Enterteasement Comedy Festival Review

Wow – what a weekend! Last year’s comedy festival show was good but this one was even better. As we sell out our Saturday show every month, we decided with the additional interest generated from the comedy festival website that we’d be daft not to take a risk and put on 2 shows and we had an additional Friday show as well. Friday shows have a reputation of being a bit more wild than Saturday’s and this one proved no different. We had one member of the audience who had a vocabulary of one 5 letter word that began with P and ended with a y and he repeated this constantly throughout the night…it was funny at first. Saturday’s audience were that good we think they were grown in a lab. They laughed, they cheered, they danced and more importantly, they didn’t shout “P**SY” every 10 minutes.

Friday Highlight
Highlight of the Friday show was when Colin got Maria Crawford on stage and performed a mind-reading set on her. She’s a girl I went to school with so I knew she wasn’t a stooge and that Colin had never met her before. Maria’s in the police (something Colin successfully guessed) so she’s normally used to being the one interrogating. Her reaction was priceless when Colin got everything bang on.

Saturday Highlight
Jellybean Martinez got a salesman up on stage for the dance section of his show. The gentleman started off quite reserved but after a few minutes he was grabbing the microphone and trying to get as much stage time as possible. Once he gave himself the nickname Sam.i.am he transformed from middle-aged salesman to international dance sensation.

The Friday show I’d give a 7/10 and the Saturday I’d give 9/10.

Audience Reviews

“Best Enterteasement show in the last 3 years”  George Price – Super fan

“We’ve tried this show as a one of and we’ve been back every month for the last 3 months” Alex Chung

“Best night out in Glasgow bar none” Annie McQuiston

Chris Henry – Compere

What a great compere! Chris is booked more these days as the headliner; however, there’s few better in the game than Mr Henry at compereing.

His interaction with the audience, building energy levels and injecting a sense of fun into the room are just marvelous. Not only that he controlled the rowdy audience with ease and kept us perfectly on time.

After telling stories about his upbringing in the east end of Glasgow he quickly moved into the audience to find out where they were all from which brought about some unfortunate surprises.

COLIN CLOUD – Mind-reader

Colin packs more mind-reading demonstrations into 20 minutes than most people would in an hour show.  Miracles such as guessing peoples birthdays, occupations, and even what the person had for lunch where done with ease.However his big finish was simply out of this world.

We’ve had Colin at Enterteasement several times. His first show for us was very strong but over the last 3 years Colin has went from an excellent performer to a World Class Entertainer. We had lots of people come up to us after the show to say “He’s as good as Derren Brown” and we have to agree. Sadly Colin will be leaving us shortly to make a TV show in America, we wish him all the best and hope to have him back one day.

LOU-Leigh Blue – burlesque

The body piercer by day / burlesque performing star by night was excellent as always. Lou performed 2 different acts for us on both nights.

The first was a new act with lots of energy and great music choice (one that has been stuck in my head since) One of Lou’s greatest strengths is that she looks innocent but as her routine develops she reveals an unexpected tattooed body with intricate artwork.

Her  second act is one of Enterteasment’s favourites! It fitted in perfectly with our Comedy theme. Like a good joke, her Where’s Wally act had an enjoyable story and a brilliant punchline that had the audience in stitches. After the show she left us a video of thanks to all the people at Enterteasement and to say how much she loved begin part of the show  – which we all loved.

Vendetta Vain – burlesque

Vendetta was the first elite burlesque performer we ever hired and since then has always had a special place in our hearts. Yet again she didn’t fail to entertain.

Her first act was a very classic fan dance, slow, sensual and was performed with amazing stage presence.

Her second act, Poodle Parlor, is potentially my favourite burlesque act of all time. It’s got a story, humour and a few twists & turns…it’s just brilliant and our audience loved it just as much as I do.  Thankfully this act never made it to crufts because her high standards could have put her in danger.

Craig Johnstone – comedy

Craig is one of the nicest guys in comedy, always cheery, always happy and he loves performing comedy. He’s been to Enterteasement before as a guest and loved the show and has always wanted to perform for us. Although still relatively new to comedy his friendly style seemed to fit in perfectly with the other comedians.

On the Friday night after his day job in B&Q Craig was looking a little tired and a little nervous. He took to the stage and gave a solid performance. Saturday night, a rejuvenated Craig turned up, full of energy and confidence. Took to the stage and had the audience in the palm of his hands. A really strong performance from one of the best new acts in Scottish comedy.

Jellybean Martinez – Comedian

Our legendary Spanish pop sensation took to the stage on Friday night and spent a lot of time dealing with our resident P word heckler. He ended with one of his signature songs “Sausage wet”. The audience all enjoyed it and the reviews were positive; but, having seen Jellybean several times we knew he was capable of more. On Saturday night, we were proved right but we had no idea how much more he was capable of! Wow! 20 minutes of laughter and applause, The audience were all singing along and he finished his set with a section of the audience giving him a standing ovation and several of the comments said, “Was that Robin Williams” That’s probably the biggest compliment in comedy

In Conclusion

Friday night we were 4 tickets away from being a sell out and Saturday we over sold the venue. The comment cards have been very positive and informative.  There have been a few constructive critisisms about the music choice during the breaks and the volume of music. We’ll look into this for next month. If you have any tracks you’d like to hear feel free to email them over.

Big Thanks

Running this show I get a lot of credit, however, after booking the acts and doing the advertising the show is in the hands of the other people who are genuinely some of the most talented and hard working people I’ve ever met.

The Admiral Bar

The staff have been great at setting out the venue and have invested in some benches and tables to accommodate our large groups.

The Staff
Genuinely don’t know what I’d do without these guys (and gals) They’re all amazingly good at what they do and not only do they work hard and do it with a smile on their face they somehow manage to put up with me.

The Glasgow Comedy Festival
These guys work hard to push shows and we sold around 30 tickets through them. These people would probably never have heard of us before and we’re hoping some of them will come back and with a bit of luck we’ll have some new regulars.

The Regulars
Without you guys, we wouldn’t be here today so thanks for the continued support. One day if we get to 100 regulars, we’ll put on a free show just for you guys (Considering we’re at about 25 at the moment that’s not a total pipe dream) .

Next Show

March 28th: Woody’s Magic Show
April 11th: Enterteasement
May 9th: Enterteasement
June 20th: Enterteasement (Yes we’ve changed to the 20th in June)

Enterteasement is Glasgow’s Favourite Comedy Magic Burlesque night. Proudly boasting a 4.7 star average customer review and a reputation for selling out shows. The September 13th show has an International cast of As Seen On TV Acts and Award Winners. This is not a show to be missed – Get your tickets while you still can – this will sell out!

LINE-UP

PARROT

Founder member of STV’s The Funny Farm, Parrot has not only been headlined all over the UK and appeared on programs like The Jonathan Ross Show, he has also written for Jack Dee and Jo Brand.

RAYMOND MEARNS

One of Scotland’s top comedians for the last 10 years and has been described as “A Genuine Improvisational Genius” by Frankie Boyle

BRUCE FUMMEY

The finest comedian on the Afro-Celtic comedy circuit, Bruce has headlined for us on several occasions and his mix of original material and audience interaction is always hilarious

FRITZ:

5 star Reviews from the Edinburgh & Melbourne Magic Festivals – our Dutch magician Fritz has been described as “Amazing” by Jermaine Jackson and has appeared on TV in USA, HOLLAND & Australia

LUNA TIKTOK

Finalist for the U.K.’s ‘Alternative Model of the Year’ 2014, From USA, She studied at The New York School Of Burlesque and presents well choreographed routines fusing several styles to create powerful routines.

AMBER SKYLINE

Amber is a tribal fusion dancer from London. She’s been performing her unique belly dancing style at Sell Out cabaret shows all over the UK.

KIM KHAOS

“The animal of Scottish burlesque”. With stunning big eyes & lips Kim mixes classic tease with a hint of modern madness!

Enterteasement’s NEW Comedy Only shows might be missing the burlesque and magic; but what we lack in boobies we certainly make up for in the comedy This line-up consists of As Seen On TV Comedians, 2 Scottish Comedians Of The Year and some of the most promising talent in Scotland

MARK NELSON

Mark Nelson is an award winning ,TV & Radio Comedian. Star of “Don’t Drop The Baton’

‘Blistering material which pushes dangerously near the boundaries of good taste’ Sunday Times

BILLY KIRKWOOD

Our resident compere Billy will be injecting his playful, energetic. style that saw him awarded the title of: ‘Scottish Compere Of The Year 2014.

JAMIE DALGLEISH

Scottish Comedian Of The Year 2011, Jamie is a master story teller who finds himself in awkward situations that could only happen in Glasgow. Pub humour at it’s very best.

OBIE

Original, Surreal, Hilarious – Obie’s been warming the hearts of audiences all over the world for the last 12+ years. His off the wall, unpredictable style will leave you wanting more.

TONY SLOAN

Burst onto the scene in 2014 Tony is an exceptionally talented new comedian with the potential to be the next big thing in Scottish comedy.

Enterteasement’s Comedy Magic Burlesque show on Saturday August 9th show is a showcase of our favourite all time performers. Over the last 3 years we’ve established a 4.7 average customer rating and a reputation for selling out quick. We’ve managed this by creating a friendly environment and some of the best performers from around the World. On August 9th we’re delighted to put on a frighteningly strong bill of As Seen On TV Comedians, Award Winning Magicians and International Burlesque acts. Go on celebrate your weekend and try something different.

LINE-UP

MICHAEL REDMOND

Best known for his part in Father Ted where he played Father Stone – Michael is an Irish Comedy Legend with numerous TV appearances and has been described by Stewart Lee as having “The Greatest Opening Line Ever!”

BILLY KIRKWOOD

Winner of ‘Best Scottish Compere 2014’ at the Scottish Comedy Awards. Billy’s done everything in Comedy from hosting at the most prestigious comedy clubs; music festivals & ICW wrestling matches. However, we feel his high energetic, playful, friendly style makes him perfectly suited to Enterteasement.

GRAHAM MACKIE

2 x Finalist in Scottish Comedian Of The Year and guest Star in the BBC’s The Limmy Show Christmas Special. Graham Mackie looks like Santa and his delivery of stories from his teaching days and family will make you think Christmas has come early.

GARY DUNN

Gary is a Professional magician from Newcastle who mixes Magic, Comedy and if you’re lucky a mind-reading chicken! A previous Enterteasement ‘Act Of The Night’ winner, Gary’s act will leave you amused & amazed.

VENDETTA VAIN

Described by ‘The Scotsman’ as “Somewhere between a crack addict and a blow-up doll” Her unique style & amazing stage presence have established her as one of the top burlesque acts in the UK if not the World. She’s an International Performer, World Burlesque Games star and is simply unmissable!

DAIQUIRI DUSK

4 Yeses from Britain’s Got Talent and a Standing Ovation from Amanda Holden. Since Then Daiquiri has become an International Burlesque Sensation recently becoming a Finalist at the prestigious Milan Burlesque Awards & has just returned from The World Burlesque Games.

Hi guys, just a quick update.

As many of you know with Wimbledon, The World Cup, Summer Holidays, T In The Park we take July off – we tried to go up against these guys a few years ago….and we lost badly.

We’re going to install a new booking system as some of our regulars were having problems with the other one.  It will work very similar but just in case anyone things there’s been a change fear not it’s basically the industry standard one and there’s quite a few comedy clubs using it.  This will also mean that we can sell tickets to more than 1 show at the time – yeah!!!

Congratulations!! We’re expanding!

Enterteasement is without doubt one of the biggest successes to come out of Glasgow in recent years.  Not only do our audiences love our shows our acts love performing for us.  On a recent chat with some of our comedians it I’m  told when you get booked for Enterteasement it’s one you look forward to in the diary.  We always assumed that had something to do with the lovely ladies or the fact it’s something different from their normal comedy night – we were wrong (not for the first time)  Although the variety is part of it, it turns out the main reasons are:

1. It’s a great room for comedy.  Low ceilings, close audience, plenty of seats, stage, lights etc.  The Admiral was recently nominated for ‘Best Comedy Venue over 100 capacity’
2. Professionally run.  We have a sound guy, running orders, door staff and we fill the venue, yes even the top guys are still gigging in front of 9 people because most promoters don’t know what they’re doing.
3. Great Line-ups.  Lots of the strong acts are often the only strong act on the bill so they have to work the audience or spend their whole night giving newer acts advice.
4. Great audiences! Lots of other comedy rooms rely on stag & hen do’s who talk through the show and spoil it for the comedians.  The Enterteasement audience know how to be quiet and above all, have a good sense of humor and are up for a laugh.

Enterteasement Presents

Woody’s Comedy Club will be run in the same Professional yet informal manner as Enterteasement.  We’ll provide you with excellent comedy at a reasonable price.   www.woodyscomedyclub.com

Launch Night May 31st

Billy Kirkwood:  “Enterteasement’s Favourite Compere & Scottish Compere Of the Year 2014”
Reverend Obadiah: “Evil Comedy Genious – writer & Star of Frankie Boyle’s Tramadol Nights”
Susie McCabe:  
“Best Support Act 2014” – Scottish Comedy Awards
Ro Campbell: “Scottish Comedian Of The Year 2008″
Gary Meikle: “One of the most exciting new talents in Scottish Comedy”

Show Details

Doors 7:15
Show 8:00 – 10:30

Tickets:

(At the 3 big comedy clubs, these tickets would cost £15 and may include a booking fee, by joining our newsletter you can get the tickets for £9!)
Standard£12
Student £9,
Booths £50 – £80 (6 – 8 people)
Venue: The Admiral Bar – 72 Waterloo Street Glasgow, G27DA

Full Details:  www.woodyscomedyclub.com

Hi guy, just to let you know our February 8th show has sold out.  It was our quickest sell out for a full show. (we had a January comedy show sell out in five days, two days before the event;but, that was a comedy show not a full enterteasement show) This show sold out in eight days and two weeks before the actual show.  Our previous record for selling out was eight days before a show so we are delighted that so many of you are coming back and spreading the word to others thank you!

Is it really sold out or can I still get tickets?

ALL THE TICKETS ARE GONE! Please read www.enterteasement.com/sold-out before you think about contacting us asking for tickets – we love the word ‘yes’ and hate the word ‘no’ so we hate saying, “I’m sorry we have no tickets left”

March 8th – Dark Show

Our next show is on March 8th and will be a little bit darker than normal.  Four of the performers on the bill will be making a comeback having nor appeared for over a year and we have two new perfomers as well so this show will be very fresh!

Cupake has returned!

Who is Cupcake?  Cupcake is one of the luckiest things to ever happen to Enterteasement.   When we started we had no idea how to run events or the whole burlesque side of things – we just knew people wanted

something different.   Cupcake (she’s called this because she’s small and everyone loves her – just like Cupcakes) had ran several variety night and burlesque shows in London and was a Godsend.  She started off as an assistant but it quickly became apparent that she was running the night and she was promoted to Manager.

The Dream Team: Cupake & Star

Having trained up several assistants.  She discovered Star and immediately Cupca

ke said “She’s got it” Cupcake was then offered a great job in New Zealand or Thailand (I always get it wrong) and she couldn’t turn it down.  It was a sad day but I was happy Star was there because at least I knew Enterteasement was in safe hands.  However, we’ve never ran as smoothly as when Star & Cupcake worked together.

We received a wee email from Cupcake informing us that after a year of being away she was missing Paisley (don’t ask) and she was returning and looking forward to seeing the show.  We offered her job back and not wanting to rock the boat as Star was doing such a good job.  But with a little arm twisting, begging and threatening to ban her from shows she has decided to bring the cupcakeness back!  So we no longer have manager & assistant, just two joint managers.  Feeling very lucky to have my dream team back 🙂
2014 just got exciting!

The new ticket system will come into play next month.

I’ll not go into the reasons why – it’s a great system – it does about 100 things really well, unfortunately selling tickets isn’t one of them.  So we’ll use eventbrite for the time being and might swap it over between now and February but more likely after the February gig.

When it’s live it’ll be a easier for you guys to use and you’ll be able to purchase tickets months in advance rather than the current, month by month way of working at the moment.  Plus, I believe it’s easier to take credit card payment, rather than taking the card payment via paypal which has confused a few people.

If we do swap systems there won’t be any problems with using the eventbrite ticket – in the past we’ve ran 5 different systems simultaneously for one show without a any difficulty for the guests.

We’ve never had any problems with Eventbrite, it’s just that it costs us £700 in booking fees each year and this other system is just a one off cost for the year.  So it keeps prices down, allowing us to keep the ticket prices lower than our main competitors.

Sorry for the hold-up.

Just a wee update.  The new system is installed and we’re experimenting with the settings  trying to figure out how to order more than 1 ticket at a time without having to go through 4 screens.

The way the system is set up it’s like Mrs Doyle asking if you want a cuppa tea, “Are you sure? But are  you really sure? But are you really, really really sure?”

Reading through the documentation at the moment and getting the hang of things so certainly getting there.

95% sure the tickets will be live on Wednesday so thanks for your patience

In other news – we have a meeting Wednesday night with the lovely people from The Glasgow Comedy Festival so we will figure out how to run events soon enough.

Hi Guys, Been receiving a lot of phone calls regarding February 8th.

Firstly, Thanks for the interest – we are 100% having a show and love how you’re all interested in us 🙂
Secondly, It’s a great line-up.  Scott Agnew, Raymond Mearns, Julia Sutherland, Kim Khaos, Tom Harlow, Shakewell Tarts, Rachel Renegade & Charlie Atlas.

So why aren’t the tickets on sale?

We’ve been using a system that some people have been having problems with and it costs us about £700 a year to use so we’re implementing a new system rated to be the best one and it’s actually a wee bit cheaper as well.  The support for this system is in USA so we’re just waiting to hear back before we do the full launch.  It was the plan to do this last week but the Comedy show took up a lot of time to get us.

Sorry for wait but it’ll make things much easier in the future.