» The prodigal stand-up
Victoria Nangle steps back on to the boards with trepidation.
I haven’t done a gig for a while. There, I’ve said it. I lost my bottle after a few scary shows and thought I’d take a breather, which is not really the best move in the world but was the one I decided to take. Really, I should’ve got back onto the horse and just gigged on through my bad patch and got better with experience. It’s what all the pros say – just keep gigging and you’ll get better. And beside it being a bad move on the front of grim determination, it actually makes you get worse if you take too big a gap. Like riding a bicycle, you never forget how to do it but if you haven’t straddled the saddle for a while your steering’s likely to be more than a little wonky. I’ve lined up an afternoon ride. I’m getting back behind those handlebars and it’s going to be on the nicest cycle path I know.
There are friendly and unfriendly gigs. Happy and heckly. Different venues and nights have different reputations. Yes, each will have a glitch, like when a regularly sold out show finds it clashes horrendously with a mega football match. These things aren’t made to measure. But in general we can all have our favourites and rely upon them staying the same. I’ve got mine and I’m returning to the boards there after my performance siesta. It’s small, friendly, near to home and run by a lovely lot of people. Yes – I’m a chicken, but no – I’m not, because I plan to try out a few bits of new material that night too. There will be plenty of time to start trekking up to London again, slapping on my game face and smiling at those comperes who introduce me as if I were a stripper simply because I’m female. But right now, and to start up again, this is my preference.
“…smiling at those comperes who introduce me as if I were a stripper simply because I’m female.”
That’s not to say there aren’t lively and challenging nights to play closer to home. There are a variety all over, holding different challenges and prizes. That’s the beauty of gigging. It’s like being a knight of old and setting forth on quests, only to return with tales of victories or defeats to warm the cockles of your heart and to be told around an open fire. It’s an adventure, which is probably what draws creative-types to performing. They still crave the quest, looking for dragons high and low whenever they ended up on a school trip to Snowdonia.
That’s the thing about going back though. I want to win, and get that buzz from performing and putting on a good show, so back I come kicking and screaming. But to a favourite arena. Just because I’ve entered an arena doesn’t mean I have to be fed to the lions. Not if I pick the right one for me.
Victoria Nangle is performing at Rabbit In The Headlights on Friday 28 November, at Upstairs At Three And Ten. Show starts at 8pm, £6/5.
