It was a typical, mundane, unlikely hot, July afternoon at work. I had a little break to re-set, so I checked my Twitter feed and I could not believe my eyes. Some of the biggest UK comedians were actually coming in Southampton. In Southampton!!! How was that possible??
The tickets were expensive and I was trying VERY hard to save as I was about to move in a couple of weeks . But I was also incredibly stressed, having something to look forward to in October would have been perfect and how often do Katherine Ryan, Jimmy Carr, Rob Delaney, Russel Kane and many many many more come to Southampton? So I booked a ticket, for the Sunday, to see Jimmy Carr. I couldn’t afford all three days although I’d have loved to go to Katherine Ryan’s gig too but since I’ve seen her live before, (a lovely surprise for my 30th from my wonderful friends), I went for Jimmy instead. I love his sense of humour and his TV shows are one of the few things I watch on TV nowadays.
Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago. The University is offering half price tickets. What?? What do I do? I’m still desperately trying to save money because I now have a life plan, well sort of, but I guess I can afford to get a Friday ticket too, to see Katherine and maybe upgrade to VIP to avoid any possible queues?
After a quick chat with my friend Jamie who decided to do all three days (legend) I went for it. You only live once hey?
Friday evening was just amazing. Helena, Jamie and I headed to Hoglands Park around 7ish where we were joined by more lovely friends, Jaba, Mark, Jens and Carlos. We popped to one of the smaller stages and watched a young man (God I sound old) talk about the latest trend: pop dance music with deep lyrics. Think about it. True and hilarious.
We wandered around to check out the rest of the place and then got our seats at the main stage for the headline act. I was so excited I get to see Katherine Ryan live again. It’s not just the fact she is funny. She is also incredibly smart and doesn’t take shit from anyone judging her single life. My hero, my role model.
Before Katherine, Stephen Bailey, who I never seen before was on. Check him out. He was incredible followed by Reginald D. Hunter who was also very funny, but I must admit Stephen was my favourite after Katherine.
Russel Kane was a pleasant surprise. I’ve watched him on other shows but never realised how funny he was. And so energetic. He kept walking up and down the stage I almost wanted to shout ‘Stay still man!’.
On Sunday I meant to get there earlier but only made it to Jimmy Carr who was A-MA-ZING. If you like his sense of humour, go see him live. I’d pay more than I did to see him again. Also, he looks exactly the same as he does on TV. Unbelievable. Maybe he is not a real human…
Thank you Jamie for persuading me to get more tickets and for the lovely company and thank you again Comedy Central and Go Southampton for bringing this wonderful festival in Southampton. I can’t remember the last time I laughed so much.
And thank you for choosing Hoglands Park. To begin with I couldn’t understand why. It’s not the biggest or the best park in Southampton, is actually probably the grimmest, most dangerous in the city, it’s called the ‘rape’ park, no need to explain the reasons. I used to walk through it on my way home when I briefly lived near there and I was terrified every single time.
But I think bringing something so special in the town and having it at the very same park, for me is a symbolic gesture, to show how much this city has and still improving, investing in the less wealthy areas, turning things around. Maybe from now on it will be referred to as the Comedy Park.
Eleni
Lessons I learned after I turned 30 