Lola's Page
Saturday, June 2, 2007
Will the REAL Lola Lasagne please stand up?
You will have read that on Friday 18th May, I left Lola in the wardrobe and made my debut, as myself, as a guest of Topping & Butch's Brighton Festival show. But that was a warm up to the official debut that happened on Tuesday 29th May at Simon Happily's Comedy Camp, which is situated below Barcode in Soho.
Comedy Camp was born a little over 6 years ago, as a mixed lesbian, gay and straight venue, which is reflected in the line ups every Tuesday, with some of the biggest names on the comedy circuit appearing, such as Stephen K Amos, Jo Caulfield, Paul Sinha, Tina C, Lucy Porter, Ian Stone, Simon Evans, Gina Yashare, Topping & Butch and Kandi Kane/Laquisha Jonz. Even Harry Hill, Graham Norton, and Al Murray, the Pub Landlord have appeared there!
So I suppose it begs the question, "What the hell was I doing there?"
Well, Simon Happily, on his nights off, is a regular at the Black Cap, and has seen me many times and has always been frustrated by the audience's attention span. Or lack of! So, he spoke to me last year about performing to an audience who were willing to listen. I initially agreed, but it wasn't until the beginning of May that we settled on the date. However confusion did reign as I was under the impression that Simon wanted Lola to appear, but no. He wanted me (oo-err!), so that's what he got. It's fair to say that Lola isn't a rounded character such as Lily Savage, Tina C or Kandi Kane, so it was the right decision.
Despite having performed for many years, I was soooo nervous that evening. I went to Balans to eat first, with my friend Dan, and at one point thought I was going to be violently ill, but put it down to hangover from my birthday the day before. In the fresh air, I felt calmer, until we met up with other best friends, Ian and Mark, and went into the venue.
Being directly after a bank holiday weekend, meant it was quieter than normal, although that was the least of my worries, as I met my fellow performers, Shelagh Martin and Chris Neill. Chris is a regular panellist, on BBC Radio 4's 'Just A Minute', as well as a stand-up, writer and producer, and I was thrilled to meet him, being a huge fan of the programme. He and Shelagh were very nice and supportive as we sat in the tiny archway backstage. I will never complain about dressing rooms in gay venues again!! Showtime arrived and I went out front to watch, first Simon as compere, then Chris Neill do the opening set. Well the crowd, small as it was, were very nice and enthusiastic, and Chris had a very good time, and I really enjoyed seeing him do stand-up. There was a short interval, where the crowd can take advantage of the ridiculously cheap drinks, and then it was me!
Simon went back on, and decided to talk to a couple in the audience. My friends Ian and Mark! Wasn't what I needed before I went on, especially as after that Simon gave me a big buildup and all I could hear was Ian, Mark and Dan howling! So on I went, and like the set with Topping and Butch, I went well. Laughs in the right places and no forgetting of material. Hardly surprising as it's stuff I do as Lola. 10 minutes goes quickly and I went back out front to watch Shelagh do her set. She's described as surreal, and that certainly fits! despite some hesitation with new material, she had a good set as well. Then, after another quick break, it was time for headliners Chambers & Nettleton. I last saw them about 4 years ago, in a gay venue, and they didn't have a particularly good time. Tonight however, they deserved the label of headliners as they stormed the place! Very funny and an excellent rapport gave them a rapturous ovation from the crowd. We spoke afterwards and like Chris and Shelagh, were very supportive and impressed by my debut.
It was strange afterwards, as queens came up to me saying that they had enjoyed the set and asking why I didn't do material like that as Lola. I replied that I did, but tonight was a the first time they'd been in a venue where they could actually listen to what I had to say. The main difference between Lola and Stephen is that as Lola, I have an opening song in which to calm myself, sus out the crowd and what to talk about afterwards. As Stephen, I'm on and I have to be funny in the first 30 seconds. Not easy, but I am so grateful to Simon for giving me the chance.
As to the future, rest assured that Lola is going nowhere. I will be back at Comedy Camp, and will be working with Topping & Butch, again, in the summer, but Lola is my bread and butter at the moment. It was very nice to do something completely different and I welcome the challenges in front of me to continue doing so. I hope that I can do 'straight' singing gigs as well in the future. But now you'll never be sure whether it'll be Lola or myself turning up to entertain you.......
# posted by Lola Lasagne : 11:10 AM
