Comedy: We Are Funny Putney

Comedy, comedy.. last night was all about comedy on Meetup. After due consideration of all the acts I could find on YouTube, the best event seemed to be We Are Funny Putney, as advertised by Free London Events and Talks. With the caveat that I couldn't actually find most of those acts on YouTube..

It was also the closest - and being close makes such a nice change! They didn't bother, on the Meetup page, even to give the address, but I Googled it, found the We Are Funny site, and learned from there that it was in the Star & Garter, on Lower Richmond Road - lovely, I've been along there a couple of times (once unintentionally!) and figured I'd be able to get parking as well. A quick check of Streetview (once I could get it working on my internet connection) showed me that I'd probably be better off looking for parking around the other side, on the less busy road by the river. Which I believe floods occasionally.

A quick revision of the driving route, and I got there without incident - sure enough, parking was much easier by the river, and I easily found a space. Not so easily the pub itself, though - Google Maps, asked for the Star & Garter, displays another pub - the Duke's Head. I'd thought perhaps the pub had changed its name since the Streetview photo had been taken, but no - there was the Duke's Head, just where I'd parked. I decided to have a look around Lower Richmond Road - when I discovered which direction I should be going in for #4 (left), I came across a very scruffy building. This was the Star & Garter (had I zoomed right in on Google Maps, I might have seen it - they have listed it, they just point to the wrong place, at time of writing).

Reassuringly, it's much nicer inside, and I believe they cater for weddings. (They might want to spend some money on the exterior.) Again from the We Are Funny site, I knew to head for the Cellar Bar - I was surprised at how empty it was, mind! The mc actually apologised to me at the end of the night for the poor turnout, blaming it on the bank holiday. As it happened, almost the entire audience consisted of people waiting to perform. The mc guessed I was with Meetup, and introduced me to the (three) other Meetup members there, who sat with me for the first half. They weren't my Meetup group, though - the older couple kept asking me whether I'd actually signed up, and it turned out they were with Putney Social..! No sign of a single person from Free London Events and Talks - but that's exactly the experience I had with them before, they're really only any good for advertising events. I've now signed up to Putney Social - the Meetup page search is rubbish, I had to Google them - and a couple of other Putney-based groups as well; really, I'm just down the road. 10-20 minutes to drive to the Star and Garter, traffic-dependent.

The Italian mc was a laugh-riot - and with so few non-performers in the audience, we all got a ribbing! Still, it was good-natured, and the acts (certainly in the first half) were obviously either completely, or relatively, new to the stage, and were treated gently. And you know, each and every one was quite watchable - of course, it helped that they were limited to five minutes per person. Just before the interval, we had a longer act, who was absolutely hilarious..

Of the three members of Putney social, one was performing, another was her partner, and the group organiser - and the third person made a run for it at the interval! I don't think she really liked it. As usual with these things, the bar we were sitting beside wasn't serving drinks, and we had to go back upstairs to order, which is where I got chatting with the organiser. And.. that was it! He and his partner also left before the second half, making their apologies - she had to be up early. And that left me as almost the only non-performing audience member for the second half. Which, I have to say, was - sadly - dire. At the end, as the mc apologised to me, he also apologised for the poor quality. Really, they were dreadful - but that won't stop me going back, potentially - great atmosphere, great host! And the advertised headliner would probably have been good - unfortunately, her car broke down.

They aim to be out by 10:30, and so we were, and I had a fairly quick run home. In Guildford today though, so there wasn't time to blog last night. For tonight, I've arranged to go to another free comedy gig - Nikolaugh Teslaugh is advertised by London Live Comedy, and sounds decent. Mind you, it's all the way up in Kentish Town, so we'll see how I feel. I have printed the map..

Looking forward to tomorrow - back with the Man with the Hat, for the first outing of the year to The Globe! A Midsummer Night's Dream, to be precise. As usual, being too decrepit to stand for the duration, I'm being a wuss and going for a seat - so, Let's Do London - for less! it is. Atmosphere's still great. I'll be in Guildford again, so somewhat anxious about making it on time - bless, the Man with the Hat says he'll wait outside for latecomers! Now, there's a service.. Hopefully, I shan't need it. And then he's mixing it up by heading to the Anchor afterwards.. New one for me. What the hey, variety is the spice of life, as they say.

Then it's back to Ireland for the weekend, and my mother and I are off on Saturday to a violin concert called One Night in Vienna, in Glór. And back in London, on Monday I'm back with the Crick Crack Club, for Kali - in Soho Theatre again.