A Kenniston Saturday Knight!

Met ‘Sir & Lady Lot’s O’ Laughs’, at Vangelli’s about 7:30 last evening and were soon joined by ‘The Knight of the Dark Countenance’. The ‘Master’ picked us up and we were off for the Kenniston Steakhouse and Tavern. About 8:50 we arrived and found it to be a kind of cute place; the floor was so warped out of kilter that it was impossible to walk the length of the bar without appearing ‘over served!’

I looked around at the 50 to 60 patrons with a little foreboding; I was well under the average age of those in attendance. That didn’t bother me, but, the material I’ve been doing is targeted for a crowd in their twenties. I poke fun at myself and rail against the aging process, consequently I’m really making fun of old people. Hmmmm ....that might not go over well in this situation! However, that was all the material I had prepared, so I would just have to adapt it a bit. I decided to do it more in a conversational style, rather than as a bitter man railing against the fates. I also put together a little piece on how ‘starry eyed’ a resident of a Hamlet of 42 becomes when confronted by the opulence of a town of 450! This went over well I did a quick comparison of the two, and then took Kinley down a few pegs!

There were two young couples sitting front and center, but, try as I might, I could hardly get a smile out of them! They were staying at the hotel, and their english was not very good as they were from France. I always suspected that the French had no sense of humour, and my suspicion was confirmed last night! They were pretty good sports though, and responded quite well to, 'Sir Lot's O' Laughs', who is well versed in French. Can you imagine being in a French audience at a French comedy show, as an English speaker? You would problably be wondering just who all the laughing was directed at!

Two minutes into my act any trepidation I’d felt initially was dispelled. This was one of the best audiences I’ve ever faced. They were rocking the joint with laughter. One old girl, celebrating the eve of her 70th birthday, was having a great time. Another, almost the same age and weighing perhaps 300 pounds, was shaking like a Haitian Haystack! I addressed her phenomenal enthusiasm by announcing that she was welcome in Kinley any time! One old ‘dude’ was adding his own colourful commentary to my talk; not heckling, just having fun and wanting to add to it. I couldn’t say anything nasty to him, so I just acknowledged his genuine wit, and added that he was someone I’d love talking to ...after my set! Perfect, no hurt feelings, and no more interruptions!

The rest of the evening was in the same vein. They liked our, ‘Knight of the Dark Countenance’, really hit it off with,’ Sir Lot’s O’ Laughs’, and loved the ‘Master’. When all was said and done it was hard to get out of the place. One fellow grabbed me and told how he’d never seen a Comedy Show, had seen them advertised in distant locations, but had never been able to get anyone interested in attending with him; he loved it! All told, a great, though rather long evening.

Afterwards the, ‘Knight of the Dark Countenance’ quibbled a little over the reception of his material; but, he’d taken up a sheet of notes to refer to on stage. When you do that, you’re not ‘performing’ or ‘doing an act’, you’re just reading jokes! There’s a real difference in the way you will be perceived; a good comedy set is like sex ...you’ll never get more out of an audience than you were willing to put into it. Someone once said that a good comedy show should leave you feeling like your brain has been skewered by a white hot poker! Jokes on paper will never generate that kind of heat!