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| Said inebriate. |
Let me clarify. The Late Train is in fact a comedy night. It
is on once a month in Winchester at a pub called the Railway. It has now been
running for five years.
Who cares?
I do. I did a lot of fun stuff at that night. It’s where I recorded a radio play, gave stand up a serious go, recieved my first heckle, first tried live improv… I also co-hosted the whole thing for two years.
From Autumn 2012 to Summer 2014, the Late Train was run by me and my double act partner, Dan. In between comedians, we did sketches, most of which involved Adam and Eve or Santa (but never Adam and Eve and Santa), and Dan occasionally did solo routines. Which led to odd scenes in which I’d introduce him after we'd already been onstage together for five minutes. It worked. Well, even if it didn’t, we were in charge so…
It’s not hard to see why the Late Train got such a good reputation. The small room is intimate, its cosiness reinforced by the stage décor of a rug and a lamp-stand. It essentially looks like someone’s lounge. The bar and bathroom is downstairs so there’s no punters wondering around looking for a pint or a piss. The audience is generous. Everyone wants to be there. The acts have fun. Plus, if you really hate the show, the train station’s across the road.
Hence why the bar is called The Railway…
Of course the night’s never been perfect. Dan and I once
found we’d have to share a mic. One night there was a persistent heckler who it
transpires was a wannabe comic who thought he was helping. A few of the open mic acts were drunk. Which is why we
don’t put our friends on anymore.
That’s a joke. The Late Train is a safe friendly place in which to give stuff a go so where better for mates and acquaintances to see if telling gags is their thing? Some had smashing debuts whilst others stuck to their day job, but at least they had the opportunity to give it a go in front of a forgiving crowd.
And what a crowd. I don’t know if a quaint friendly town
inherently produces quaint friendly people, but Winchester’s audiences were
never less than lovely. The front row were always up for a Q&A. The
magician who now hosts is never short of volunteers. It was always a pleasure
to perform at the Late Train. I only gave it up because I moved to London.
But not before Dan moved to Bournemouth. He duly came in once a month to host a free show for no money before rushing out during the second half to catch a train home. If that’s not a sign of how much we love The Late Train, nothing is.
After we left, the host was recast as often as Spiderman. It went from a satirist to a musician to its current ringmaster, magician Wayne the Weird. He’s presenting the anniversary show on October 11th. Do go – it is, was, and will be the best thing in town. Besides, what else would you be doing on a Sunday?
Who cares?
I do. I did a lot of fun stuff at that night. It’s where I recorded a radio play, gave stand up a serious go, recieved my first heckle, first tried live improv… I also co-hosted the whole thing for two years.
From Autumn 2012 to Summer 2014, the Late Train was run by me and my double act partner, Dan. In between comedians, we did sketches, most of which involved Adam and Eve or Santa (but never Adam and Eve and Santa), and Dan occasionally did solo routines. Which led to odd scenes in which I’d introduce him after we'd already been onstage together for five minutes. It worked. Well, even if it didn’t, we were in charge so…
 |
| Two excellent comedians. And two guys who do an okay job of introducing them. |
We inherited the night from James D Irwin, the night’s
founder and our friend (despite one of us once describing him as ‘that
inebriate with the voice like a dirty phone call’). He’d started it as a
student comedy night to give himself some stage time in a town with no open
mic, but the free show soon grew until it was attracting acts from afar (and I
don’t mean Southampton).
It’s not hard to see why the Late Train got such a good reputation. The small room is intimate, its cosiness reinforced by the stage décor of a rug and a lamp-stand. It essentially looks like someone’s lounge. The bar and bathroom is downstairs so there’s no punters wondering around looking for a pint or a piss. The audience is generous. Everyone wants to be there. The acts have fun. Plus, if you really hate the show, the train station’s across the road.
Hence why the bar is called The Railway…
 |
| Not the usual stage set-up - this is for my radio recording. Also, look, rugs! |
That’s a joke. The Late Train is a safe friendly place in which to give stuff a go so where better for mates and acquaintances to see if telling gags is their thing? Some had smashing debuts whilst others stuck to their day job, but at least they had the opportunity to give it a go in front of a forgiving crowd.
 |
| This picture is misleading. We'd get at least three times this many people in. |
But not before Dan moved to Bournemouth. He duly came in once a month to host a free show for no money before rushing out during the second half to catch a train home. If that’s not a sign of how much we love The Late Train, nothing is.
After we left, the host was recast as often as Spiderman. It went from a satirist to a musician to its current ringmaster, magician Wayne the Weird. He’s presenting the anniversary show on October 11th. Do go – it is, was, and will be the best thing in town. Besides, what else would you be doing on a Sunday?
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