Alternative Ulster

[News Bot]

What's wrong with the Northern Irish scene? Nothing much, says Ciaran Bartlerr

[mrmclaughlin]

Hello Ciaran

Please find my response to your piece here.

http://what-is-wrong-with-ni-comedy.posterous.com/

Thanks

James

[cocknhens]

When you start a comedy night, you never intend for it to not be funny. Comedians get better at what they do in the same way anything else, by practice. Stage time is important, and when you start out, you're almost always shit. That's kind of just how it goes. You do it more, you get better, the cream rises and those who excel go on to do it professionally. Those who do alright will remain with a day job, picking up work here and there when they can, and you'll also always end up with perpetual open spots. But in order to get good, you have to have the deaths, you have to learn the craft and you have to do it on stage.

Your argument is almost catch 22 in its nature. People need to find the night funny to come back, yes, but the scene in NI is only in its very early days, so there aren't that many truly great acts...yet. Invariably therefore, some nights will be of a low standard until the acts playing those nights get enough time on that stage to hone their craft. Northern Ireland isn't unique, I'm based in London now and there are the same nights here as well. It's just that the city is infinitely larger and also boasts a selection of some of the finest comedy clubs the world has to offer alongside them, not to mention thousands and thousands of budding comics in line with Northern Ireland's double figures. Almost every bar with a decent space, and even several without host comedy nights or have done in London. Most of them are shit. By definition they're going to be, for the same reason, the acts playing them haven't had the necessary experience to become good yet, those that do have graduated on to the bigger clubs that are better to play.

I don't agree with your point about hecklers in any manner or form though. Hecklers can contribute to nights in a positive way, but they rarely do. Mostly they're an annoyance, drunk people whose lost inhibitions are what normally keep them being less of a cock. Some acts thrive on audience participation and interaction, others, some truly great acts are very strictly material based, in a scripted format and can't deviate from that. Northern Ireland has hecklers, you are wrong on that point, if you haven't seen them then it's a personal issue with you, but they do exist, to suggest they don't is silly.

In conclusion, your criticism isn't really right. You're criticising something for being what it is. You can't complain about open mic nights being slapdash and unprofessional because that's the very nature of them. If you attended a top night and that was happening, then your points would be more than valid. You also state that people shouldn't have to pay to see this. This is actually a matter of psychology and economics. When you remove the cover charge you devalue the night, without people making a monetary investment they don't act appropriately, they have very little respect for the event. The trick is to finding a number that is value for the entertainment the audience receives without being too much to put them off.

Ultimately, comedy in Northern Ireland is a macrocosm of an open mic comedy night. It hasn't been going for very long, the audience don't really know much about it and its comics are new and inexperienced. But like every long running open mic, you'll see the acts improve, you'll see the tiered levels appear, you'll see the acts appear more frequently as they improve, and then get too good to appear anymore and gravitate to television, radio, dvd and theatres. You're just going to have to wait, there are some great NI acts already, there are a few rough diamonds for the future and of course there are many more howlers. But you make out that they're doing something on purpose, they're just trying to make their way in a very tough industry and forge a career while following a dream. It's not easy, you're a performer you should understand that. So positive criticism is a good thing, use your skills to actually review acts rather than simply running them down and everything they do, because that's just counterproductive.

Ryan

[Twanky]

i read your response the other day and my only retort is to suggest a few notes:

firstly i didn't call it alternative ulster- that's a chortle idea. the scebe was also an editorial mistake on chortle's part.

secondly, in my final draft of the piece, i didn't mention you or your article at all- that was chortle.

moreover, i feel that you're entitled to your opinion but i felt your piece was a bit troll-based for chortle and sought to redress the balance. i added my drafts to scribed so other comedians could feedback so they felt i had completed the task accordingly- i was writing for them as much as for myself.

lastly, to describe my act as open-mic level is truly inaccurate. i work at headline level only in smaller clubs and support level or above in professional clubs- all that in a two year stint which due to family health issues had an 8 month gap in the middle. i wouldn't get this without making the crowds laugh, mate. that's most important. i also have commitments at university and when my phd is done i intend to give pro comedy a real lash. still, keep on truckin and all that. i'll be on some new radio and tv programmes this year because i'm doing well- haters gunna hate all the time anyway. matter is closed for me.
_________________
Stick the onesy on, sure it's gunna be smashing.

[mrmclaughlin]

Hi Ciaran. Apologies if you thought I was trolling in either of my articles. I wasn't. I do indeed feel strongly about what I have written.

My initial article was quite a dumbed down version, mainly because I was writing it for the wider audience found on Chortle. (It was also heavily edited by Chortle so it's a bit lacking in places.) Hence why references to Colin Geddis became Barry the Blender. Something I noticed you pulled me on in your initial draft. I've seen Colin several times and even took a picture of him posing with my friends outside a local club. Seems like a nice guy. I have no qualms with him. My point was there seems to have been some sort of group that's sprung up dealing in the smuttier side of comedy and I think the whole Barry the Blender thing describes it well. Possibly even having created the audience for it.

I have never seen you perform comedy so I can't really comment on whether I think you're an open mic or not.

My question to you though is: if the scene is so young then how can any local open mic call themselves a comedian? I personally don't think you can call yourself a proper comedian until you're gigging throughout the UK and getting paid to do so in every club you play. When you're still regularly doing the open spot in any venue you're still an open mic.

As for local TV and radio, do I even need to talk about it? Do people think LOL and Sketchy were good? Anyone I've spoken to agreed they were terrible. BBC NI has never really made any good comedy shows. But I digress. Congratulations on the TV and radio appearances you are indeed doing well.

James