Compere and contrast

Last night I did a lovely stand-up gig in Derby to a friendly roomful of punters out on a chilly Monday for £1.50 drinks and cheap comedy.

What made the night noteworthy was the compere's warm-up. The compere (or MC) is there to act as a sort of safety net for the show, revving up the crowd at the beginning, introducing the other comics and re-balancing the mood throughout, especially after an act 'dies'.

Last night's compere was a hugely experienced guy who was also the promoter, so to say that he knew this audience would be a massive understatement. He led with what was obviously his usual banter, directing specific questions to friendly-looking individuals in the crowd: -

What's your name? What do you do for a living?

The first punter replied: -

Dave. I'm recently retired.

The compere dug a little deeper but had to pull back as it became clear that 'retirement' was a euphemism and that Dave had very recently lost his job. Cutting his losses the compere went elsewhere: -

What about you? What's your name? What do you do for a living?

Karen. I'm unemployed.

Further questioning again revealed that for Karen too this was a recent and troubling turn of events. Again the compere was forced to pull back and talk to a third person.

Same result. The audience began to get restive.

Happily he then changed tack, used a totally different approach to finish the warm up and a few minutes later the first act took the stage to enthusiastic applause. The compere did a great job in understanding that his audience was there for a fun night out, not to bear witness to a procession of local casualties of the Global Economic Crisis.