Ashley Blaker shares a bad gig story... with a positive ending

Here's a story to give succour to any comedian facing an appalling corporate-style gig they should never have been booked for.

Stand-up and TV producer Ashley Blaker has told of being at a family party almost 20 years ago thrown in a North London restaurant.

They booked a comic, but in reality had not interest in what he had to say, heckling and talking over him.

To add to the humiliation, he said his wife's uncle tried to weasel out of paying the act, saying he wasn't funny.

'He had no mic, no stage, the audience weren’t expecting comedy and were all behaving very disrespectfully,' Blaker wrote on Twitter. 'However he [the uncle], was having none of it. He said the comedian was just awful and he should get his money back.'

But – as thus series of tweets reveals – the story does have a happy ending.

1/9 A friend was telling me about a nightmare gig he had last night and it reminded me of this incredible thing I witnessed. It was around 2002 not long after getting married. My wife and I went to a lunch in a restaurant for her late uncle’s 60th birthday.

— Ashley Blaker (@AshleyBlaker) July 3, 2019

2/9 The whole restaurant had been booked for around 50 mostly middle-aged north London Jews. After about an hour or so my wife's uncle stood up and said they’d hired a comedian to perform. I didn’t know in advance but being a TV comedy producer at the time I was very interested.

— Ashley Blaker (@AshleyBlaker) July 3, 2019

3/9 The middle-aged Jewish guests were probably expecting Jackie Mason to walk out. Instead it was some fresh-faced young guy who stepped through the doors. He had apparently been booked through an agency and out he came like a lamb to the slaughter.

— Ashley Blaker (@AshleyBlaker) July 3, 2019

4/9 He tried his best without a mic or a stage and I could see he had some very good material but no one was interested. In fact the audience behaved quite appallingly and used him for sport, heckling and trying to disrupt him.

— Ashley Blaker (@AshleyBlaker) July 3, 2019

5/9 He struggled on for a bit before calling it a day and scuttling off to silence. Some of the guests were almost triumphant in the comedian’s humiliation. I remember my wife and I sat there feeling embarrassed and mortified for this comedian.

— Ashley Blaker (@AshleyBlaker) July 3, 2019

6/9 My wife’s uncle was angry, not with his guests but with the agency who provided the comedian and said he’d be calling them to demand his money back. I said I could see he was good and that it wasn’t his fault the environment was completely wrong.

— Ashley Blaker (@AshleyBlaker) July 3, 2019

7/9 He had no mic, no stage, the audience weren’t expecting comedy and were all behaving very disrespectfully. However he was having none of it. He said the comedian was just awful and he should get his money back.

— Ashley Blaker (@AshleyBlaker) July 3, 2019

8/9 I booked the comedian on a TV show I produced a couple of years later and I reminded him about this gig. His face went white as I think he’d blocked it out. I don’t blame him. These gigs are horrible.

— Ashley Blaker (@AshleyBlaker) July 3, 2019

9/9 The comedian’s name is @iamjohnoliver and he’s now one of the biggest comedy stars in the US. The idiots in the restaurant just didn’t realise it.

— Ashley Blaker (@AshleyBlaker) July 3, 2019

Published: 4 Jul 2019