April 27, 2006
LIVE NEWS, sort of
DOGS TRUST & BAD AUDIENCES
If you live in the UK and you watch as much bad TV as I do then there’s a good chance you’ll have seen the Dogs Trust advert urging you to pledge funds for a no doubt excellent operation dedicated to taking care of the homeless dog community. There’s something about the shamelessly cloying tone of the thing that gets to me though, as if dog lovers are so simple minded that the combination of shots of dogs with crudely drawn lovehearts and a trustworthy northern voice over intoning the word ‘loove’ will be sufficient to get them reaching for their wallets. Maybe that’s exactly what dog lovers respond to, I just don’t know.
Anyway, being jaded, cynical and pleased with myself I decided I’d do my own version of the Dogs Trust ad to play at the last Out Of Focus Group. It received a fairly cool reception. That said, nearly everything received a fairly cool reception that night, regardless of quality. I always thought ‘a bad audience’ was a myth that comedians peddled to assuage their neuroses after a shit gig but the audience at Out Of Focus Group 10 was bad. I don’t know why. They weren’t particularly thick or for that matter particularly highbrow. They just decided that it was inappropriate to express themselves effusively, which for the acts was alarming. Maybe after seeing my Dogs Trust ad you’ll think ‘well if it was all like that, I’m not surprised.’ That’s your right of course but let me tell you…wait, what was my point? Hmmm, I shouldn’t do these late night posts. I should get on the phone and pledge some money to Dogs Trust is what I should do and I encourage you to do the same!