Difference between classy and the cosy
Last week was a rare social whirl for My One True Love and I. We went out twice on consecutive nights.
On Thursday we went to see comedienne and darling of Twitter, Josie Long, at The Nook Cafe in the The Fishmarket, and the following night we went to see comedian and darling of Radio Four, Jeremy Hardy, at The Royal Theatre.
They are both good lefties (although Jeremy is more of a veteran and Josie is more of a new kid on the block) but the respective evenings, both immensely enjoyable, couldn’t have been more different.
In fact, comparing the two brought home to me exactly what Northampton will be losing when The Fishmarket finally closes to allow space for buses to turn round.
Let me be clear. The Royal is a great place and the whole theatre complex with the Derngate is something the town should be justly proud of.
Jeremy took to the stage with the calm assurance of a performer in command of his craft, to-ing and fro-ing with the audience with questions like: “Have I been here before?” before apologising and acknowledging “I know it’s not up to you to keep track of these things . . .”
More banter with the front rows elicited the fact that Northampton has a Conservative MP and Jeremy seemed mildly surprised, if not concerned, that he was performing to an audience who might not share his views.
In fact, during the intermission there were mutterings in the queue for the bar about “laying off the Tories”.
But actually, that wasn’t the point.
Jeremy went down very well in the end because, broadly speaking, this was a comfortingly likeable middle-aged comedian performing for a comfortably-off middle-aged audience in a comfortable theatre.
If the material was not everyone’s cup of tea, everyone was mature and polite enough to deal with it.
On the other hand, when the doors opened at the Fishmarket the night before, the audience was confronted with strategically-placed buckets dotted around the exhibition space because of the leaking roof.
The Nook Cafe was cosy enough as the punters shuffled in, queued for mulled wine and chocolate brownies and then took their seats, but the warmth here was more emotional than literal.
You could tell by the haircuts, piercings and fabulous beards (not least that of Northampton writer, Alan Moore) that this was a crowd comfortable with creativity and eager to embrace something different.
They might go to the Royal from time to time, perhaps even Derngate, but those places are not for a crowd like this the way The Fishmarket is.
Josie’s material was similar to Jeremy’s but from a younger perspective. However she was personally much more accessible, handing out her own hand-made programmes at the interval and chatting to the audience.
She introduced local musician, Christ East, to promote a Fishmarket tribute event on March 3 and had a supporting slot for singer Brigitte Aphrodite.
While Royal and Derngate is slick, standard setting and award-winning, The Fishmarket is leaking, home-grown and apparently doomed, but embodies a spirit of getting up and having a go.
Jeremy Hardy wasn’t 100 per cent sure if he had performed at The Royal before; there are a lot of good theatres around after all.
Whereas Josie Long was in no doubt about the venue she was performing in.
She told the audience: “I think The Nook is the best cafe in the world.”
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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