Last August I reviewed Paul Currie’s Edinburgh Fringe show, Trufficle Musk. It was one of my festival highlights, a joyous trip through the absurd and ‘a brilliant hour of bonkers comedy that makes you happy’.
As well as reviewing shows I was working as a producer on Mengele and Judas at Assembly. There was a young fellow working at the venue, Brice Ledingham. One evening we got talking and discovered we had very similar comedy tastes and, inevitably, we shared our Fringe highs and lows.
After discovering that Brice hadn’t seen or heard of Paul Currie I impulsively decided to take him to see it. Yes, I actually paid for two tickets for a show I’d already seen. Gives a fair idea of how good I thought his show was. Fortunately Brice loved it too.
Brice is at the beginning of his stand up comedy career. Since August he has been busy getting gigs, writing new material, posting videos on social media, entering comedy awards and generally forging ahead building a comedy career. We’ve kept in touch and he’s provided some stories for my satirical newspaper, The Chatty Chimp. All good.
Now to the beautifully linked events. Last Sunday, Brice opened at Edinburgh’s legendary comedy club, The Stand. On the bill, all the way from Northern Ireland, Mr Paul Currie.
Here is a picture!
One of life’s joys is how a series of random and unconnected decisions taken by multiple people can lead to something unpredictable. In August, Brice wouldn’t have believed that he’d be opening at The Stand, with Paul Currie on the bill and from the photo, you can see just how happy that made him.
There is a part two. I’m meeting Brice on Saturday. He lives in Scotland, I in Eastbourne. Brice has reached the Quarter Final of the Musical Comedy Awards at The Phoenix in London, whilst I am on the judging panel at the Amused Moose National New Comic Award, which is literally around the corner at the Karma Sanctum Hotel.
Two random people from opposite ends of the country meeting in London at the same time, same place.
Life, it’s brilliant.
