What is 2012

Did my final gig of the year last friday - Titters Comedy Club - then the following morning proceeded to twist my ankle quite badly while out for a jog, thus ensuring I well and truly put my feet up for a few days. In all it's been a good year of comedy, 64 gigs (two down on last year), a lot of new material written, and a good springboard for the 2012 comedy year, which I believe will be a cracker. For my fourth comedy festival show I have both an Auckland season (2nd week) and a Wellington season (3rd week). Also, in the first week of the festival I have two appearances in an unusual late night line up show in which comedians will perform other comedians' material. Should be an interesting challenge, on top of trying to write a brand new solo show in a year.

Have been accepted for a show in next year's comedy festival in Auckland and Wellington. My fourth comedy festival show, but the first time I've done shows in consecutive years. Should be an interesting challenge - am looking forward to it. Have got my theme all figured out, now I just have to write as much new comedy around that theme as possible in the next five months. Am only booked for one more gig this year, at the Classic on Wednesday night. Looking forward to summer holidays before getting married in Feb.

Well since my last post I have only got engaged to the fabulous Jessie Bloore, my girlfriend of 15 months! So, all of a sudden I have a wedding to think about and plan - I've always wondered what that would feel like, and so far so good.
We are having heaps of fun with it because, on a whim, Jess entered us into a Win a Wedding in Rarotonga competition on radio station LifeFM, and we are one of the five finalists, currently undergoing daily challenges to knock out the other four couples. We are now in the top three.
Work continues to have a mind all of its own, with me occasionally getting gigs, and TV show 7 Days returning to air this week after a 7 week break. Some interesting things in the pipeline before year's end though.

Rugby vs Laughter

Despite its immense popularity, 7 Days – the tv comedy show that pokes fun at the week’s news – is on a seven week break for the rugby world cup. We New Zealanders take our rugby very seriously, so for seven weeks in New Zealand not only will there be no use for laughter, but also there will be no reported news about anything other than rugby, which is scientifically proven to be impossible to poke fun at.

In its defense, the network shows incredible vision by returning 7 Days to air in time for quarter and semi-final matches time, which, given the All Blacks’ recent world cup form, is probably when New Zealanders will most need a laugh. Also, there will be a little bit of comedic value on offer from the All Blacks’ opening three matches against Guatemala, Angola and Cuba.

Doing lines

The blank page, or in this case the blank white box into which I type lines of 'courier' typeface letters.
At school I used to have to write a lot of lines. I made my lines an assembly line; first I turned out 500 x "I" down the page, then 500 x "must", or even just "m", depending on scales of production. Sometimes I'd only get half of the lines finished, or else 500 x "I must never..." Ah, the inanity of school and teachers with their careers to think about.
I did however have some very good teachers. My new theory is that I can only remember the names of teachers that were any good - even if I remember them for all the wrong reasons. I must have had countless teachers who didn't impress me at all. My oldest memory of a teacher is of Mrs Bean, who I remember as being an old woman. Then again, I was only five years old. You can imagine how I later wondered how much fun her husband would be were he a teacher. The second (and last) teacher I remember from that school was Mr Denny. He was a tall man who wore short sleeve shirts which revealed his bony elbows and arms, which seemed to fascinate me. His pride and joy was an old lead-type printing press - which probably wasn't all that far behind the technology of the time - which he kept down the back of his classroom. It was on this extremely manual typewriter that I published my rather embellished story about how one night, to fool my parents, I put a doll in my bed while I hid under the bed. The punchline was, "It worked, they kissed the doll!"

I've now had a week to reflect on my five night season in this year's comedy festival, and I can pretty much say it's been all good. I came away thinking I'd love to do more hour-long shows to really master the hour of comedy. Having not performed a preview of my show I went into it last tuesday nite quite cold and so the first two nights were about getting used to doing an hour for the first time in a year, getting used to my tiny, intimate venue, and getting used to my show itself. tuesday and wednesday were my learning nights, and the last three nights were enjoyable and fun. I came away feeling proud of my show and like I'd want to put it on somewhere else. My show was one of the more undiscovered gems of the festival but I think I could change that next year by putting quotes and accolades in the program blurb and putting up some big kick arse posters around the place. Also just doing shows in consecutive years will help. I look forward to previewing my next year's show in Adelaide and Dunedin.

Curled up with a blanket on the couch early in the morning nursing a fatigued head and an upset stomach from yesterday. It may be comedy festival or it may be coffee related ie. too much coffee all last week (especially on saturday) then only one limp instant coffee on sunday morning. Where to from here? The reviewer described me as the enigma on the NZ comedy circuit. Have I found my niche? The NZ comedy industry still rewards backwards, agricultural, lowest-common-denominator type comedy.

We are all on a journey through this life.

None of us has arrived, none of us has made it. Who knows what's around the next corner? Nothing is nailed down, nothing is permanent. People come and go. Nothing lasts. Money comes and goes, food comes and goes, greatness comes and goes.

7/5/11

Have never been totally happy with 'xtremelanguage' as the name of this blog and today the right idea for a name presented itself. Wasn't even meant to meet Sam today for lunch but Blair who I was meeting said Sam was in a cafe just up the road so we went and joined him for lunch. Mentioned to Blair I have a blog and out of the blue Sam said "bleating - a cross between blog and Keating", and a new name for my blog was born. Subject to availability.

When you sign up to do a comedy festival show you have to trust that, come festival time in April your germ of an idea will have sprouted into a fully ripened, plump new show. Of course it's the sobering combination of opening night deadline and seeing your show cast in stone in the festival program that keeps you awake at night in cold sweats actually writing the damn thing! Without peak moments a career can feel like working on a Hyundai production line. For every working stand-up comedian, nailing a comedy festival show is their Everest. No matter how many times you've done it before, you still might die. James Keating in True Story. Tenzing not included.

http://www.comedyfestival.co.nz/auckland/show/true-story