June 2, 2008
BUG SHOWS, OUT OF FOCUS GROUP @ BFI AND OTHER LIVE NEWS
IT’S A GIG-O-RAMA!
Herewith details of several new BUG dates, as well as a few live appearances I’ll be making in comedy mode. Hope you can make it to one or two.
OUT OF FOCUS GROUP @ BFI SOUTHBANK, FRIDAY 4th JULY 2008, 6.10pm
I’m really excited about this and I think it’s going to be a good night so do get in there early with ticket bookings. I used to do these at The Zetter Hotel for a fairly tiny audience and I’m looking forward to trying it out in a larger venue. Basically it’s around 90 minutes of live comedy from myself and guests, interspersed with bits of video I’ve made. For our inaugural BFI Out Of Focus Group there’ll be a bits and pieces from previous shows as well as brand new stuff, all taking advantage of the top quality audio visual facilities at the BFI.
NOTE: The show has now been shifted from a smaller cinema to NFT 1, the biggest auditorium where we do BUG. If you’ve booked tickets already and wish to check on your new seat allocation call 0207 928 3232. Apologies for the fannying about. You can also use that number to book tickets if you haven’t done so already or;
you can book on line for Out Of Focus Group at BFI here
As well as my contributions I’m expecting to be joined on the night by:
so I really don’t see how you won’t dig at least some of it a lot. I hope it will be the first of many such nights, albeit on a not particularly regular basis.
BUG 08 @ BFI SOUTHBANK THURSDAY 31st JULY 2008, 8.45PM
BUG 07 a couple of weeks back was a compromised hoot. The good parts came thanks in no small part to Dougal Wilson, our special guest and latest victim of my idiotic steamroller interview style. At one point Dougal related an anecdote about having been in the audience at a previous BUG when the chap sitting next to him started slagging off ‘that Douglas Wilson’. “I think you mean Dougal Wilson. That’s me actually” said Dougal to his deeply embarrassed neighbour. Well, it turned out the same chap was in the audience again and we got him up on stage to give Dougal a hug and bury the hatchet. As Dougal is about 6 foot 5 and this chap was about my height (and I’m the size of a tall hobbit), it was a bizarre but oddly delightful sight. Dougal is currently looking after award for best sport at BUG so far!
The bad parts of the night were due to an insurmountable problem with the sound that all but ruined a few of the videos we showed, most tragically the new video for Flight Of The Conchords, which is at least 50% about the lyrics. It was desperately frustrating for us to say nothing of our audience. It’s the only technical hitch we’ve ever had at BUG and everyone’s confident it won’t happen again but if you were there that night, I do hope your night wasn’t ruined for that reason. If your night was ruined because of me I’m still sorry, but I can’t really guarantee that won’t happen again.
You can book for BUG 08 here.
Here’s a wonderful film we sneaked in at the end of BUG 07 that I think withstood the crappy sound. It’s called ‘I Met The Walrus’ and although it isn’t strictly a music video it features the words of John Lennon and it’s amazing so we hoped no-one would object to us including it. The story behind it is that in 1969 when John and Yoko were in Toronto as part of their bed-in for peace tour, a 14 year old Beatles fan with a tape recorder called Jerry Levitan knocked on every door of the hotel where he knew Lennon was staying until he found him at which point Lennon was good enough to give him a 40 minute interview. The tape of the interview gathered dust for around 35 years until Jerry Levitan met a young animator called Josh Raskin whose work impressed him sufficiently for him to allow Josh to make a film to accompany an edited section of this Lennon tape. The result was nominated for an Oscar this year but remarkably few people I talk to about it have actually seen it. Enjoy.
ADDENDUM I failed to mention the vital contribution to ‘I Met The Walrus’ of illustrator James Braithwaite. But now I have. Click on his name, his site is both acey and spacey. But not Kevin Spacey. He’s here running through some non spontaneous impersonations with varying degrees of brilliance. Good Pacino, but my 3 year old son does a better John Gielgud than that Spaceboy!
BUG MASSIVE ATTACK SPECIAL @ BFI, THURSDAY 19TH JUNE 2008, 8.45PM
Massive attack are curating this year’s Meltdown and have agreed to let us feature some of the fantastic videos they’ve had made for them over the years in a BUG special. Even if you’ve seen them all before this will a chance to see them all big and loud on the big screen and as far as I know the Attackers themselves will be talking to me on stage. If that turns out to be bollocks I’ll let you know. Got to remember to resist the urge to ask 3D if he has to wear 3-D glasses now he’s a bit older.
Book tickets for BUG Massive Attack Special here
THE BIG CHILL FESTIVAL FRIDAY 1st – SUNDAY 3rd AUGUST 2008
As well as a special festival edition of BUG, I’ll be doing half an hour of live stuff (probably Famous Guy) at The Big Chill Festival, which takes place at Eastnor Castle, Herefordshire. BUG will be on the Saturday night (2nd August) and my live set will be the following night (Sunday 3rd August). The line up for the festival (which includes Hot Chip, The Mighty Boosh and Bill Bailey) looks good so I’m looking forward to it, big willy style.
Details and tickets for Big Chill 2008 here.
That’s it for now. I’ll be posting in the next few days about the release of Adam & Joe’s Song Wars album Volume 1 and a transmission date for my BBC3 pilot, MeeBOX.
Cheery-bye-hat
Adam 02/06/08