Gimme Shelter

So... we've just added an extra date to the tour.

It'll be on Saturday, July 14th at The Bloomsbury Theatre in London and it'll be a benefit gig for Shelter.

I wanted to do it for several reasons - and obviously the fact that Shelter is such a good cause was a big one.

I'm really proud of this show. I think it's where I've really worked out my best way of working.

But what is good about it is also limiting when I step outside of a tour.

A ten minute chunk of the show wouldn't make sense. I don't really have any material that works in a short set. This works to my advantage when it comes to a tour show - because the thing that's making the audience laugh in the 47th minute is informed by everything in minutes 1 to 46 and that intensifies some of the humour. It's not so good in a situation where a short set is called for. In that situation I can either do some very old material... or I can try and patch something together... but in either case it won't be an example of me at my best. This is what I do best. This is what I want people to see.

So often, when I'm asked if I'll appear at a benefit the answer is no. It's not because I don't want to support a cause... it's just that when you appear on a stage, you're representing what you do for a living. If people in an audience know that I'm a comic but have never seen any of my live shows they'll assume that what they're seeing in a ten minute spot is ten-minutes-of-what-they'd-see-if-they-came-to-a-show. That'd be the case for pretty much everyone else on the bill. But I'd know I was selling myself short... but you can't really explain that. "Oh by the way folks... I hope you enjoy this... but it's not really what I do..." doesn't compute in that situation.

One of the reasons people ask you to do short spots is that they think it's easier for several people to do a short bit. But for me it's much easier to do a show. To do what I'm really proud of.

Absolute Radio have partnered with Shelter for a while now, so they're involved too. I hope you can come along. You can get tickets here.