Forget paying stupid money to see the same old act from stand-ups, just go and see Tim Ten Yen, he's a singing salaryman with a side order of comedy - honestly, I was still laughing about Flea from Red Hot Chili Peppers on my way home.
As I said, also on the bill that night was Jim Bob, who was reading from his new book Storage Stories and playing some solo and Carter stuff too. This is a picture from the slideshow that accompanied his reading:
The concept of the reading and the songs worked really well, I thought. There was one guy in front of me, however, who looked over at his friend after the first reading and mouthed, 'What was that all about?', which rather made me giggle. They finished their drinks and left.
The show was up against the Cambridge Beer Festival, which was being held just across the road, so although it was sold out, I think a few people may have found themselves either unable to leave the festival (the magnetic pull of beer) or they tried to make it to the venue but forgot where they were going and got a kebab instead. Earlier in the day, when walking past the beer festival site, I watched a man leave the festival, get on his bike which was parked outside, and immediately crash into another cyclist. I laughed a lot.
I bought Jim Bob's book at the gig and read it the next day - it's really good. It reminds me a bit of Alexei Sayle's short stories, in terms of it's connection to reality, and especially to Martin Millar's Milk, Sulphate and Alby Starvation, which is one of my favourite books of all time. Apparently others have said it reminds them of Chuck Palahniuk, but I wouldn't know as I haven't read any of his books.
You can buy Jim Bob's book in all the usual places - also from http://www.storagestories.co.uk/
Our lovely friend Tim Ten Yen has interviewed Jim Bob about his new book for The Christopher Laird Show, and this will be broadcast, with Jim Bob as Artist of the Week, on Monday 21st June 2010 at 9pm UK time - head over to http://www.radionowhere.org/ for a listen!
If you haven't read Alexei Sayle's short stories, do so now, they are brilliant - first compilation is called The Dog Catcher, second one is Barcelona Plates. Also Ten Sorry Tales by Mick Jackson is a MUST READ - and worth buying for David Roberts' illustrations alone.
