Derby Needs Music and Comedy
Furthest From The Sea, a record and promotions group in Derby has started up a monthly live, free arts and entertainment show in Derby Market Place on the third Saturday of the month. Matt McGuinness, the insanely busy front man for Karl and The Marx Brothers dragged me into it. I was originally due to perform a series of Captain Pigheart’s pirate stories throughout the day, but the unfortunate illness of the compere, Tony ‘BigIssue’ Peppiatt (a splendid man) meant that I ended up compering the whole day! It was excellent fun, once I’d consumed a mammoth quantity of caffeine (thank you Caffe Nero for filling a large mug with espressos).
I got the chance to rail at drunks, berate children for asking foolish questions (we’re performing where there is usually a fountain, hence “where’s the water?” I suppose), fill gaps by chuckling at the other performers, terrify some kids who wanted to be chased by a growling pirate, and see a bunch of friends! We’ve also received a decent amount of local press coverage. I have a picture with the lovely dancing ladies and everything!
The Acts
Harriet
I’ve done a couple of gigs with Harriet, and excepting her appalling youth (18!) she is a wonderful singer. She also peppers her act with dreadful jokes which still make me laugh and she can endure me improvising about her pineapple juice addiction.
You can find her gigging constantly in Derby and Nottingham. I see her photograph everywhere I go. It’s a bit creepy.
[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/60862120″ params=”” width=” 100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]
https://www.facebook.com/Harriet.livemusic
Lily Gornall
I like Spoken Word (it’s what I do after all) and poetry has a fascinating effect on audiences. It’s a nice break from music and means people have to pay attention.
Lily’s poems are funny and modern in content, so there was much for the crowd to empathise with.
She has a book! Buy her book from Amazon. Villa of Pain and Other Funny Poems/
Josh Kemp
I had completely forgotten that I already knew Josh because he played one half of ‘His N Hers’ a creepy brother-sister double-act in Lloydie’s play An HR’d Day’s Night. He’s one of those magical people who uses pedal-powered loop things to perform as a one-man band. Every time he stops singing or playing yet the music continues it blows my tiny mind…. He’s got a great pop music thing going.
[soundcloud url=”http://api.soundcloud.com/playlists/5290207″ params=”” width=” 100%” height=”450″ iframe=”true” /]
http://www.joshkempmusic.webs.com/
Arjana Dance
Belly dancers! In Derby, barefoot and (seemingly) barely clad with nothing but a carpet to separate them from the ground. They dance beautifully. I have no meaningful descriptions for dancing, but their delighted grins captivated the audience. I have only once before performed with dancers, I look forwards to doing it again.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKdZybfxfWo&w=420&h=315]
http://www.dianamehiradance.webs.com/
Leo Swarvett
Another poet, loud and demanding on the audience! Leo has lots of fun wordplay which I enjoyed and he bounds about most dynamically. He has some very strange poems… well worth catching if you see him around (just remember to release him back into the wild).
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTxKyxBQK6I&w=560&h=315]
Captain Pigheart
I almost left myself out! The fool… Since I was also compering I switching between personas which I always find slightly confusing. Still, I feel that the frantic babble-o-tron is my primary USP as a compere: I will fill every gap, whether it’s with a list of the medical benefits of pineapple juice or a lament on the literacy of youth (both from Saturday). I read a few different stories, with a mediocre effort to edit out any specifically family-unfriendly references as you can tell from the list below. It’s hard to edit out whoring, greasing large wenches or fisting whales once you’re in full flow…
The Missing Metacarpal Adventure
Next Show
The next Knickerbocker Glorious is on Saturday 15th June
http://www.derbycathedralquarter.co.uk/CQGlorious
Even better – the full Furthest From The Sea Acoustic and Comedy Festival is Saturday 29th June in Derby Market Place – ALL day, ALL FREE