Thanks guys. Will get on that forum, and get sending a constant stream of polite/subtly amusing/complimentary e-mails to promoters. It's bitter-sweet to know that there's not some great gig-getting secret I'm missing out on!
Stand up Comedy. Page 37
Quote: Tony Cowards @ March 4 2010, 3:15 PM GMTFamiliar struggle, although it seems to have got worse over the years. When I started out, about 6 years ago, open spots were relatively easy to get (in London anyway) and sometimes you could even end up doing 5 minute spots on pro line ups gigging with people like Russell Howard, Alan Carr and Jimmy Carr (I gigged with all of them in my first year or two).
Now it's a case of supply and demand, every week or so there's a course somewhere that chucks out another 10-20 new wannabe comics into the mix and there's only so many spots, combine this with the fact that a lot of headline acts had to start taking lower spots at lesser clubs when Jongleurs got into trouble, it means that there was a knock-on effect all the way down the comedy food chain.
Booking gigs is always a slightly odd process as the gigs you book now will probably be for 3-6 months in the future, so if you only book every now and then you find yourself gigging excessively for a while and then hitting a barren patch, so try to get some gigs booked in.
One of the worst things when you start out is having a great gig, getting all addicted to stand up and then looking in your diary, only to find that your next gig is in 4 weeks time.
One tip is to find out where your local clubs are and befriend the promoters, offer to do any last minute spots they might have and help out if possible, make contacts with the other acts etc, generally get yourself known on your local circuit.
I agree Mr C. Tis damned tricky getting a gig at the moment. I have 2 coming up but that took a couple of months to even get close to booking.
gigged with Russel Howard eh? Pah, I used to gig with him in a pub in Bristol. Those were the days! 
Quote: Chopz @ March 3 2010, 11:16 PM GMTSaw Daddy Maz perform at a very unusual gig last Thursday. An audience of the four organisers and three other attendees. In spite of this he was funny and engaging with a finale that would go down excellently at a venue with an audience.
Oh to be in a venue with an audience! Cheers Chopz from the future I really enjoyed you guys too! Was an unusual gig for sure however at least I didn't travel over 150 miles for it (although that has been done before).
First gig in well over a year tonite, boy am I nervvy. Can't tell what's funny or what isn't anymore. Here's hoping for the best.
I know that feeling, Deian, I hate trying out new material for the first time. There's little more disappointing than carefully crafting a new joke only for it to fall on deaf ears. Could be worse though - do you know Steve Aruni's act? The guy who plays guitar with a sax-playing Henry hoover? It takes him about six hours to program each sequence into that robot I found out last night. Imagine going to all that effort and getting no laughs!
Nah, haven't seen him David.
Blimey though, that must sting a bit.
Yeh, could be worse indeed seeing that.
Mind you saying that, if I die a good one tonite it'll still suck either way.
Dunno if anyone's mentioned this yet but just turned up this minute on Twitter: http://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2010/03/11/10671/radio_2_to_launch_stand-up_contest?rss
Dan
Went well in the end.
A nice little bristol venue just starting out too.
Only bummer was my name being called out as I was in the loo!
Quote: deian @ March 11 2010, 5:32 PM GMTOnly bummer was my name being called out as I was in the loo!
That happened to me once, I was in the toilet downstairs from the main venue and I suddenly heard the MC announce my name, luckily I'd finished tinkling and ran upstairs just in time to make the stage as the MC was starting to look confused about where I was.
Unfortunately I got to the mic completely out-of-breath and it took me about a minute to get my first joke out, learnt a valuable lesson that night!
What venue was it Deian?
Ha, I'll bet! 
Twuz the Roma bar in Kingswood. A fairly new venue for new stand up.
Urgent Advice needed by new stand-up about to prove their disgusting ignorance!
Was asked last night to do ten minutes tonight at a paid gig. It's only my tenth gig and I'm not sure what to do. I've been floundering along testing out new material most of the time while I try to find my feet. I think I have about nine minutes of material that have stayed in my set and one minute of untested material I was supposed to try last week (but was ill...)
It seems to me it would be incredibly unprofessional to do anything I hadn't tried in front of an audience before at a paid gig. So my question is, which is the most unprofessional: Being a little short of ten minutes, or doing something new?
Cheers
I'd say it's fine to do a bit of new stuff. Every comedian, paid or not, has to test new material out at some point, there's nothing unprofessional about it.
I'd be reticent to try out too much new material in front of a paying crowd. About 80% tested/20% new would be about as far as I'd like to stray. Unless it were my own gig in which case, as Matt will attest, I'll spew out whatever garbage comes into my head without a whisper of respect for myself or the audience.
Yeah I agree that you should stick to mainly tried and tested. You need to impress the booker to get more paid gigs (well done on that by the way!). Plenty of time to try out new stuff.
Thanks all.
I'm trying to calm down about this! Out of the ten minutes about 1 minute or less is untested. (And actually, one line of the new stuff got a big laugh when I used it in a different context which is how it has survived). So it would be around 10% new material.
Just to clarify, does anybody think it would be unprofessional if I cut this out and thus didn't make up the ten minutes?
I'm in two minds about this. Seems disrespectful to do something untested when someone's paying me, but also seems wrong to do less than ten minutes when I'm being paid for ten!
I know I'm overanalysing this. I've been told.