Barry Dodds on his most memorable gigs

Stand-up Barry Dodds has just launched a new podcast, The Worriers, with fellow comedian  Hayley Ellis, talking about with their anxieties, fears, OCDs and general bad thinking. Here he recalls five of his most memorable gigs…

Best gig

It’s hard to single one out, but probably the one where I went to Luxembourg.

Stand-up was a new thing to them and the act I was due to go with dropped out with hours to go. I had to do the show on my own. At that point, I hadn’t even been on a plane before! I was even offering my fee for the gig for someone else just to come with me and do a spot.

In the end I did it, alone, and it was a huge sense of achievement, like nothing I had felt before. It was amazing. After the show I got stuck into the bar and at midnight it was my birthday. The remaining audience who stuck around afterwards sang Happy Birthday while it snowed outside. Incredible.

This is also the gig that taught me the biggest lesson as you just never know what’s going to happen, even when you catastrophise in the way I do.

Worst gig

A gig in Crathorne, Teesside , where I was opening and dying so badly that an old man in the front row turned his chair around so he didn’t have to look at me. When I came off, the landlord gave me a brandy as he said he could see the trauma on my face.

Thank you to the promoter Neil Jollie for not judging me on that gig!

Gig that changed my life

The first one. If it had gone badly, I’d have never done it again and my life would be utterly different. All my life comes from comedy. I have the best friends in the world, and I wouldn’t have any of that if that gig went bad. I’d still be working for the NHS, being miserable and working with people I hated.

Gig in the most unusual location

There was a place called Pleasure Bar in Withington, Manchester. It’s like the whole building had anti-comedy running through the foundations. That gig should never ever have happened but it did, every Wednesday. And every week something would happen.

One night, an audience member shat in another audience member’s handbag. No reason, just slid it from under their chair, took it in the toilet and shat in it. When questioned, he calmly explained that yes, he had done it,  and couldn’t understand the fuss.

Every week, something like that.

During the Manchester Festival, they did a ‘late’n live’ show with Eddie Hoo when I was challenged to a bare-chested Wrestling match. I thought it was just a bit of fun until Eddie slammed me face-first into the hard wooden floor. I still have a photo on my phone that someone took while I was out cold, it’s horrific. I cracked my cheekbone and broke my nose.

I think it’s a restaurant or something now, and the blood stain is still in the wood on the floor.

The next night I was on stage at the Frog and Bucket getting electrocuted by Jason Cook. Chortle was at that gig, and the write-up commented on my injuries! Oh to be young again. And not do as many stupid things. What an idiot.

Best gig as a punter

Sean Lock in Leeds. The only time I ever managed to see him live. He’s my favourite comic of all time. I was Googling him one night trying to see if I could find any secret warm-up gigs or tour dates, but nothing. The next day, the news of his death broke. It broke my heart. I never met him, never worked with him. Huge regrets over that.

On a lighter note, I remember the first time I saw Kunt And The Gang at Download festival. Blew me away. Couldn’t quite believe what I was watching, or the hundreds of people who sang along to every word. I’ve been a fan ever since.

• Subscribe to The Worriers podcast with Barry Dodds and Hayley Ellis here or follow on Twitter @TheWorriersPod.

Published: 17 Oct 2022