Just after my exams finished in May, I did an internship at the Hay Literary Festival (it's an amazing event, go here and learn all about it, you won't regret it). As well as getting to see/look after some awe-inspiring people (including Stephen Fry, Lynn Barber, David Mitchell (not the comedian, the one who wrote Cloud Atlas), Lucy Mangan, A.C. Grayling, Jacqueline Wilson (my 10-year old self died of excitement on that day)) I also got the opportunity to see a lot of comedians. Much as I enjoyed seeing Marcus Brigstocke, Ed Byrne, Ross Noble (who I didn't think I liked but I actually did) and Shappi Khorsandi, my absolute comedic highlight was finally getting to see Tim Minchin. I wrote a blog about it - imagine this is 3 months in the past...
Today I fulfilled an ambition I must have had for about two years. In August 2008, Tim Minchin was performing sell-out shows at The Pleasance in Edinburgh, while I was there. I did not get chance to go. In October 2009, Tim Minchin did a gig at Colston Hall, in Bristol, the city I had moved to only weeks before. I could not get tickets. Today (31st May 2010), Tim Minchin was at Hay. I am also at Hay. I saw Tim Minchin.
(At this point, in my head, there would be some kind of Hallelujah chorus. Imagine that now.)
I was sat in the centre of the second row – seats which had originally been reserved, but weren’t needed, and consequently had a perfect view. There is not much of a gap in the Barclays Wealth Pavilion between the stage and the audience, so I was close enough to be able to throw 5p’s at Tim (which he did ask to be done at one point). As I expected, he was amazing. He fluffed up a few times at the beginning, but he hasn’t done a live show for a fair bit, and to be honest, I like it when comedians and bands make little mistakes at gigs – it’s what helps to make a show unique. For fact fans, Tim played Rock &Roll Nerd, Inflatable You, The Pope Song (after which an old couple in the front row walked out), If I Didn’t Have You, Prejudice, Confessions, Storm, Canvas Bags (with amazing fan-based action – poor quality phone pictures to follow) and an encore of You Grew On Me. It’s quite easy to forget just how brilliant he is, both in terms of intelligence and musical ability He used the post hoc, ergo propter hoc philosophical fallacy to explain a bit about ice-cream men, and also why he doesn’t believe in God or alternative therapy, then did a second, sped-up version of The Pope Song that was almost perfect.
It might sound bad, but I think I enjoyed it even more because I was on my own. As a result of my boundless comedy geekery and love of forward planning, I am usually the one suggesting gigs to friends. This means I usually have very lovely company, but am often a bit concerned about whether or not the friend is enjoying it, as I feel like it’s my responsibility. I know it isn’t, and I shouldn’t worry, but I can’t help it. So to be at a gig entirely on my own meant I could concentrate completely on the show. It was a great novelty.
Straight after Tim finished, to a standing ovation I might add, I ran all the way around the site, in sandals, to see Idiots of Ants. I managed to sneak into the front row, and was really pleased I managed to see them, as they were hilarious. Some of the sketches were better than others – one about Where’s Wally doing a book reading at Hay was particularly inspired, especially as they brought that back into the show later – but all of them were really funny, and did their fair share of corpsing (apparently it was the last night of the tour). I would definitely go see them again. And I now understand their name! Apparently, when you say it, it’s supposed to sound like ‘idiot savants’. It doesn’t but it was a nice idea.
***
(At this point, in my head, there would be some kind of Hallelujah chorus. Imagine that now.)
I was sat in the centre of the second row – seats which had originally been reserved, but weren’t needed, and consequently had a perfect view. There is not much of a gap in the Barclays Wealth Pavilion between the stage and the audience, so I was close enough to be able to throw 5p’s at Tim (which he did ask to be done at one point). As I expected, he was amazing. He fluffed up a few times at the beginning, but he hasn’t done a live show for a fair bit, and to be honest, I like it when comedians and bands make little mistakes at gigs – it’s what helps to make a show unique. For fact fans, Tim played Rock &Roll Nerd, Inflatable You, The Pope Song (after which an old couple in the front row walked out), If I Didn’t Have You, Prejudice, Confessions, Storm, Canvas Bags (with amazing fan-based action – poor quality phone pictures to follow) and an encore of You Grew On Me. It’s quite easy to forget just how brilliant he is, both in terms of intelligence and musical ability He used the post hoc, ergo propter hoc philosophical fallacy to explain a bit about ice-cream men, and also why he doesn’t believe in God or alternative therapy, then did a second, sped-up version of The Pope Song that was almost perfect.
It might sound bad, but I think I enjoyed it even more because I was on my own. As a result of my boundless comedy geekery and love of forward planning, I am usually the one suggesting gigs to friends. This means I usually have very lovely company, but am often a bit concerned about whether or not the friend is enjoying it, as I feel like it’s my responsibility. I know it isn’t, and I shouldn’t worry, but I can’t help it. So to be at a gig entirely on my own meant I could concentrate completely on the show. It was a great novelty.
Straight after Tim finished, to a standing ovation I might add, I ran all the way around the site, in sandals, to see Idiots of Ants. I managed to sneak into the front row, and was really pleased I managed to see them, as they were hilarious. Some of the sketches were better than others – one about Where’s Wally doing a book reading at Hay was particularly inspired, especially as they brought that back into the show later – but all of them were really funny, and did their fair share of corpsing (apparently it was the last night of the tour). I would definitely go see them again. And I now understand their name! Apparently, when you say it, it’s supposed to sound like ‘idiot savants’. It doesn’t but it was a nice idea.
 |
| TM warns small boy (13) not to use him as a role model. |
 |
| Amazing fan-based action |
No comments:
Post a Comment