comedy – Lessons I learned after I turned 30

Comedy Central in Southampton

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

Probably the best night of 2018

Friday, 16th of March. The last day of a busy, eventful but rewarding week.

And it was as busy as the rest of the week.

But I had a great evening planned I looked forward to all day, starting with dinner, cocktails and seeing Jonathan Pie at the O2 Guildhall with my cool manager Suzanne and joining the Solent gang afterwards for the music karaoke and quiz.

My Friday night turned better than I thought, probably the best night I had in 2018 so far.

Dinner at Mango’s was incredible. Food at Mango’s is always delish and Suzanne and I decided to go for tapas, the Thai version of Greek meze, and a Long Island Ice Tea bucket to share. Dim Sums, butterfly prawns, crispy beef, spring rolls, the whole lot. The food was once again exceptional. Freshly cooked, perfectly seasoned, delicious Thai food and great, friendly, quick service.

After dinner what I really fancied was a Hugo, my favourite cocktail at Tapas Barcelona.

On our way there we bumped into two guys in banana suits with a sign hanging on their neck, ‘travelling for charity’. I couldn’t not stop and have a chat. Kaber and Karim are two lovely Exeter University students taking part in RAG Jailbreak 2018 to raise money for charity. Their aim was to get as far away as possible from Exeter in 36 hours using no money for travel and instead rely on strangers’ generosity.

They left Exeter earlier that morning and somehow ended up in Southampton in the afternoon.

Their challenge is now over but if you want to donate or just find out more about them all details are here.

After our chat, wishing good luck and hugging goodbye our new friends, it was time for Hugo.

The disappointment when I had a look at the cocktails on the menu and Hugo was no longer on there, I can’t even describe. I was devastated. I really fancied a Hugo for days.

Luckily the lovely restaurant manager stood next to me whilst I was talking about it with Suzanne, wondering why it was taken off the menu and he explained to us how the price of Prosecco went up and it was not affordable to offer anymore but he also asked the barman to make us two Hugos, since I loved it so much. A great example of brilliant customer service. Thank you dear, it made my evening.

After bumping into Denise, one of my favourite Solent people and her husband Mike it was time for Jonathan Pie.

Jonathan Pie is a fictional news reporter created by Tom Walker and I love him. The first time I’ve watched one of his YouTube videos I genuinely thought he was a real reporter caught off air ranting about Brexit.

He satirises politics, society, anything that’s wrong in this crazy world in an honest, raw manner that gets me every time. He doesn’t just make me laugh, he makes me think. And that’s what he did on Friday. He made me laugh, he taught me new words and he made me think.

His warm-up act on the night Zoe Lyons was also amazing, I couldn’t stop laughing, I think I probably laughed at each punchline.

The evening ended with some of my favourite people, my Solent family singing, dancing, laughing. I couldn’t think of a better end to a great night.

It really is about the little things and the moment you decide to be open to what life throws at you, opportunities and challenges, and not worry about the consequences and the future so much, you’ll wake up one day and realise how much richer, vibrant, colourful, beautiful life can be. Just by living in the moment and giving everything a go.

I have a feeling there will be many more probably the best nights of 2018...

Namaste

Eleni