Standard’s Tristan Harris had their final session to polish their sets in front of their piers ready for Saturday’s show. Here’s Tristan’s take on how the final workshop went.
WE WERE introduced to Trevor Oakes who will be joining us on the night before going through what we had each managed to do in the last week.
As ever it varied from some rehearsing what they had written for their final sets to others who had completely changed their scripts and taken a different approach.
Personally I had written a new opening as I felt the one I had was not strong enough. Walking out on Saturday will be the most nerve-wracking thing I have ever done in my life so I need to have confidence in that first address. Like all comedians I will be relying on a good start to calm the nerves and settle myself and the audience down. Fingers crossed for a laugh or two after the opener.
I also dropped one of the anecdotes as it had been discussed previously that it had been ‘a bit dark’ and did not fit in with the rest. That meant I could focus more on the material I believed in and spend more time on ensuring of a good delivery.
One of the other members came with guitar in hand and has now bravely added a song in his set, while another who last week was too reliant on the script had simplified his material and had rehearsed for hours on end. His performance went well.
Another member had gone down to a comedy night in the Black Country on Thursday and, after going there previously just to watch, he had got up and performed his set to see how it would go down. That was a very brave move as it could be a make or break moment. On the one hand, plenty of laughs would fill him with confidence but if it did not go as well as he expected, that could be a blow as he prepared for the Artrix show.
He said it went okay but there were lines he used on the night where he did not expect to get laughs but did and vice versa.
We then each performed our ten-minute sets while Theo scribbled away furiously some notes and pointers before the one-to-one sessions.
I felt mine went well and it did get a few laughs which was encouraging as everyone in the group had heard it at least three times (and I have of course heard those stories a lot more).
Some parts were muddled and again I was told I needed to slow down the delivery to convey the comedy clearer and avoid a common pitfall – swallowing the lines I had taken so long to create, edit and polish. When you are up there it does not feel like you are speaking that quickly but, as I mentioned last week, the lines have to be delivered in a measured way and in one that feels a lot slower to everyday conversation in the pub or office. Pauses that would feel uncomfortable in real life are perfect in comedy to ensure the right impact.
It left me with days to master that. One thing’s for sure, the material is in my head, I’ve just got to make sure that, come tomorrow, I get it out in the right order and at the right pace.
Theo also mentioned putting the microphone back in the stand just before the final lines are delivered. It sounds obvious when you think about it but it can be that all important difference between a clumsy finish and smoothly and successfully bringing down the curtain on your set.
The line-up for the show was finalised and all will be revealed in the Artrix Studio at 7.30pm on Saturday, October 28.
Tickets for the Comedy Skool Show are £8 (£7 for over 60s and students). They are available at http://www.artrix.co.uk/whats-on/all-shows/comedy-skool-show or by calling 01527 577330.
