John Gavin Guest Blog

Whenever I talk to English comedians about gigging in Glasgow the same things always seem to crop up. A misconception that comes up is that performing to a Glasgow audience is something akin to performing to a bunch of homicidal maniacs. Glasgow is not really like that. Sure, in some audiences there is a good chance that a homicidal maniac may just be there lurking amongst the audience, but you can usually spot them. I remember being confronted by an audience member once after a show who I’d managed to annoy. After I’d apologised she offered the reply, “Och, its awright pal. If I’d really been offended I’d have had yer kneecaps. Can I buy you a beer?”

That’s the kind of maniac that Glasgow can offer. One who can threaten to ruin your dancing career forever, but in the same breath will buy you a drink. Top tip in this situation: don’t let them buy you a drink. This is called danger avoidance.

There is no such thing as a typical Glasgow audience. The only thing you have to do is make them laugh, same as in any other town in the world. There is one thing that sets aside a Glasgow audience aside from most others, but I’ll come back to that.

Last year’s Glasgow comedy festival nearly destroyed me. In a good way though. I felt like I was living a double life.  I worked full time in my office job during the day. I’d go home, be a dad and husband. Then at night I’d run around the city like a very low budget Challenge Anneka going from gig to gig.

It’s pretty hard to keep it together during that type of thing. At points you will be sitting on a train/taxi/bus/car going to another gig and think “I really just want to sit on my couch and have a shout of my xbox”. Then you get the thing keeps you going. It’s the thing that sets Glasgow aside. The audience reaction. If they like you, you will know.

Before I go I should really plug my show. My solo show is Work Life Balance,and  it’s really all about the stuff I’d mentioned in this blog about trying to keep it together while my life seemed to be 100 miles an hour. Last years show got four stars, so hopefully I can better that.

As you can see self promotion is not one of my skills. See you soon!

See John Gavin's solo show Work Life Balance tonight, Friday 1 April at 8.30pm at Capitol. Find out more about this show here.