"I'm a serving soldier .... that normally gets applause"

[eFestivals]

The wonderful thing about comedy at a festival is that people are quite happy to watch anyone without them having to be famous. As long as they're funny, people always leave happy.

As the sponsor of the comedy at Wychwood, I always make a point of checking some of it out. eFestivals doesn't actually have any part in the booking of the acts, that's left to the pros.

Anyway, I was there on Friday night and caught the end of the first act - more than decent enough.

Then we were treated to a story by the compere, of how he lost his job on daytime BBC TV. It was quite a tail.

Then another act came on (unfortunately I don't know who), who started with some fairly weak jokes, before things rapidly went downhill. And where it started to go downhill was here...

him: "I'm a serving solider".

audience: nothing happens

him, a bit puzzled: "that normally gets applause"

audience: two or three people clap weakly.

him: starts talking about Afghanistan, asking if anyone has been, and then telling the audience that no one has been cos it's such a shit country.

It's clear that the audience are far from impressed.

At around this point I start to leave - I've been coming down with a cold all day, and I've pushed myself as far as I can; dreadful comedy is not making me forget I'm feeling ill. I need my bed.

As I'm leaving there's some people at the back who start shouting "get off", "you're rubbish", etc. I fear the worst for that 'comedian'. Later my friends tell me that he got boo'd off.

In some ways I feel sorry for him, cos he's trying his best, and he's obviously fairly new to comedy. I suspect that the root of the problem is that his previous audiences have been giving him sympathy laughs because he's "a serving solider", and those with a strong "we must support 'our boys'" streak think that anything but slavish support to any serviceman in any situation is equal to shooting them yourself.

Anyway, the moral of this story? Know your audience, and tailor your act to suit them.

I hope that next year there's no act that bombs as badly.

All the same my thanks go to those people responsible for the bookings and presentation of the comedy - you do a great job overall.

[Banana Co]

Completely agree! I felt sorry for him but he was pretty racist at times and he just carried on talking.

I know that it said comedy by efestivals but I don't know how much you lot have to do with it but I'd like to say that apart from the mentioned "comedian" and Will Hodgson I think that the comedy was pretty good. Robin Ince; always hilarious, Sol Bernstein; amazing "new" discovery!

[Neville Street]

the host was great and most of the others we saw, but we had the misfortune to see "soldier boy" and also left, half to talk rubbish in the campsite whilst eating some yummy home made patatas bravas concoction, half to dance like idiots in the disco, so not a lost evening