Superheroes 6th Preview - London April 27 2018
Thanks to Juliette Burton, who gave us a slot after her Happy Hour show at the Canvas Cafe just off Brick Lane, the Socks were able to do an extra Preview of Superheroes, ahead of May's shows in Brighton, and following on from March's Bath show (which in turn followed 2 nights in Glasgow and 2 in Leicester). This was an invaluable preview, getting me back up to speed with what needs improving, while letting me test out the material I've written this month.
The audience, only about 15 strong but lovely, had already watched an almost 3 hour show featuring Juliette and three other comedians (Rik Carranza, Lorna Shaw, and Lost Voice Guy), being the surviving hardcore of a larger crowd, staying on after 10.30 on a Friday night. The Socks eventually started at just short of 11pm. They were what I'd call 'An Edinburgh crowd', being above-average comedy-savvy, younger and more cosmopolitan, so a very good testing ground. Here's what we gave them and how it went.
Opening gags - Wayne/Robin/Flash. Good. Opening with quickfire gags is a good start.
Opening gags continued - Awards (new). However, continuing with 7 more puns, no matter how good (and I'm pleased with this batch) isn't so good. It sets the show up as a night of puns and is not the best way of building their engagement. These should appear later in the show and even be scattered through it.
I'm A Sock song - The usual test of a new audience (only 1 of whom had seen the Socks before). They laughed in all the right places and we had them.
Cosmopolitan - Excellent.
Bob Kane gag - Good. One isolated arcane pun works fine.
Motion Capture - Brilliant. Delivery a bit messy, but the core gag works. Ending needs improving.
Ang Lee / Ditko gag (new) - Good. Two puns together work fine
Comedy Award / Nursery Rhyme gag - Good (excuses the gag).
Spiderman Song - Now seems a bit weak. Should replace this.
Plot / Maguffin gags (new) - Brilliant, and make the structure clear
Science Faraday/Sagan - Shortened by one gag, v good
Hulk gag (new) - First groan of the night, but good
Brother 1 - Excellent. Fewer prop laughs, all from the lines & characters
Your Racist Brother Song - V good, good laughs throughout
Batman - V good. New gag okay. Teeth - brilliant.
Urine/Nuts/Crazy gags (new) - Very good
Crossover inc callback (new) - Good. Needs to be called back later
Steed & Mrs Peel Song - Another weak song. I think I'm the only person who likes it, it'll have to go.
Avengers (moved) - Excellent. Much better in the middle of the show than as a finale.
Avengers Reel - Needs improving. (Failed to re-record it since Bath, will be better when shortened and keys changed)
Fantastic Four Appeal - V good, laughs in the right places (Needs callback later)
Brother 2 - Excellent. Good laughs from lines again, not so much from props
Shroedinger/ Tyson gags - Okay but spoil the flow slightly
Superman - Origin gag (new) v good.
Jor El/Kal El to The Kents - Excellent. First time an audience has properly gone with this routine. Need callback later.
Glasses - Not as many prop laughs as before, but that's fine as the lines funny
Dead Ringer Song - Excellent
Harley & Ivy - Messy start so audience puzzled for first half, then laughing for the rest.
Daredevil (new) - Very good, brilliant laughs for the new prop. Punchline disappointing.
Brother 3 - Very good.
If I've Learned speech - good
All By Myself - Very good, but need to perfect those prop changes
And we ended the show there, which was doubly fortuitous. Firstly, because I haven't written the finale properly (though it has a handful of new gags that didn't get tried), and also because the show was over-running and, unbeknownst to anyone, we had to get out of the venue by midnight or we'd get fined. So me finishing after, I think, 55 minutes was perfect.
So, in conclusion, and in advance of Brighton: I now have a good story structure that holds it together and enables me to lose and insert material. We have lots of great one-liners, but need:
Replacement for Spider-man song, ideally with a strong routine
Replacement for Steed & Mrs Peel, again with a strong routine
Reduced and re-recorded Avengers Reel
Proper Finale (with callbacks to the running jokes set up already)
Tightened up props (especially Brother, whose mouth is not so funny it can be allowed to never work properly)
... and anything that tackles the many superheroes that haven't had a look in to the show yet. Wonder Woman and the X Men, for example (Brexit Men hit the cutting room floor this time round).
Onwards and upwards. Next stop Brighton Fringe, May 26 & 27. Book now.
*Winners of the Bath Comedy Festival Lovehoney Best Joke Award 2018
Previews:
April 27 - The Canvas, London E1
May 26 3.45pm & May 27 5pm Komedia Brighton
June 16 - Zion, Bristol
June 20 - Ludlow Fringe
July 11 - NeathJuly 19 - Bedford Fringe
July 29 - Derby Bar One
- with more preview dates to be announced
No comments:
Post a Comment