Theatre and circus

[Memory Man]

13 hours ago, Brave Sir Robin said:

Surely Acaster would be much more expensive than Joly these days??

He absolutely would. Previous poster living in dreamland. Acaster is in the upper tier of uk comics and unless its a favour wont be getting out of bed for less than multiple thousands. Dom joly is a has been who was famous about 20 years ago.

just look at their tour dates. Dom joly plays St Helens and a small venue in York (crescent) where acaster performs in the biggest theatres that arent arenas (such as leeds grand theatre) when on tour. Night and day.

leeds grand theatre capacity 1500

york crescent standing capacity 250 so seated, 150?

10 times difference 😂

Edited April 28, 2022 by Memory Man

[Stokesy10]

Does stuff happen in the theatre tent and outside it on the Thursday? I've been before to see stuff but can't for the life of me think what day

 

[blutarsky]

9 hours ago, clarkete said:

These are two series Acaster has been fully involved in every episode 2022...

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14663936/ - writing 

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8755818/ - co-presenting

He's also been a guest on Travel Man, Great British Menu and Pointless Celebrities all in 2022 and guested on tons of late night shows in 2021 - Big Fat Quiz, QI, Something about Movies, Seth Meyers, Question Team, Richard Herring, Channel Hopping, Big Zuu, Jonathon Ross.

I agree Acaster is far bigger than DJ, but... I don't think his cut through is that huge. The TV shows linked were both on small networks and aren't on any big streaming platform, just UKTV's own platform. They're both shows that are in the wheelhouse of fans of UK comedy, but wouldn't necessarily be on the radar of the general public in the way they would be if they were on a terrestrial channel. 

I reckon there's a fairly large chunk of society who would know him best for this:

Edited April 28, 2022 by blutarsky
Gif fail

[Memory Man]

29 minutes ago, Stokesy10 said:

Does stuff happen in the theatre tent and outside it on the Thursday? I've been before to see stuff but can't for the life of me think what day

 

Yes, there is stuff a bit further up on the “gateway riser” (in the top field near the summer house) but its a far cry from the friday-sunday

[DeanoL]

3 hours ago, Memory Man said:

He absolutely would. Previous poster living in dreamland. Acaster is in the upper tier of uk comics and unless its a favour wont be getting out of bed for less than multiple thousands. Dom joly is a has been who was famous about 20 years ago.

just look at their tour dates. Dom joly plays St Helens and a small venue in York (crescent) where acaster performs in the biggest theatres that arent arenas (such as leeds grand theatre) when on tour. Night and day.

leeds grand theatre capacity 1500

york crescent standing capacity 250 so seated, 150?

10 times difference 😂

You wouldn't get either out of bed for less a few grand. I'm not denying Acaster would cost £3000-£5000, I'm just arguing that wouldn't get Dom Joly to headline your local night for £500 either.

If pushed I think Joly would be slightly more expensive, but maybe Acaster would be - the point is they're both going to be in the same range. Yeah, Joly should be cheaper as he's not currently as relevant, but that tends not to matter.

(And you're picking venues to match your argument there - Acaster did some smaller theatres on his last tour and there are bigger ones on Joly's list)

Trust me, of all the comics on that poster, Dom Joly and Jonathan Pie easily command the highest fees *because* they're outside of that main touring stand-up circuit.

[clarkete]

2 hours ago, blutarsky said:

I agree Acaster is far bigger than DJ, but... I don't think his cut through is that huge. The TV shows linked were both on small networks and aren't on any big streaming platform, just UKTV's own platform. They're both shows that are in the wheelhouse of fans of UK comedy, but wouldn't necessarily be on the radar of the general public in the way they would be if they were on a terrestrial channel. 

I reckon there's a fairly large chunk of society who would know him best for this:

Funnily enough that's one of the birthday cards I received and very much enjoyed.  You're right about those 2 shows, but the others he's guested on are across the Beeb, ITV and Channel 4 and all have audiences of millions.

 

I agree with @gigpusher and @Memory Man that there will be a generational aspect and below a certain age some folks won't be very familiar at all with Dom Joly, but will have seen James Acaster on lots of things.  To be honest a great many of those reach older viewers too - Taskmaster, Cats does Countdown, House of Games, Live at the Apollo.

I'm in my 50s and have seen many of the above and not because I'm slavishly seeking him out, I just watch a lot of comedy stuff and he's very well featured.  As MM points out - he's also not one of the folks who's doing the rounds in the smaller venues where I live either.

 

 

[gigpusher]

8 minutes ago, clarkete said:

Funnily enough that's one of the birthday cards I received and very much enjoyed.  You're right about those 2 shows, but the others he's guested on are across the Beeb, ITV and Channel 4 and all have audiences of millions.

 

I agree with @gigpusher and @Memory Man that there will be a generational aspect and below a certain age some folks won't be very familiar at all with Dom Joly, but will have seen James Acaster on lots of things.  To be honest a great many of those reach older viewers too - Taskmaster, Cats does Countdown, House of Games, Live at the Apollo.

I'm in my 50s and have seen many of the above and not because I'm slavishly seeking him out, I just watch a lot of comedy stuff and he's very well featured.  As MM points out - he's also not one of the folks who's doing the rounds in the smaller venues where I live either.

 

 

To be fair I think there'll be plenty of people who won't really know Nish Kumar, Adam Hills and even Josh Widdecombe as well because they don't do political comedy. My sister in law won't watch The Last Leg because she never watches or pays attention to the news and it makes her feel stupid. 

I think the whole I'm on the phone sketch from Dom Joly maybe captured something at the time and gives him more recognition. I've never watched him in my life but I know about that. 

[CaledonianGonzo]

I don't think festival sets are that cushy an option - especially for fomally tricksy, cerebral content - and I expect Acaster is now at the point - like Dan the man - where he just doesn't want to do them.

[Mardy]

Galgon calls it right. It's not the place for structured shows with elaborate flights of fantasy, callbacks etc, it's a 10 minute Saturday night mixed bill with a drunken crowd. Hard hard work for a comedian. The people doing it are the ones who'd be there as punters anyway, Godliman, Widdecombe, Kumar etc. It's a world away from their normal shows. 

[Little Andy]

I actually thought Acaster was one of the biggest comedians in the country at the moment, but that may be my warped view cos I wanna watch anything he's in.

[gigpusher]

7 minutes ago, CaledonianGonzo said:

I don't think festival sets are that cushy an option - especially for fomally tricksy, cerebral content - and I expect Acaster is now at the point - like Dan the man - where he just doesn't want to do them.

I'd imagine that festival sets are quite nightmarish and they are not suited to just doing your latest tour as you don't get that long. People used to doing live tv probably have an advantage. 

[moogster]

Does anyone have tips for cabaret acts which are not "too" British? By this I mean without too many references to (half) famous people/news bits which don't mean much when you don't live in the UK. I went to a couple of acts that were recommended but having no clue who/what about the jokes were meant it didn't really work out... As in I'll get a reference to Boris and lockdown parties but not so much more...

[blutarsky]

3 minutes ago, clarkete said:

Funnily enough that's one of the birthday cards I received and very much enjoyed.  You're right about those 2 shows, but the others he's guested on are across the Beeb, ITV and Channel 4 and all have audiences of millions.

Guested, rather than being a regular though... I don't know why I'm making the point, as I broadly agree with you. 

45 minutes ago, Little Andy said:

I actually thought Acaster was one of the biggest comedians in the country at the moment, but that may be my warped view cos I wanna watch anything he's in.

I think you're right, but I'm also probably biased. He's pretty much the same age as me we share more or less the same interests, so naturally I'm going to be drawn to his comedy. His Netflix special with the bit about Torvill and Dean where he's on his knees was really clever and I'm also a subscriber to his Perfect Sounds pod and Off Menu. 

[philipsteak]

1 hour ago, CaledonianGonzo said:

I don't think festival sets are that cushy an option - especially for fomally tricksy, cerebral content - and I expect Acaster is now at the point - like Dan the man - where he just doesn't want to do them.

Never mind festivals, he doesn't seem to want to tour full stop. He said he'd given it up after his last tour. Looks like he's gone back on that now though and is previewing a new show. 

 

[DeanoL]

1 hour ago, Mardy said:

Galgon calls it right. It's not the place for structured shows with elaborate flights of fantasy, callbacks etc, it's a 10 minute Saturday night mixed bill with a drunken crowd. Hard hard work for a comedian. The people doing it are the ones who'd be there as punters anyway, Godliman, Widdecombe, Kumar etc. It's a world away from their normal shows. 

For the Cabaret tent sure - but as I mentioned, Ruby Wax, Jonathan Pie and others have done full one hour shows in the Astrolabe - indeed, that's mostly what's on in there - longer structured shows, just often theatre or dance instead. I am assuming Joly is doing that and Kumar etc. are doing shorter sets at the Cabaret tent. If Joly is doing a 20 on Saturday afternoon in the Cabaret and Nish is doing his one hour show in Astrolabe then I'll stand corrected!

[clarkete]

43 minutes ago, blutarsky said:

Guested, rather than being a regular though... I don't know why I'm making the point, as I broadly agree with you. 

Yes, I only mentioned them as a comparison as I think Dom Joly has only done House of Games and the other stuff he's done on telly recently has been Celebrity x or retrospective shows about the noughties.

Whoever they have I'm sure we'll all have a lovely time 🙂 

[clarkete]

Purely as they were discussed quite a bit in this thread and one of them is playing (I don't get the hatred for him tbh, I've enjoyed plenty of JW's stuff).

https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2022/apr/29/james-acaster-josh-widdicombe-hypothetical 

[CurrySauce]

On 4/27/2022 at 1:12 PM, DeanoL said:

Gecko are a dance/physical theatre company

 

 

Thanks for going through the list! Just a correction on the above, gecko is a singer songwriter who writes really great songs that are both thought provoking and funny. Couldn't recommend him enough 

[Calvin Klein]

On 4/28/2022 at 3:41 AM, Perks said:

ace video, get me back there

yeah, there's so much going on at the same time. lovely place 😄 

[elgatonegrofabricwardrobe]

Had a flick through this yesterday at my Nan's. Did nowt for me. Sadly Pam, I'm out.

[DeanoL]

Some more acts and details announced on the T&C Instagram including

Lekiddo Lord of the Lobsters

Array Collective are doing a walkabout show involving characters from Irish Legend

Nina Conti is doing the Cabaret stage

Midnight Playground doing LED hoop stuff in the Circus Field

Eloise Cirque doing the circus tent

Jonathan Pie is doing the Astrolabe Thursday and Friday (imagine Thursday will be busy!)

Eloise Currie at the circus

Masters of the Kazooniverse doing a walkabout show 

There's a new metal installation with flames

Box 9D doing an LED Drum and Brass show every night a the Astrolabe

The world's smallest escape room in a portaloo (I think @Justiceforcedave may be behind this)

Stuart Goldsmith (comedian) self confirmed for stuff on the Astrolabe, Sensation Seekers and Cabaret (Sun pm) stages.

[Stu H]

The Walkabouts in this part of the site are some of my favourite parts of the festival!

The grannies on motorised trolleys and Vamos Theatre being particular highlights from past years!

[marathonsteve]

1 hour ago, DeanoL said:

Some more acts and details announced on the T&C Instagram including

Lekiddo Lord of the Lobsters

Array Collective are doing a walkabout show involving characters from Irish Legend

Nina Conti is doing the Cabaret stage

Midnight Playground doing LED hoop stuff in the Circus Field

Eloise Cirque doing the circus tent

Jonathan Pie is doing the Astrolabe Thursday and Friday (imagine Thursday will be busy!)

Eloise Currie at the circus

Masters of the Kazooniverse doing a walkabout show 

There's a new metal installation with flames

Box 9D doing an LED Drum and Brass show every night a the Astrolabe

The world's smallest escape room in a portaloo (I think @Justiceforcedave may be behind this)

Stuart Goldsmith (comedian) self confirmed for stuff on the Astrolabe, Sensation Seekers and Cabaret (Sun pm) stages.

Lekiddo sounds fishy to me . Anyone seen the act

[Beerqueen]

10 minutes ago, marathonsteve said:

Lekiddo sounds fishy to me . Anyone seen the act

Not sure what you mean.  Yes, seen him loads and he's great - a real legend.  

[gazzared]

23 minutes ago, marathonsteve said:

Lekiddo sounds fishy to me . Anyone seen the act

Very funny, possibly the worst songs you'll ever here "the beach I know so welllllll" but also very entertaining 🤣🤣🤣

https://youtu.be/onGLRPrpo9Q    https://youtu.be/tFUcziN7l08

 

Edited May 11, 2022 by gazzared