| Funny First Monday | The first Monday of the month at O'Neils, Victoria Street, St Albans. Except January 2007 when it's on the 8th! Table service from 7.00pm. Comedy from 8.00-10.00pm Advance tickets available from info@starts.org.uk or O’Neill’s Cost: £4.00 or £5.00 on the door. Special student price with ID: £3.00 in advance, £4.00 on the door 8 January 2007 line up Headliner Geoff Norcott has already made a real impact on the national comedy circuit since he started in stand-up in 2001 and this ex-teacher turned full-time comic has credits that include performing at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2006 and many television appearances. London-based Michael Fabbri's original and sometimes quite dark routines have involved anything from homicidal school fetes and door-to-door atheists to his own view of reality TV. Joe Bor is an observational character comedian whose performance includes impressions of hippies, naturists, Goths and rugby players and he has been described as ‘memorably charismatic’. James Kettle completes the evening’s line-up with what he describes as his essentially true-to-life but very dark observations. He advises his audiences to ‘hold the line’ because ‘love isn’t always on time’. |
There's often not much to laugh about in St Albans these days - but this is certainly not true of one night in the month when Funny First Monday pitches up in the city!
 | | John Mawer |
On the first Monday of every month (strangely enough!) at O'Neils bar in Victoria Street you can enjoy a top class comedy night and this week, resident compère John Mawer told Katy Lewis more about it. What is Funny First Monday? John: Funny First Monday is a regular comedy night that we do once a month on, surprisingly enough, the first Monday of every month! Hence the name - they were up all night thinking about that one! It's in the O'Neil's bar in St Albans and it's run by START - St Albans Arts Group - a sterling group of exciting young people. We've been running for about a year now and we have four acts that come each time that we do it - Edinburgh previews and shows like that. We start with an opener act, then we have a couple of smaller acts in the middle then we have a great big stonking huge act at the end. It's always lots of fun and I'm the resident compère. It sounds great because there's not always a lot to laugh about in St Albans! (I can say that - I live there!) John: But there's always such joy floating out from every pore when I get there! What's the atmosphere like at these nights then? John: It's nice. I think because we started out through the arts group, a lot of the people who came to begin with were more arts orientated than your average comedy audience so we get a really nice collection of people coming along and we get a lot of regulars who come back. It's a nice big friendly fun room with lots of candles and a microphone that quite often falls over and stops working. It's a very nice atmosphere, but they are not a heckly audience though in St Albans. It makes it harder for me though because I'm there every month so I have to sort of banter as they've already heard all my jokes. All the stuff I've got that's funny has been done now. I just have to rely on talking absolute drivel to the audience so it's better if they do shout a little bit. But they're friendly, they're quite reserved but they can give as good as they get if required. That sums St Albans up perfectly - friendly, a little reserved but with a bit of a sting! John: Yes - it's got a bite! So, it's in O'Neils in Victoria Street - is it in a separate room or something?
 | | Geoff Norcott |
John: No we take over the whole bar as we get quite decent sized audiences. It's very Blue Peter the way it's all set up but it does work very well. We have a little stage that we plonk together in the middle of the room and the stage blocks are brilliant because they're held together by two little clips that always fall out - so you can guarantee that even if you don't think the act is funny there's a good chance they will fall off stage or at the very least fall between the stage blocks which makes for a lot of fun! So you get your comedy in another way as well?! John: Yes - there's slapstick - can you see what we're doing there? It's on two levels! You've got your actual comedians and you've got physical violence with people possible going to be maimed and that's worth the entrance money alone. £5 to see people get hurt!! Where else can you get that?! It's a bargain! This month though it's funny Second Monday because of New year's Day isn't it? John: Yes - we're Funny Second Monday for this one month only so that makes it a World Premiere really - so you should be ultra excited! Who have you got on then?! John: Normally because you're so close to London you get lots of great London acts and it's a good little line up this month. We've got Geoff Norcott as the main act this time and I've heard lots of really good things about him although I've never been privileged enough to see him. He's a great act and very lively.
 | | Michael Fabbri |
We've got Michael Fabbri who's a newer act who's steaming up through the ranks of comedians very quickly and someone to keep an eye on. Then a couple of middle spots - Joe Bor and also another guy called James Kettle who's new to the whole thing - we like to get a few newbie people in there as well. In fact that's the only thing we're missing - St Albans needs to start sending people along that we can put on as new acts. We'll always be happy if someone comes up and suggests themselves. I've got a few gags! John: We can get you on! This could be it - this could be your break! This is mine - talking to you now I hope will boost my career 20 fold. Oh - it always does - here's where it all starts! John: There are three counties out there who desperately want good comedy! This isn't really your start though because you've been doing this sort of thing for quite a while haven't you? John: Yes - I'm one of the great unknown secrets of the comedy circuit! I've been doing comedy for about 10 or 11 years and I do compèring a lot, I've done stand-up for the full ten years and my other string is improvised comedy like Whose Line Is It Anyway. I've just been doing shows in London with a group called Scratch - come and see us sometime - and we're getting ready at the moment to go up to Edinburgh in August. We've just finished a run where we did an improvised cowboy musical which was lots of fun! Were there lots of cowboy jokes? I have a cowboy joke! John: Go on - hit me with it! Q. What happened to the cowboy with paper trousers? A. He got done for rustling That is a very funny joke! John: That cracker was worth every penny you spent on it!
 | | Joe Bor |
You should come along because normally at Funny First Monday we have a joke competition and get the audience to write some jokes down and make up a joke based on a little combination of things. But for this first one after Christmas we're thinking of doing guess the weight of the compère instead! How important are events like this for a town? John: People who live in London take the comedy they can get for granted but the actual comedy circuit is no longer based in town centres. It's all over the country and most of the comedian acts who want to make a living out of this need places they can go to so they travel up and down the country performing in all sorts of villages and towns. It's very enjoyable for the comedians when you go out of town because you get a slightly more enthusiastic audience. In London a lot of people are a bit tired of seeing the same old stuff but out of town the acts get a great reception. It's a real training ground for new acts as well who are learning their craft. So I think it's very important and it's nice to have something a bit different for these towns and villages and to remember what it's like to have a decent laugh. When you watch telly these days you might get a few chuckles but we like to think that when you see some live comedy you can have a decent roll around on the floor type laugh! Maybe not with every act but certainly with one or two! So come to Funny First Monday and I will give you a personal big hug and kiss if you mention Three Counties Radio! What could be better than that? John: A shot of rabies! You obviously haven't met me! | 
