I was at the Rocket in Acton this week, for something of a special gig. First of all, it was my birthday. And also, the second half of the night featured the delightfully eccentric Paul Foot previewing his Edinburgh show.

I was up first, and unfortunately the response seemed a little muted. I could have put this down to the audience not being warmed up, but watching the video I took, my delivery seemed to lack energy and momentum. I paused a lot for laughs that weren't really coming, and looked at the floor a lot. Part of it might have been due to the lighting, which made it hard to make real eye contact with anyone (not really being able to see their eyes). I really shouldn't be letting things like this phase me, possibly a case for trying to gig in new places as much as I can, to get a feel for different environments.

Chatting to another act after the show, the suggestion was made that I should try just powering through my more "punny" gags both to keep the energy up and avoid dead time if a joke doesn't work very well. I've got a few gigs lined up next week, so I'm going to set aside a good chunk of time on Sunday to rehearse some more, concentrating on keeping my energy high, even without reactions to feed on.

After the first half's open spots, Paul Foot previewed his Edinburgh show. I'd seen Mr Foot perform at ICU about 7 years ago, and if anything he was even more anarchic and eccentric than I remember. It was a real eye opener to see the difference between the open mic level and where he was. He had the audience in fits of almost painful laughter for minutes at a time. Definitely something to aspire to...although it'll be a long slog. This was a performance that was excruciatingly funny, but nobody had the faintest idea why. And that was incredibly refreshing.