In true Spinal Tap fashion, on Wednesday 3rd August, comedy showed itself to be more rock n' roll than the music industry itself, when eight brand new stand-up comics including me, took to the stage in London' fashionable Primose Hill. It was a diverse range of world viewpoints, from wry one-liner merchants to Mockney Alpha Males, there was something for everyone in comedyland.
My bellydance standup comedy routine began by my entering with in full bellydance garb with a veil to music full of Eastern promise, then bounding on stage and taking the mic. Afterwards people said that having a bellydance show fused with a comedy standup routine was really interesting to watch as quite a few of them had not seen bellydance properly done before.
The jokes were approximately in the style of Shazia Mirza meets Joan Rivers, along with observations about multicultural Britain. When I did my bellydance spins, I had to juggle the mic pretty niftily from hand to hand, plus the DJ lost the plot at one point and faded the music down and back up again at the wrong points but I turned it into a comic moment. All on a stage roughly the size of the average London suburban garden terrace ( usually only room for a couple of chairs) and you three- storey townhouse owners in Clapham can stop sniggering, we're not talking about you.
The skill and cheerful banter of our compere Barry could not be overestimated, as he warmed the audience up before each of us went on for our turn, and our comedy tutor Chris did us proud with his support, encouragement, and along the way, stern criticism, but perhaps we needed it!
I've just got to carry on, I couldn't bear not to. Once I've arranged my next shows, I'll post another blog. Watch this space!
