A long day of gigging at the Mach Fest, starting at 10.30am where I found myself standing near some lathes in a tram shed about to perform to 30 people who had arrived on a dinky steam train. I may have had weirder gigs or ones that seem more like a dream, but I suspect most of them were probably actually dreams and I am not convinced that this one wasn't. I was on with Mark Thomas, Joe Lycett and Catie Wilkins, all of whom seemed similarly bamboozled. But the small crowd, lit by daylight, sitting in front of us seemed to enjoy the experience. It turned out to be enjoyable for the acts too and we rode back up the track with them in the cramped and tiny carriages. At one point the train jolted violently. I think we'd hit a stone, but it felt like we were about to crash. It would have been a embarrassing way to die. I am not sure the news would have reported it. 30-odd (and odd) comedy fans and comedians travelling on a children's train involved in a 3 mile an hour crash with a stone.
But this is all the fun of the Mach Fest, a day book ended with a late night performance of Talking Cock that didn't end until 12.30am, with a podcast in between. Usually after a gig I am too wired to go straight to bed, but tonight I stumbled heavy-legged back to my hotel room, my wife asked if I wanted to come out for a drink, but I just lay on the bed almost comatose already and was asleep by 1am.
We'd fitted in a RHLSTP (BATMCF) (But at the Machynlleth Comedy Festival) in the afternoon. My guests were the soon to be (if there's any justice) massive TV stars Pappys. They were very funny and continued being very funny in the same room for another hour as they recorded one of their non-Sony nominated (yeah bet they're smarting about that, with only their new TV show to console them - losers) Flatshare Slamdown podcasts straight afterwards. I felt vaguely ashamed and embarrassed by my own performance in my podcast, which is usually a good sign. The character of Richard Herring who hosts it can get a little overbearingly self-pitying and I find him annoying sometimes. But I think that's part of his charm. Luckily he managed to be mainly funny and was aiming to be funny in the crappy bits too, just the crowd (correctly) didn't go with him. Luckily I don't think the Sony people can take his award nomination away from him now.
It was a lively chat, with all three Pappys more than holding their own (and talking about holding each other's). I think you'll enjoy it when it goes up (some time at the start of next week). My favourite bit was Tom Pappy questioning what I meant when I just trailed off in the middle of a sentence where I was trying to justify my ironic racism (or anti-Welshness - they're not a race yet). But there were plenty of other highlights. I was just a bit tired and emotional by the end of it all I guess. I am really looking forward to getting my teeth back into these after the tour. It's the risk of failure and humiliation in this entirely improvised conversations that make it all fun. As the desperate host strives to find laughs in inappropriate subjects he sometimes pushes the boundaries too far. But he is more upset and embarrassed about it than anyone who will listen to it.
The ham hand question was almost destroyed, but came back stronger (cos I say it did) and the inclusion of a shrek seemed forced and unfunny, so that might be one running gag that bites the dust. Part of the secret of my lack of success is to veer away from the most popular things I am doing just as they start to catch on. But better than banging on about them long after they've passed their sell-by date like some desperate buffoon who wants the moon on a stick.
This really is a brilliant festival and it was great to be a part of three sold-out shows today (even if one of them was in a shed). This town is so small and yet yearly has what I consider to be many of the most exciting names in comedy (both old and new) making the long, windy journey. It's a real vindication of the dedicated team behind it. In four years it's become a must-go destination for any dedicated comedy fan and is one of the world's top comedy festivals and almost certainly the most charming. And it's one where there is no separation between acts and punters and no need for there to be any either. I had a lovely if totally exhausting time and am looking forward to next year already.
We filmed the podcast today, as well - though not quite as professionally as we intend to do the others. This time we just had a static camera and then Chris Evans' (not that one... or the other one) 12 year old son shooting close-ups from the front row. We will give this out as a free extra to anyone who downloads all the others or who buys the DVD. It's going to be an interesting experiment with vision as well as sound. Hope you'll come along for the ride. But all the audio will remain free if you don't fancy it. None of this is about making money (though if it does do that then I will happily spend it), just seeing what we can achieve with little budget, but lots of enthusiasm for comedy. This might not involve paying a 12 year old two pounds an hour to film all the shows (but maybe it should, he did a good job apparently), but I hope you will embrace it in the spirit that we're going to putting it out there. Who knows where we can take all this.
And personally I think it's probably a good idea to arm all children with cameras whenever they are in the vicinity of entertainers. It could have saved all sorts of problems.
