Beyond the Fringe
LIKE most of the British stand-up fraternity, Sheffield's Gareth Urwin was plying his trade at the Edinburgh Festival last weekend but it was only a flying visit for him.
He decided against going back for a full season after making his Fringe debut last year. "The shows went well but by the end of two-and-a-half weeks we had all fallen out with each other and it didn't help that we were camping and got flooded out," he explains.
So he is back in Sheffield to host the monthly Abbcom night at Bar Abbey next Thursday which he and fellow Sheffield-based stand-up Simon Gunnell have been running for more than two years.
"It's a new act night which has built up quite a following, so now we're expanding to also have a monthly Saturday night with all professional acts," he says.
At the moment Urwin fits in his fledgling comedy career with the security of a day job.
"I still work in local government finance, the most boring job on the planet. But one of the advantages is that they are flexible hours and when I had a gig the other week in South Wales I had to leave at 3pm and that was OK," says the 30-year-old from Woodseats.
Originally from Stockport, he came to Sheffield as a student and stayed, marrying a girl from Sheffield into the bargain. "I have a very laidback wife, she never goes to my gigs," he says.
"I can make her laugh at home, perhaps more so than I used to."
His birthplace qualified him to enter the prestigious City Life North West Comedian of the Year whose previous winners include Peter Kay, Jason Manford and Dave Spikey. "I got to the final seven out of 200 applicants, so although I didn't win I was quite pleased." Likewise, winning through to the Jongleurs New Act of the Year in Birmingham recently.
So was comedy always an ambition? "People always said I was funny, in the pub with friends and things, but the idea of getting up and doing it in public was far too scary.
"Then a colleague Sarah, who's into amdram, said she was getting together an improv group and suggested I should give it a go."
That grew into Comedy Republic at West Street Live and from there Urwin began doing open mic spots and gradually built up bookings as a stand-up.
"I get booked round the country as an MC or compere which I think is because I'm good at improvising and picking up on what people are doing and going with the flow.
"My own act is kind of obscure. It's based on space, astronomy and stuff and relating that to my failings in life. I suppose basically it's a load of knob jokes in a more highbrow context."
And how does he cope with the times when his act goes down like a lead balloon?
"When you start out, dying on stage is really hard to take but now it's water off a duck's back. The more experienced you get, the less it occurs.
"Saying that, I find I never do as well in Newcastle. It may be because of one bad gig which I always have in my head when I go there and it becomes a self-fulfilling prospect."
Andy Watson headlines the bill compered by Gareth Urwin at Abbcom at Bar Abbey, Abbeydale Picturehouse next Thursday (August 27).
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Weather for Sheffield
Wednesday 16 May 2012
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