Living The Dream
This is just an excuse to get some bloody blogging done, as the last two brief posts, spread far and wide across the sea of time like delapidated groins poking up from the waves, hesitantly hinting at the structure of my life that lies beneath, hardly seem to do the trick.
We went to see Daniel Kitson do his Weltenschauung and Tales For The Wobbly Hearted shows at the Regents Park open air theatre. Butterflies fluttered by, fireworks heckled, there was pink light in the trees, and I think I saw a dragonfly.
This was the first time we'd seen Kitson outside of the Brixton Comedy Club, a much more intimate venue with a vocal, but generally warm, polite and regular crowd. The main difference was that what we had seen of Weltenschauung was sketchy, with Kitson finding his way through his own material. At Regent's Park, which Kitson claimed was the biggest gig of his career (no mean feat considering he won the Perrier four years ago), the show was fully formed and polished. It was missing a little of the excitement, but was also the first time I'd seen this material and felt I could get some sense of the cohesive whole.
Prominent audience members included Paul Whitehouse and Simon Day, who seemed to enjoy Kitson's attack on Lads mags. I had to steel myself from watching their reactions though.
The second part was something I literally had no prior experience of, save for some of Gavin Osbourne's songs. Kitson performed a series of short stories, unashamedly sentimental, life affirming and all those uncool things we're supposed to be above. Lovely way in which Kitson and Osbourne worked seamlessly together; not a sense of chemistry, really, just a sort of rightness about the two of them performing.
The stories themselves tended to be surreal without being impossible, and were chiefly about characters trying to connect to the right people, to make friendships that can remain true despite their imperfections, or the pressures of the world around us. They had the kind of hope I find impossible to bring out in my own writing. I guess the nearest I'll get is the girl smiling at the end of Magnolia.
Anyhoo, see Kitson! He remains the finest stand-up comedian of his generation.
We went to see Daniel Kitson do his Weltenschauung and Tales For The Wobbly Hearted shows at the Regents Park open air theatre. Butterflies fluttered by, fireworks heckled, there was pink light in the trees, and I think I saw a dragonfly.
This was the first time we'd seen Kitson outside of the Brixton Comedy Club, a much more intimate venue with a vocal, but generally warm, polite and regular crowd. The main difference was that what we had seen of Weltenschauung was sketchy, with Kitson finding his way through his own material. At Regent's Park, which Kitson claimed was the biggest gig of his career (no mean feat considering he won the Perrier four years ago), the show was fully formed and polished. It was missing a little of the excitement, but was also the first time I'd seen this material and felt I could get some sense of the cohesive whole.
Prominent audience members included Paul Whitehouse and Simon Day, who seemed to enjoy Kitson's attack on Lads mags. I had to steel myself from watching their reactions though.
The second part was something I literally had no prior experience of, save for some of Gavin Osbourne's songs. Kitson performed a series of short stories, unashamedly sentimental, life affirming and all those uncool things we're supposed to be above. Lovely way in which Kitson and Osbourne worked seamlessly together; not a sense of chemistry, really, just a sort of rightness about the two of them performing.
The stories themselves tended to be surreal without being impossible, and were chiefly about characters trying to connect to the right people, to make friendships that can remain true despite their imperfections, or the pressures of the world around us. They had the kind of hope I find impossible to bring out in my own writing. I guess the nearest I'll get is the girl smiling at the end of Magnolia.
Anyhoo, see Kitson! He remains the finest stand-up comedian of his generation.
posted by Hamilton's Brain | 9:12 pm
3 Comments:
I'm saving up a recording of Wobbly-Hearted to listen to on my next long train journey. Would love to see DK live at some point though.
C90 is on at the Riverside Studios between the 25th and 29th of July, but that's a play and we don't even know if he's in it. I'll certainly drop you a line next time he's on at Brixton. We might even allow you sofa space, if you're very good.
I had word yesterday from Mr Kitson that C90 is a story show, but one long story rather than a series of short ones like what Wobbly Hearted was.
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