Following on from my course it was a natural progression to go and perform and that's exactly what I did. All eight of us were given a five-minute spot each at the showcase which was scheduled for the evening of Mother's Day 2012 in a room above a pub near Leicester Square, London. The room itself was pretty tiny with green and red decor and chandeliers; a few of us had visited it a couple of weeks prior to the big day to see the Monday night newbies night promoted by the Soho Comedy Club to recce the venue and see exactly what we'd let ourselves in for.
I practiced recording my five minute set into my mobile phone for a fortnight before the big day, cutting, chopping and honing it all; I was kind of nervous, but not too bad. When the evening itself dawned it was very strange indeed - Sunday nights in Central London are bizarre and being the day after St Patrick's Day the atmosphere was strangely muted. Our MC and tutor, Kate Smurthwaite warmed the audience up and announced that there would be eight acts, four in the first half and another four after the interval. I was number five and it was pretty excruciating, but the whole thing came together and I even ad-libbed aspects which the crowd seemed to love. It went well and despite the house being papered and the audience consisting of friends and family, it was amazing. I was congratulated by all and it felt slightly unreal.
It would be extremely boastful for me not to mention my fellow performers who were all excellent in their own way - some were much better than me, I have to admit. One of them has gone onto quite a bit of success on the circuit, but most of them have decided to pursue other career paths. So, what happened to me then...you'll have to keep reading to find out, but to date I haven't given up my day job....
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