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Hammerhead (the show, not the newsletter)
It’s been about 2 months since I put a newsletter out and that’s down to comedy festival. I’ve felt like the last two months have been a blur. I was hyper-focused on my solo comedy fest show and pushed most things aside to make that happen. Creatively and comedy-wise it’s been the most satisfied I’ve ever been. The show was way better attended than I expected and over half were full, which I was pleased with. I have a lot of people to thank for coming out a supporting.
The whole idea was to take the next step in comedy, doing an hour solo show was that next step for me. I wanted it to be a learning experience and it taught me a lot. I learnt a lot about how a show needs to work in narrative and how punchy it needs to be. I learnt a lot about how to market myself, but still have a lot to figure out there as well. The hour show is the way forward for me, but the idea of getting an hour together in a year is somewhat daunting for next year’s comedy festival. I still have jokes I could put in, but ideally, the next show is all new. The work for new material started as soon as comedy festival finished and right now feels a bit like pulling teeth, but the comedy in Melbourne has that feel to it after the festival, the gigs slow down, both in number and attendance, with the occasional pops here and there.
Coming to the end of a 6-8 month plan left me feeling a little stuck, I hadn’t made the next plan. I feel like I’ve got some semblance of a plan now for the rest of the year together, it involves doing a Brisbane and Sydney performance of Hammerhead, heading to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival to do some line-up shows, and travelling for a bit afterwards. That feels like enough for now.
I spoke about comedy and the process of putting the show together on the podcast The Pitch of Discontent, mostly a music podcast I spoke about the angle of coming to comedy through punk music and picked some songs to discuss as well. I had a great time chatting with Owen about it all. Have a listen below.
Brisbane
I was in Brisbane right before comedy festival to do some gigs and get out of Melbourne for a bit. I love Brisbane, I don’t know what it is about being there, but I feel somewhat at home. Part of me feels like I could move there. I wonder if that’s just a feeling of having lived in Melbourne all my life and wanting a change. Most people I hang out with regularly have moved to Melbourne from Queensland and Canberra. I’ve dated three women who were all from Brisbane and I think there is something in that, but not exactly sure what; maybe I’ve dated too many people. I was thinking about a few songs by Arrows and how they mention streets in Brisbane and I don’t find that cringe at all, but if someone mentions Melbourne streets I want to chuck up, mostly Smith Street and Johnson Street. I’m sure there are some exceptions to the rule I’m forgetting.
This was only my second time to Brisbane for stand-up gigs, and it felt like this went a lot better than the previous time. The last time I was in Brisbane was June 2021 and I was having a weird time overall and the gigs weren’t what I wanted them to be. I didn’t do as many gigs this time and stayed in New Farm instead of closer to the city and that helped a lot. I caught up with my mate Wade at the end of the trip right before heading back to Melbourne and we spent a few hours together and it was a nice way to end the trip. The gigs at Good Chat were the best and I got to add in seeing Gatecreeper at The Brightside as well as in Melbourne the next day at Into the Fall Fest.
I’m headed back to Brisbane on July 27th to perform Hammerhead at Good Chat which is getting announced soon.
Call On Me
This is a post I put on Facebook in 2016 when I worked with a guy who this is sort of about, but this was just made up thinking about work drinks. Looking back on it now, I was probably too stuck in being ‘alternative’ in the workplace and that comes off in this post.
A workmate keeps inviting you for drinks on a Friday and you're running out of excuses not to go along. They ask you a final time and you give in. You suggest a pub with a relaxed vibe and cheap, but decent pizzas. They say they know a place with a happy hour on basic spirits, and you reluctantly agree. You look it up on google maps, it's on the chapel street. Friday arrives and mention of the drinks does not let up. You think you're underdressed in a button-up shirt over a t-shirt, your workmate has arrived wearing a polo with a dragon design printed over one shoulder. 5 pm arrives and you have convinced yourself it won't be too bad, you're dying for a drink at this point anyway.
You catch a train and a tram to the pub that's been turned into a nightclub for the evening. A bouncer takes a scan of your ID, this makes you uneasy. Your workmate has not stopped talking about how much of a bitch your manager is, you find yourself defending a manager you don't actually like that much. You order a beer, your workmate gets a Captain Morgan and Coke. The sun is still up outside, but for some reason, a DJ starts their set. Some women from the office arrive and your workmate grabs you by the arm and makes a beeline for them. You get stuck talking to Kylie from Compliance, she just got engaged, their off to Thailand soon. She's heard you play in a band, you try to change the subject. There's talk of a few people from the office coming along to see your band sometime, you lie and say you'll definitely let them know next time you've got a gig.
Kylie turns back to the huddle of work people, you think about leaving, there's a tram in 1 minute. You try to yell out to your workmate that you're heading off, "what?!" he yells back. You start to think you might be stuck here for the night or you'll have to phantom out of the place without anyone noticing. The music's too loud because the DJ is trying to get the sea of office workers moving, they have had enough to drink, but the music isn't right. You can see the DJ start to think, everyone there is roughly 30-35. You hear the familiar start to the song, "Oh fuck" you think to yourself. You hear a couple of women whoop over the start of the song, your workmate locks eyes with you and mouths "Yeah!" as he motions you and the girls from the office over to the dance floor. You think about the tram, you've missed it. The song kicks in and everyone goes off. Eric Prydz's Call On Me plays at a deafening volume.
Content Corner
With getting some free time back I’ve managed to watch a few more movies and found myself gravitating toward some old classics.
Movie: Midnight Run
I hadn’t watched this since I was maybe 11 or 12, I remember always liking it. You forget how good De Niro is in comedies. I find I always gravitate towards 80’s/90’s comedies as a bit of a comfort watch.
Movie: So I Married an Axe Murderer
You forget what a crazy run Mike Myers was on in the early 90’s, this movie was shot right after Wayne’s World. Some of the jokes are a bit dated, but it’s a fun watch. I completely forgot about Mike Myers's character being a beat poet, which is comical in itself. I love Anthony LaPaglia in this too, I just went down a full LaPaglia rabbit hole after writing this. He was sent the pilot script for The Sopranos and met with David Chase. Imagine a world with Anthony LaPaglia as Tony Soprano, crazy to think about. Anyway, Phil Hartman pops up for about 2 mins as a prison guard and almost steals the movie.
Music: Webbed Wing - Right after I Smoke This…
I’ve been listening to this Single/EP a lot, I’m not sure what genre to put Webbed Wing in, Rock? It’s one of the members of Superheaven/Daylight, which feels like the natural progression of where those bands halted. Their last album What’s So Fucking Funny? was on high rotation for me and these songs are just as good.
Music: Pest Control - Don’t Test the Pest
This is red hot crossover thrash from the UK. This album is a blast to listen to. You can hear the Municipal Waste influence with enough of their flair to create something unique and fun. If you like Power Trip, you’ll like this.
That’s it for this edition, thanks for reading.