They say you should do one thing that scares you everyday. Well recently I did one thing that was scary enough to keep me going for weeks. I did my first standup comedy gig.
I should explain, this wasn’t as scary as it could have been. I took part in Cambridge Bright Club – a fun night where geeks like me get a chance to stand up on stage, grab the mic for 10 mins and have a go and cracking some funnies. The audience isn’t expecting professional comedians (except for the brilliant compare & guest comedian who help smooth things along) just a random mix of comedy wannabes having a go at making people laugh about their specialist subjects – in my case, fish.
Cambridge Brightclub is run by my good friend Andy Holding who’s been bugging me for a while to give it a go. So in the end I signed my name up, thinking that I would either hate it or love it. Turns out I didn’t hate it…
Listen to a podcast of the night here at the Bright Club website. Or find the podcast on itunes here. First up is a short interview with me (about my PhD, learning to dive in freezing British waters etc), then a recording of my live set, which comes with TWO WARNINGS:
Firstly: the audience were laughing (honest… just the mic doesn’t pick them up).
And secondly: don’t let your kids listen… I did do a few swears (which I’m not at all proud of. As a newbie stand up with ZERO experience I resorted to bad language and knob gags – even if they are all about fish).
So, if you’re not easily shocked, then do listen especially if you want to know what should have happened in Finding Nemo, and why toilets are more dangerous than sharks.
And definitely keep listening past my bit to hear the other brilliant geeks who followed me on stage.
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