Furthest From The Sea Festival 2015
I am knackered. I blame Matt McGuinness and Dan Webber in particular. The reasons are diverse and good, and chiefly centre on last Saturday. For the third year in a row Furthest From The Sea have organised a huge free festival of music, theatre, comedy and arts in the middle of Derby. It’s ace, and I’ve been privileged to be involved in them all. This year I got involved really late, and I’ve been out of the FFTS scene all year. I really only have two skills though, and I’m pretty much useless until this point. I can talk (endlessly), and so got to compere the St Peter’s Quarter stage. I managed not to say a single offensive thing about religion (into the mic) for the whole day. My other skill is in carrying things. I lack any technical grasp of the magic boxes of switches and sliders, but I can carry bits of gazebo and weights across the town centre.
It was an amazing day. I got up early (though not as early as the hardcore crew) and got to Derby at around nine. It was drizzling cheerfully and a cool tonic to my recently caffeinated frame. I haven’t been drinking coffee daily for nearly a month and by god it felt marvellous. So – two hours of set up, a change of stage to compere, many, many weights to carry and people to chirp at happily. It was great to see a whole bunch of people who I adore and hadn’t realised I’d missed so much.
A Lovely Day’s Babble
We managed to kick our stage off on time, despite the inevitable agonies of tech. I was happily reunited with the dedicatedly miserable Jamie Darcy with whom I’ve done many Knickerbocker Gloriouses and his assistant Becky. It went marvellously. I enjoy the shuffling of acts when someone’s late (or missing entirely) and conspiring to get it all back on track. I also love talking to drunks and shouting youths: they make great stooges, as do many of the acts.
We had a couple of improv slots too, once on our stage for some improv games like Alphabet Game and Letter Replacement Therapy which went down well, then we ran off down to the Theatre Stage an hour later to deliver a spot of mock-Shakespeare: The Locksmith, a formerly unknown work by big Bill. That was a lot of fun.
The only problem with compering a stage is that you don’t get to see all the other cool stuff happening. Still, I loved the day. I even loved the break down afterwards (third t-shirt!) and then, of course, going to the pub. I also got to see a very old friend – the friendship is old, she’s the same age as me… oh, that is quite old – and meet her other half and miniature humans. Shocking! But very lovely.
Here are some badly taken photographs: https://www.flickr.com/photos/eric_the_bewildered_weasel/sets/72157654543018859/
The St Peter’s Quarter Stage Running Order
Samuel James Tidmarsh – a beautifully coiffed man with a ukelele and a voice you could spread on toast
The Feathers – the superb folk act who actually fought back the rain
Rebecca Rhythm – the rain returned and Rebecca tapped right through it, which looked very much like a slip hazard. Turns out I might not be a good tap dancer.
Carl North – the quality half of Lucille (sorry Scott…)
Rhythmical Mike – fast-paced performance poetry delivered into the faces of an unsuspecting crowd
The Herron Brothers – very good humoured indie pop stuff (I don’t know what genres mean anymore) with two charming performers
MissImp – that’s us! Marilyn and Martin joined me for a string of word torture games
Arjana Dance – as ever, the ladies captured a huge crowd with their graceful dancing and glittering costumes
https://youtu.be/30haUG7-IIM
The Open Road – the only set I missed because I was performing on the Theatre Stage. But I have their CD and it’s great!
Louise Grattan – fine fiddling action which made me feel like I was in the middle of a film. Electric violin – what the fuck!
Fine Arts Society – they put me back into the nineties with their splendid indie sound
♥Last Week’s Scribbles
This Week, Monday 15th June 2015 – immersion is so fine
Drinking Diary on Pinterest – this is what I drink
Upcoming Events
Tuesday 7th July – Interrobang – Improv Comedy Night
Interrobang is part of the Derby Comedy Festival. The only show of its kind in Derby, brought to you by MissImp & Furthest from the Sea Music, Comedy & Arts, features an improvised comedy jam in which everyone can take part, followed by a showcase of the best improv in the region.
Tickets are £5 preorder and £6 on the Door. Click here to book:http://bit.ly/1FwwgMt
Hosted in the Cube (Cafe/Bar) area of Déda Derby through out the night you will be able to order food and drink.
Box Office Phone: 01332 370 911
Déda Derby – Déda, 19 Chapel Street, Cathedral Quarter, DE1 3GU Derby
