After 23 gigs, I figured it was about time I started keeping track of the dang things. And what a gig to start with!

This Wednesday's 5 Minutes of Fame was a fantastic night: a great selection of acts (including a first timer!) and an audience that was both as large and as warm as a radioactive manatee wearing too many layers on a July lunchtime in Mumbai.

Props to Andrew Rodgers for bringing an army of friends with him, and on a great last chance set, before they all disappeared off to uni. Although a vast amount of credit has to go to Nelson, who has put in ridiculous amounts of work to publicise the night (certainly kept me busy with booking people in). One plus was that he managed to pop along towards the end of the night, just in time for a suprise set.

This was my third time compering, and so far I'm always amazed at how different it is to doing a contained spot. You're responsible for keeping the energy high in between acts - so it would be hard to do deadpan, for example. There's potential for a massive guilt trip if you let the energy drop just before someone goes on - there are likely few things more off-putting than coming on to lacklustre applause, or none at all. That said, there's also no real pressure to be particularly funny, and there are far easier (and more reliable) ways of keeping the audience involved than gags and routine.

Admittedly, I probably over-used some devices at this night, particularly the "I can't hear you" type of call and response. Perhaps it would be wise to come up with some short-form "games" to get people going.

Dale (head honcho of the 5MOF group) has suggested that I should try to interact with the audience more, and I'm inclined to agree with him. I have a big fear of direct audience interaction, mostly through either not wanting to upset anyone by singling them out, or not wanting to get into an exchange I won't win. But, being the sort that learns by doing, I'm going to have to dive in and give it a try, and if it goes wrong, who cares? It'll make the acts look better, and if it goes really badly, the ensuing fight would make a great YouTube video!