This week's guest blogger, American comic Jena Friedman, tells us about making her festival debut back in 2010:
The last and only other time I was in Scotland was to visit (I think in Glasgow the term is peg) my ex-insignificant other who was working at a crusty youth hostel in Edinburgh. I backpacked around a bit, stopped by Lock Ness and Stirling (where I saw the Braveheart statue modeled after my sixth favorite* anti-semite Mel Gibson) but never quite made it to Glasgow... until 2010.
The last and only other time I was in Scotland was to visit (I think in Glasgow the term is peg) my ex-insignificant other who was working at a crusty youth hostel in Edinburgh. I backpacked around a bit, stopped by Lock Ness and Stirling (where I saw the Braveheart statue modeled after my sixth favorite* anti-semite Mel Gibson) but never quite made it to Glasgow... until 2010.
Through divine intervention, I landed a spot in the Glasgow International Comedy Festival to wow local lads and lassies with my comedy vomit.
Glaswegians have really dark comedic sensibilities. Prior to the festival, I had never heard an audience laugh at an AIDS joke before I even got the punch line. They also REALLY like to get mutted (which is awesome because alcohol pairs well with comedy). During one show at Maggie Mays, I accidentally repeated a joke onstage - first time ever - because it was my third show of the night and I too was slightly dunted (from all the free cheeky water courtesy of festival organizers). The audience was so supportive of my gaffe that they laughed even louder when they heard it the second time!
During another show at the Stand, a burd fell off her chair, took two glasses down with her and landed on her coupon. I was frichted (thinking she may be deed), while her trippen troopettes and the rest of the audience cheered on before anyone could even measure her pulse. Turns out the swamp donkey was just really charred and apparently Glaswegians are that accustomed to public displays of inebriation to think anything else of it.
* My top five favorite anti-semites, in no particular order, are Roald Dahl, Immanuel Kant, Edgar Degas, T.S Eliot and Mrs. Rochna, my rock sculpture teacher in Chile who gifted me the only slab of marble in her studio to work with because I had tendonitis in my wrists and she had bad Jew-dar.
Jena will be performing at the festival with Elaine Malcolmson on Friday 8 April at the Griffin. Click here for show information.
Jena will be performing at the festival with Elaine Malcolmson on Friday 8 April at the Griffin. Click here for show information.
Find out more about Jena at jenafriedman.com, including her blog.
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