Exclusive Diane Spencer interview

Flame-haired, award-winning comedian, Diane Spencer, shares a few words with Bobbysix.com ahead of her Edinburgh Fringe show, All Pervading Madness: 

What can people who come to your Edinburgh show expect?

They can expect, in a physical sense, a woman standing in front of them telling stories, and whatever pictures appear in their minds, will provoke laughter. I really enjoy telling stories, and quite often they are personal in nature. I don't deal in politics, yet... I more deal in the everyday, the emotional, the interpersonal relationships we all have whether with someone we love, or someone we meet on a train. My show is about a journey home, and there are some tangents on the way.

How did you first get into stand-up? Was it something you always wanted to do?
I just wanted to find out if I was funny. And no it certainly wasn't, but once I did it the first time, I simply had to do it again, and again and here I am. Stand-up is something so different and instantaneous. When you listen to how a comedian - a really amazing comedian - talks, it's incredible. They take your mind into new places.

After Edinburgh, what else have you got planned for 2011?
Whatever writing projects emerge from the Edinburgh Fringe really. I'm going to a comedy festival in Denmark, a place called Arhaus, which I've never been to before.

Longer term, what artistic aspirations do you have?
I love science fiction, I'm currently working to write a sci-fi sitcom... watch this space for beehives and lasers.

What music will you be listening to on the journey to and from Edinburgh?
John Williams - 40 years.
It's outstanding, it includes Indiana Jones, Superman and Jurassic Park.

Find out more about Diane - including tour dates - at her website.

Interview by Bobby Townsend. 

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Josie Long and Jo Neary preview their Edinburgh shows at That Comedy Thing

As venues go, The Lamb Inn in Eastbourne on south coast of England is perhaps the perfect place for a comedian to try out new material. The crowd - made up of curious locals and people simply excited that something interesting is happening in their sleepy town - are warm to the acts that stand before them and wouldn't even dream of attempting a impatient sigh, let alone a heckle. So this is perhaps why so many quality comedians are taking the opportunity to run-through their upcoming Edinburgh performances in the old ale-house. Recently, Isy Suttie brought her embryonic show to town and this week Josie Long and That Comedy Thing compere and organiser, Jo Neary, stood in front of a healthy turnout and set about workshopping what they had come up with thus far.

Opening the night, Neary performed her one-woman show about a bunch of schoolkids in the west country who were building up towards a local talent contest. Set in the 1980's and alluding towards some level of autobiography, Neary's story contained countless references to life in those days, all of which certainly resonated with audience members of a certain age. Mentions of Touché Turtle and Five Star were cleverly weaved into a narrative which wonderfully demonstrated the humiliation of being a teenage girl. In amongst some fine wordplay (the "virile shadow of a future moustache," on Gavin Pascoe's upper lip, for example), Neary also demonstrated some fun dance moves to Jack Your Body and Star Trekkin and painted a lovely, funny picture of the embarrassment and awkwardness that teenage love and lust can bring. To be honest, so sweet and disarming is Jo Neary's stage presence that I could happily watch her read the phone book for 45 minutes, so the fact that she has crafted something which struck such a chord was doubly pleasing.

Josie Long (pictured, top) is similarly affable to Neary and, armed with a fistful of scribbled notes, she launched into an impassioned and funny political diatribe. Venturing down a kinda Mark Thomas route, she spoke with intensity, knowledge and intelligence about subjects such as tuition fees, the protest in Fortnum and Mason, David Cameron and the like. While her anti-Tory stance may have fallen on a few deaf ears (Eastbourne has more than its share of right-leaners), generally her opinions were met with concurrence. After all, when someone is arguing for the importance of manners, free art and decent education for everyone, it would take a fucking idiot not to agree.

While Neary's show seemed pretty close to completion, Long's clearly was very much in the early stages of being written, but it was still a pleasure, in an increasingly apathetic world, to hear someone talk about political wrongdoings with such passion. That said, the moments when she veered into less heavy territory were always welcome, and her tangential ramblings about The Beatles and the Bronte sisters brought some of the biggest laughs of the night.

A couple of very different shows then, by two equally lovely performers. We've said it before and we'll say it again: That Comedy Thing at The Lamb Inn is a brilliant night out featuring acts of amazing quality. And the fact that you can buy a ticket and get change from a tenner is quite remarkable. If you live in the area and haven't been along yet, then, frankly, you're a ruddy fool. Why not head along to this Tuesday's show (28th June), featuring Steve Pretty and sketch group Jigsaw - comprised of Dan Antopolski, Tom Craine and Nat Luurtsema? Book your ticket now at oxboffice.com or email thatcomedything@gmail.com to secure your seat.

Review by Rob Townsend
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Jim Bob and Isy Suttie at The Lamb Inn, Eastbourne

Eastbourne, in the South of England, is not known for much other than being the place where blue-rinsed octogenarians tan their leathered skin on pebbled beaches. It has never been 'on the circuit', as it were, so Jo Neary, the organiser and compere of the relatively new That Comedy Thing, deserves the mother of all pats on the back for the volume of talented, well-known individuals that her night draws to the the town. With the likes of Robin Ince and Josie Long already having graced the stage of the ancient Lamb Inn, yesterday saw arguably the best line-up yet, with Jim Bob and Isy Suttie doing their thing.

The first time that this particular reviewer saw Jim Bob (above) was in 1993 when he was playing at the Brixton Academy, as one half of indie-pop-punk-electro duo Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine. Nowadays, Jim Bob is a solo-artist and author and seems as happy playing intimate, sit-down gigs such as this as he is belting out the hits to the masses (he'll be back at the Brixton Academy in November, Carter fans).

It must be a tough gig, being the musical entertainment on a comedy night. The audience, primarily, are there to laugh, so it is just as well that Jim's wordplay was witty as hell and he offered a wry turn of phrase as he performed a half-hour acoustic set. After the opening cover of Mr Blue Sky, we were treated to a ditty about the Tesco riots - which he would go on to deconstruct in a Stewart Lee-esque manner, explaining the song's three jokes and why they were funny. Other highlights were a song about a swearing food technology teacher and a cynical take on The Wheels On The Bus. He also occasionally dipped into his "emergency set-list", much to the joy of the Carter fans in the room. Glam Rock Cops and The Only Living Boy In New Cross, rather than sounding as though they were being played out of obligation, were delivered - to steal a line from one of those songs - with utter comfort and joy. It was as though Jim was introducing two of his oldest and dearest mates to a largely uninitiated audience. The fact that, a couple of decades after they were written, they still had resonance and sounded exciting, bodes well for the Carter reunion gigs later in the year. Also, the inclusion of some new material left fans excited about the possibility of a new release somewhere in the not-too-distant future.

After an interval in which Jim chatted with fans at the bar, it was time for the headliner. Isy Suttie (above) used her 45-minutes in Eastbourne as a warm-up and sounding board before she takes her show to the Edinburgh Festival. Combining stand-up and song, Isy's performance was themed around a strange love story between two characters called Pearl and Dave (which Isy alluded to when she chatted to Bobbysix.com recently).

Being a work in progress, there were plenty of rough edges to Suttie's set. Indeed, much of it existed in the form of scribbled notes, yet there was something rather appealing about seeing her vision in the process of coming together. It was almost as though, through the feedback that bounced off the audience, the show was being formed before our eyes - as though we were part of something tangible, something fluid. Despite its embryonic nature, the set was still great. The best thing about Isy Suttie is that she doesn't rattle off jokes, but rather weaves genuinely funny truths into her songs and stand-up. Like Jim Bob before her, she is quite the wordsmith, and, as she dealt with the differences between dating pre and post internet, her observations were perfectly judged.

Perhaps the biggest compliment to pay Isy Suttie would be to say that her songs are as emotive as they are funny. She isn't just a stand-up who can sing a bit, but rather a genuinely talented songwriter, and, in fact, her best song of the evening worked because of its sentiment rather than because of the gags within. "Make sure you're sure the one you love is the last one that you'll ever love before you listen to Tom Waits with them," she sang in resignation, while everybody in the room who ever had a song or artist tainted by the memory of a former lover nodded in agreement. In a night of chuckles and guffaws, it was a wonderful moment of genuine depth and touching sincerity. And, besides, anyone who references Tom Waits in a song is okay by us.

At the end of her turn, Suttie offered her gratitude to the audience for their patience during what was a useful run-through for her. Her humility was hardly necessary. Sure, the show may have been a work in progress, but it was still nuanced, honest and funny with a solid and interesting narrative. Anyone who sees this show once she has crossed the t's and dotted the i's is surely in for a treat. As for the future beyond Edinburgh, we would simply love to hear Isy Suttie pen an album. After all, she proved tonight beyond any doubt that she has the musical ability and lyrical nouse to produce something really rather special.

Words and pictures by Rob Townsend

If you want more of this kind of awesomeness heading to the South Coast of England, then you need to support nights like this. Next up is the return of Josie Long on the 21st June. Book at Oxboffice.com or find out more by dropping an email to thatcomedything@gmail.com. Also, Follow Bobbysix at Facebook for news of an exclusive video interview with Jim Bob and footage from this gig, coming soon.

That Comedy Thing at The Lamb, Eastbourne

Last week, That Comedy Thing took place once again at The Lamb Inn in Eastbourne, on the South Coast of England, and, as always, the wealth of talent on show in the cosy 12th Century boozer was impressive. Robin Ince headlined the night, with less a routine, more a 40-minute rant from a man aghast, confused and angry at a world he increasingly fails to understand as he edges further into his forties. Red-faced, he breathlessly jumped from topic to topic in a performance that was filled with truths. Funny truths too.

Before him was the Canadian Mae Martin (pictured, below), who was natural and effortless as she chatted affably between playing some well-known covers on her acoustic guitar, replacing the lyrics with her own tales about - for instance - her unhealthy obsession with Don Cheadle. Her turn was especially pleasing in that she didn't reel off jokes, but just chatted away conversationally, as if she were just talking one-to-one with each member of the audience. Indeed, she was so engaging that I could have happily listened to her talk for 30 minutes without any musical interludes at all.

Before these two performances came the absolute triumph of the evening. Rachel Pantechnicon cleverly used repetition and a strange, awkward stage-presence to create a well-crafted character. Poems about elves on shelves and tiled bathrooms were rattled off at the kind of frenetic pace that demanded the audience kept up. Visual aids were frequently used, like the previously missing end section of the Bayeux Tapestry, which told of a plague of cats - one of which ended on William the Conqueror's head instead of a crown. Obviously it doesn't sound funny when I say it, but when spewing out of Pantechnicon's mad brain, such weird tales were side-burstingly hilarious.

The whole night was compered by organiser Joanna Neary (pictured at the top of the feature), who set the evening's warm tone with some chucklesome observations, some killer dance moves and a wicked impression of Bjork.

Neary deserves massive credit for putting on such a charming night and managing to attract such fine acts to a south coast town that isn't exactly on the circuit, so, if you live in the area and want to see more of these kind of events cropping up, then you need to put your full support behind That Comedy Thing. The event takes place on the first Tuesday of every month, so email thatcomedything@gmail.com to get yourself put on the mailing list.

Review by Rob Townsend.

Campaign launched to fund comedy legend's funeral

Comedy legend, Chris Sievey, that's Frank Sidebottom to you and I, sadly passed away this week and, despite being much-loved over a lengthy career, left few assets behind. In The Manchester Evening News, his son Stirling said: "My father has not left any money behind and we are struggling to try and sort his funeral out. He spent money as it came in and was always a man for the moment.

"We would not know how to go about getting that sort of money [to pay for the funeral]. They said that applying for a pauper’s funeral would be an option. We would not want our dad to have a pauper’s funeral but we would not want something over the top for him. Just something simple and dignified."

In response, Sidebottom's fans have created a facebook group with details of how to donate. Supporters can also search for the Twitter hashtag #franksfund.