Gone Wrong? Turn It Into Comedy
- Maggie Irving
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
Years ago, I (along with a bunch of other contestants) was filmed as part of The Culture Show, for a Funny Women competition. I was very new to stand-up.. So new, in fact, that I still thought knowing your material was enough.
Then along came a man I’d recently started dating who begged to come and watch.
Against my better judgement, I said yes.
As I walked onto the stage I felt surprisingly OK.
Then I spotted him.
Centre of the room.
In a Persil-white shirt.Our eyes met.
And he bent forward and thrust his head practically between his legs.
What. The. Actual. Tuck.
Was he nervous for me? Was he being supportive? Was he trying to disappear? Was he demonstrating a new form of audience participation?
Insert your own meaning [here].
Whatever it meant, it threw me off.
I wasn’t experienced enough to make a witty retort or turn it into a joke.
I carried on.
There were a few tiny titters – thankfully – but I never found my groove.
That evening, BBC2 featured me as the newbie who needed more experience.
They were right.
Every comedian has a duff moment.
The trick is to learn from it.
Edit the material.
Edit the delivery.
And, crucially, learn to respond to the room rather than cling to the script like it’s a life raft.
Hindsight, eh?
As for Lover Boy, I think he was either nervous for me or just a bit of a dxxk and I clearly hadn’t cottoned on before!
Needless to say, we parted company the next day.
So perhaps there were two things that went wrong that night.
The comedy set.
And the boyfriend.
The message is simple: when you’re new to something, expect things not to always go to plan. You will wobble. You will get things wrong. You may even encounter a man in a Persil-white shirt behaving inexplicably in the middle of your audience.
It doesn’t mean you’ve failed.
It means you’re learning.
And that’s one of the things I love about it.
Come see a bunch of brilliant women next Thursday in Newton St Cyres. They started out as newbies/semi-newbies with me but are now spreading their wings and performing all around the South-West and beyond.
If you want to learn the art of stand up, join me, in Exeter, on my last course for this year. Lots of learning and laughter. If you want to come watch, grab a ticket for a stand up comedy Mash Up on Thursday 24 September.
As usual, a huge thanks for your support from Maggie and the team :)
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