It’s Fear But I Call It Excitement: Becoming a Stand – Up Comedian at Seventy
Living in Edinburgh during the ‘world’s largest arts festival’ is very much ‘a game of two halves’. On the one hand the city is a giant theme park, rammed with tourists who don’t understand why walking in front of trams is a bad idea. Alternatively, play your cards right and you can find yourself on ... It’s Fear But I Call It Excitement: Becoming a Stand – Up Comedian at Seventy
Black News 
Living in Edinburgh during the ‘world’s largest arts festival’ is very much ‘a game of two halves’. On the one hand the city is a giant theme park, rammed with tourists who don’t understand why walking in front of trams is a bad idea.
Alternatively, play your cards right and you can find yourself on the guest list for a month of glittering social events.
Which is why I was at a breakfast seminar on ‘mental health at the Fringe’ when I got chatting, over some rather superior refreshments, to the comedian, Dave Chawner, who told me one of my stories had made him chuckle.
I said ‘Oh, I’m too old to do comedy’ but he was like, ‘No, enrol on a course. Get started ASAP.’
As soon as I got home I searched online and as fate would have it, there was an ‘introduction to stand up’ workshop running in central Edinburgh the following weekend.
It was only after I’d clicked ‘buy now’ that I realised the ticket was non-refundable so there was no escape.
The course was facilitated by Jay Sodagar from Laughing Horse, a comedy club and venue promoter which has been on the stand-up scene since the nineties.
Because comedy is such a growth area, there are loads of other courses to choose from (currently I know of two in Glasgow and Edinburgh) and there are also many experienced comics/comedy writers offering one-to-one tuition.
However, I’m happy I went with Laughing Horse because the format worked for me although admittedly it does sound terrifying.
Seven of us met up on Saturday morning, ran through the basic rules of stand-up with Jay, decided on our material and were sent home that night to write a rough script for a 5 minute spot.
We came back on Sunday morning, did a read through, got feedback, and spent the afternoon editing, polishing and learning as much as we could of our scripts.
Then at 9pm that night, we were onstage at Bar 50, performing in front of a sell-out audience as part of the Edinburgh Free Fringe.
Some comedy courses take six to eight weeks to get to the point of ‘showcasing’ acts, and I can understand why others might prefer this ‘gentler’ approach. But TBH, I probably only got through the process from start to finish because I simply didn’t have time to think up a convincing excuse to back out.
How did it go? Well… I fucked up a bit and overran – the cardinal sin of stand-up – but actually it was fab. The audience were lovely, my fellow students were absolute rockstars and Jay really, really knows his stuff.
So, did I do it again? Definitely, 100% yes.
A lot has happened since then and next time I’ll tell you about my first time out on the circuit. Spoiler alert – ‘Free for All’ at Monkey Barrel is quite the experience!
