Writing yesterday about the would be comedian who tanked at the open mic I attended made me think a little about comedy in Nottingham. We have two comedy clubs, Glee and Just The Tonic that carry with them a strong reputation with visiting comedians and several smaller venues offering open spots and less well known performers. However, I haven't been to any of them for a few years so I can't say if they contain home grown performers or not. The music scene in Nottingham is in good shape as we all keep telling you non-Nottingham folk about it, but could my other great love besides music, comedy, also make the national press take notice?

Music promoters, bands, and people like me telling everyone about it via radio and podcasts (and in some cases going to gigs) litter the streets of this city. They open up venues in bars and function rooms and fill Nottingham with music. Maybe this is pushing other creative outlets down the food chain, I genuinely don't know. Perhaps we do have a thriving comedy community here and I just don't know about it because I am too busy watching live music.

If there is a pool of untapped comedic potential out there then it could be used alongside the musical output that Nottingham pumps out every day of the week. It is very rare now for bills to have a compere; bands tend to just get on stage and down to business which looks okay but to mind lacks warmth, (I'm available for compering by the way). I'm a child of the age of Seaside Special and the less remembered late 1980s show Wednesday At Eight, I can't remember what day or time that was broadcast, where comedy and music managed to live side by side.

This would also (maybe) encourage people to attend a different type of gig; people who only usually go to see music would experience stand up comedy and vice versa would would in turn (again, maybe) open up each separate scene to new audiences and mean that we (Nottingham) would have another feature in its cultural cap to compensate for everything else that is wrong with the place.

This week's edition of The Sunday Alternative can be heard here.

===

April housekeeping

Please consider making either a one-off or regular donation using the PayPal button above this blog. Every penny will be used to fund creative projects that will be made available for free.

Saturday Breakfast: We are making a pilot episode of this music and cookery show and we need your help. Your donations will help to get this made.

The Sunday Alternative is a free weekly podcast. I am aiming to start making this podcast in a studio with live bands in session. This will cost at least £50 per episode so please give whatever you can.

52 podcasts and 365 blogs a year must be worth something to you?

steveEoliver@gmail.com

@SteveOliver76