January goes POP!

O M GOSH! What a start to the year it's been!

Last Sunday I was down Canal Street in central Manchester for the first heat of Dragtastic. Arriving at 8pm I found myself in Bar Pop's glamorous cellar bar with five queens half my age and double my looks. But I'm made of tough stuff and after a stern talk with myself in one of the many mirrors about the room I settled in for three hours of chatter and checking my hair before the competition kicked off.

Being a primary school music teacher (part-time) I know all about organising rowdy kids but I didn't realise this extended to queens. Lined up and fully briefed about what we could and could not do, we was gently marched up to a waiting room in single file to be flung out onto the stage every four or so minutes.

The other performers were high kicking, lip sync assassins equipped with angelic vocals and the energy of that Duracell bunny which all of them had probably only ever seen on a retro TV adverts special on Channel 5. So in the slipstream of burlesque performances and acrobatic slut drops I was a bit worried that coming out and telling jokes might throw the audience a bit. 

But it went alright! Better than alright as it turned out 'cos they was loving the puns. A hundred joyous people doing the microwave at midnight was something to behold and when I did my Lady Gaga parody in the second half they all went proper nuts. The judges gave the nicest feedback and I was lost for words, which makes a change.

So I got through to the final. The winner would be decided by lip sync battle. I knew then I was completely up the tea spout given I can barely sync to my own Tiktoks but I held my nerve and listened for the opening of the track.

And I didn't recognise it.

And my worthy adversary did.

A minute in and she was leading hand claps, springing all over the place and miming like a girl possessed.

A minute in I realised the song was that "rolling on the river" thing by Tina Turner.

Which I don't like.

Put simply, it isn't the best.

So I wiggled about a bit like a backup dancer with a wardrobe malfunction and gracefully accepted my runner up position. But I hope to be back because it was well nice and the audience and judges were lovely lovely lovely. I got me a whole stack of new instagrammers and tiktokkers to broadcast to.

It certainly made up for the fact I got 2 hours sleep before a whole day in front of a class...!

THEN I performed in Bolton last night.

To 12 people.

Who were real nice.

But it was a bit of a reality check.

ONWARDS!

Snow Business like Snow Business

 Oh my festive GOSH everyone, it's been aaaaages since I last updated you on my goings on. I can't lie, I've been super busy since the pandemic left my school alone long enough for me to actually go in and teach some recorders. And then there's all the gigs I've been doing. Let me tell you.

BINGO!
So Bop and Bingo has been touring most weekends and I've been micro-waving everywhere from St Helens to Widness to Tyldesley to anywhere else in the Greater Manchester area that loves splodging numbers with a felt tip and taking part in historically accurate Club 18-30 inspired games. The year's concluding with a Christmas party in Hyde just down the road from me this Saturday and is not to be missed! Get your tickets now from the very glossy FB event here.

VARIETY SHOW!
I'm now two shows deep at Square West's music and comedy night here in Glossop and it's going great guns. We've had eighteen year olds singing Nirvana, show tunes, a song about the chip shops of the local area and a few solidly super stand-ups in the mix too. Most importantly, we've got an audience who don't mind singing along - and telling some of my very amazing jokes last week which I'd taped to Aldi's finest Christmas crackers. No expense spared! The next one's in January now so if you want a spot drop me a message.

CHRISTMAS QUIZ
Square West have also got me hosting their festive fact festival next Wednesday on Dec 22nd with my mate Annie-Sup. There'll be questions, games, dancing, drinking and a first prize of a £50 voucher! If you want to bring a team give me a shout.

TikTok
Have you seen me on there recently? It's proper crazy good. Christmas jokes are coming soon so subscribe if you haven't already! You could also join my Facebook whilst you're at it.

2022
I've got a bunch of gigs booked in for the new year already but I'll talk about them another time. Work is going well on my spectacular 2022 festival show, which I can now reveal will be called Angela Bra: Life Lessons.Expect to see it all over the country next summer, including a full run at the Edinburgh Fringe!

Retford, Worksop and the hostess who's off her trolley!

Big WOWS guys, it's been quite a week for your rising star on social media (and unleashed for half-term part-time primary school music teacher.) In amongst the TikToks, Insta's and sale rail bargains from Boohoo I've done two shows and got meself another little MC giggeroo! Here's what's been going on. Remember to follow me on Tiktok, Instagram and Facebook (and NOT down dark alleys.)

So last weekend I manouvered my mighty Micra across the Peak District and on to the market town of Retford, home to promoter Mikey B and a very nice cobbled high street (nice to look at, but a cattle grid for high heels like mine!) I popped my head in to the ultra crafty hip venue that would be mine for the night and set up all my equipment. Only to then wander downstairs and find a much better room for the show and do it all again.
Come 8pm I had a nice little front row and a scattering of bodies across the other chairs. Come 8.05pm Mikey arrived with his pub crawl horde of crawling comedy characters and filled it. You see, unlike any other fringe I know of, Mikey booked every pub, cafe and snooker club in his town for a gig and then toured them one at a time over the whole weekend with a mobile PA. Groundbreaking possibly, breaking things and falling on the ground by the end of the night definitely.

So I got down to business and had people micro-waving, exercising, playing Follow The Bandwidth and talking to me whenever they could. Theatre show abandoned I pulled everyone in and kept it going with ther determination of a supply teacher in front of a difficult class on the last day of term. Then I got pics with my top group of disrupters. Gold stars all round!

During the week I met up with a new bar in town to talk open mic and am now the proud hostess of their show on Nov 10th. If you're in the Glossop area do come down. We've got music and comedy and the whole thing kicks off at 7.45pm. Amaaaazing!

Then last night I was back in the car for a drive to Worksop and a headline set at a pub called Dukeries. There was a huge stage, loads of tables and chairs and sixteen very keen members of the public. When it was worked out that no-one knew how to turn the stage lights on we abandoned the original performance area and brought ourselves up to the bar for what is known the business as an "intimate" show. The first few acts didn't even both with a mic but I was having one because I'm a PROFESSIONAL! That and with backing music my little tonsils wouldn't have been able to compete.

And it went proper good! We laughed, we sang, I told a bloke I'd fist him later when he offered me a fist bump for one of my particularly brilliant one liners. And I took a photo with a whole bunch of them. Yes we're sat on pews but the only thing they had in common with a congregation was they could also feel the power of spirits.

And now I'm looking at the new term ahead of me and am getting my batch-recording together for tomorrow. Three songs, eight jokes + an ad or two for Bop and Bingo. Must dash!

Bingo, Festivals and Far-Flung Funnies

O M Gosh guys! I'm SOOOOOO sorry for the delayed blog update. It's tough being as in demand as me and I totally lost track of time. Soz x100! Still, here's what I've been up to. Remember to follow me on tiktok and facebook if you don't already. One's got over 3,000 followers the other...well, a few less.

So where do I start? Well let's talk about Glossop Comedy Festival. Amaaaaazing! My sensible brother, Andy Quirk, organised it and there was 14 shows going on in the upstairs of The Oakwood last weekend. I was there both as a solo artiste and also as one half of Disco Divorce Party with my mate Annie Sup. DDP really got things going on the Friday night and we had a right proper laugh. On Saturday I brought my own solo stylings to the stage after the marvellous Ali Woods and them what stuck around waved their arms about, clapped along and laughed on more than one occasion. I HAVE VIDEO IF YOU DON'T BELIEVE ME! Proper good laugh, love it. Only one more festival to go this year and that's at Retfest on Sunday 24th October, 8pm, at The Brewshed in Retford. Event invite here.

There have been some proper nice gigs in the last few weeks as well. A couple of weeks ago I powered my mighty micra to Rhyl in North Wales to MC Rhyl Comedy Club at The Little Theatre. I went early to beat the traffic (and find a petrol station with fuel in it) so once I got there I did a little tour of the town. Found some proper decent Boohoo in a charity shop and played the 2p sliders in their seaside arcade. I rate their sausage and chips 7/10 as it tasted good but it took AAAAGES thanks to all the telephone orders they had. Serious, who dials up for chips? They're probably scammers anyway. Phishing... 

Right but the gig yes, well it was totally amaaaazing (x100) and they was a proper nice audience. I ribbed the stag do who'd decided we was the new Jongleurs and questioned the life choices of a man who didn't know what beer he was drinking. I also did THREE costume changes, including one featuring my new Boohoo bargain. You get your money's worth with Miss Angela Bra, oh yes.

I also did a nice little gig in Leeds just before the Wales jolly and this week I headlined Early Risers in Liverpool. Not a club for farmers but parents as it turned out and they was lovely. We had a good singalong and I learned all about the games what they play over there before doing my boardgame song. Big thanks to the man who had to fiddle with my volume knobs at the start of the set - it turned out bangin' in the end.

So that leaves the bingo. And it really was bingo-go-go, halfway around the Manchester orbital and then some to make it to Leyland near Preston. The pub was boomin' and the players were plastered so I shimmied, shook and spouted numbers like my little life depended on it. I made some top mates for the night, called a man short and gave away 3 inflatable willies. All in a night's work for the hardest working comedienne / bingo caller in the business. We've got 13 dates between November and December. Hotter than a swipe right on the tinders.

'til next time cupcakes xxxxxxxxx

Peak Performance

TOTAL WOW! What an amazing couple of weeks! Festival shows in New Mills, bingo nights in Stockport and Bury + a Celebrations sized variety of shows in the next few weeks. It's all go as ever.

So let's start with the bingo. Stockport's venue was a weird one. Cabaret bars usually find themselves on the magical streets of west end districts in major cities. But tonight Matthew, NO! Our cabaret bar is going to be three floors up in a converted mill, a converted mill nowhere near the town centre and surrounded by units hosting anything from karate to homeware. Was this a problem? NO! It was RAMMED! So I sang songs and told jokes, Annie twerked on the dancefloor to the Greece soundtrack and one of the bingoers even got up and sang I Wanna Dance With Somebody to a very much lubricated army of ladies (man count: 1, poor luv.) Despite being super hot thanks to an actual sauna being based one floor below, the party carried on 'til late and I stayed cool thanks to the fact I'd bought an outfit from Boohoo in their 70% off sale. The 70% seemingly coming off the bottom of both the skirt and top.

After Stockport, the next stop was Bury at a very swanky hotel. With our largest crowd yet, it looked like a wedding reception for the kind of couple who end up inviting everyone including their neighbour's cat sitter. We had groups of teachers, the staff at a wedding dress shop and an absolute army of gym bunnies in the room. INCREDIBLE! I sang my songs, did some jokes and called out the bingo numbers in trademark rhythmical style. Annie had her photo taken with everyone and Pamela got people on their feet singing club classics. Whoop whoop!

So away from the numbers game I've also been in New Mills the past two Saturdays for their classy festival. On the first weekend I welcomed a lovely audience to At Home With Miss Angela Bra and we had a right laugh. So much so my 50 minute show turned into a record-breaking 75 - plus lots of meeting and greeting afterwards. We had a right giggle and a wriggle. The Peak District knows how to party!

The next Saturday, Annie was with me for Disco Divorce Party to an audience largely made up of the same people the week before. There were smiles all round as we took our audience on a virtual pub crawl car crash and we had a lovely chat with some of them afterwards. Some of the older gents propping up the bar gave me some quizzical looks but I can't blame 'em. Look but don't touch sir, look but don't touch.

So that leaves the future to talk about and what a future it is. Next Wednesday I'm at Santiago's in Leeds to do ten, on Thursday it's the turn of The Parish in Huddersfield and then on Friday I'm MCing in Rhyl at a very swanky theatre. No bingo this week so I'll be resting my heels over the weekend and getting things prepared for Glossop Comedy Festival on October 8th where Disco Divorce Party is very nearly already sold out!

Manche-STAR!

Oh lordy I have travelled SO HARD these past few weeks. Telford, Manchester and Oldham. I really have been living my best life!

So get this. I'm fresh back from Camden Fringe with my best mate Annie-Sup and we're checking the diary and it's like "Telford, 8pm" and we're like "Where's Telford?" And we fiddle with the Google and it's bloomin' MILES AWAY. But we don't care, we're professionals. So we jump in the car and blitz the A roads of destiny until we reach the best looking beer garden in the north-midlands.

The crowd is decent and the staff are LOVELY so we has a proper alcoholic drink and everything with our complimatary ticket and decide that once our show's done we'll watch Stevie Gray do his in the second half so we're definitely 0% when we're back in the buggy. Disco Divorce party makes people rock harder than the cliffs of Dover and every beat is accompanied by my heels a-tap-tapping on the very solid but very hollow wooden stage we're stood on. Like riverdance with proper music.

So that went real nice and it was back to Glossop in the early hours ready for Manchester Fringe the next week. Both my solo show and DDP happened back-to-back the next Wednesday (my humps, my humps, day) and I did mine again on the Thursday too. Was they good? They was AMAZING of course and the review on North West End said, "with plenty of audience participation, including Angela’s own amusing take on musical statues, it all in good fun and you won’t begrudge the hour spent in her company." - which I reckon ain't too bad at all. I also had some good friends come to the shows. Friends are good. Especially when they come to your shows.

After all that it was to Oldham at Tokyo's for Bop & Bingo on a MASSIVE stage in their beer garden with a proper loud PA (I mean speakers, not an assistant with a megaphone.) 80 drunk ladies and a handful of lads bopped and dabbed their way through the night and Annie busted out some wicked moves on the dancefloor. One lad with bad trainers proposed to his girlfriend after eating a pint of marshmallows as part of one of my games. Romance is not dead!

So now what? I'm off to Pride of the Peaks this Saturday in New Mills as part of the town's festival. Show starts at 8pm. It's proper cheap this one, just £5. I am SO NICE! Click Here for the box orifice.

Ta-Ra.

Capital Comical PUNishment in London!

Oh my gosh guys, I am SO SOOOORRRRY for my delay in updating this little blog of mine. I've been busier than an airport based in a country that's just be added to the red list. Shows, shows, shows. I've been flying high with my head in the clouds for sure!

So a week last Monday I made my way by tube and train to Hackney Central to check out what it looked like since my mate Andy left there some years ago. A short hipster-hop on from there was The Glory, a fabulous drag bar in the direction of Shoreditch where I was to perform a set for Queer Comedy and its esteemed host, Lucien Jack. The show was AMAZING with every table taken at a ticket price that buys dinner out in Glossop...or one and a third pints in London. OW WOW WOW! The other acts were brilliant and there was much waving for my hit single, Nuclear Cooking Cave. I even got sent footage after of people bigging up my future Eurovision hit. Lovely. Top marks for the dressing room too - not a mop, crate of cleaning liquids or box of crisps in sight. 

Tuesday and Wednesday were spent at The Rose & Crown in Kentish Town for the first two dates of both At Home With Miss Angela Bra and Annie & Angela's Disco Divorce Party. The venue had moved heaven and earth (and a serious amount of rubble that I'd seen on a short visit the day before) to have the room ready for us. The microphone stand was held together with tape and it smelt a bit funny but it was ours. On both nights turnout was a bit on the intimate side but those who came had a good time, a couple of which even bigged us up on Twitter. I also got a review from Steve Bennet of Chortle which included phrases like "jolly but trivial nonsense" and "a cheerily endearing persona, and she will get you taking part, whatever your initial reluctance." Which I can't really complain about - it's all about being part of the show when it comes to a night with Angela!

On Thursday I travelled south for Pick N' Mix Cabaret at The 2 Brewers in Clapham. The venue was super-plush with a big stage and glittery backdrop appropriate for a rising star on social media. The massive audience waved along to Cooking Cave but it was Ex On Fire that really got them going. Much love to Belksi for organising the night. After the show I joined Lucien Jack and Kate Bouquet in the front room for a pricey drink and shouting over a drag queen belting out show tunes. I met both Lu and Kate through online gigness last year so it was nice to join the virtual dots.

On Friday, Annie and I hit the town with a friend for drinks, food and absolutely no comedy. And then I got a very expensive cab home because the tubes stopped at half midnight. WHAT HAPPENED TO THE 24HR TUBE?!

My Saturday show was in Hammersmith with Groovie Grove Comedy and a smaller but very warm bunch of onlookers. I opened and showed off my newly acquired Primark stilettos and 70% off babydoll dress from the New Look down the road (the reduction applying both to the price and amount of material used.) I got good feedback, on both my material and its. After the show I chatted away to old friends and new before catching the last train home.

I rounded off the week with Annie back at The Rose & Crown on Sunday to an audience of friends, family and Tik-Tokkers. Posting the dates on my outros for the last few months actually paying off for once! Both my own show and Disco Divorce party were a lot of fun and we thanked the venue staff many times before clip-clopping off into the mean-but-gentrified streets of Kentish Town. London tour complete!

The rest of this month see's Annie and I at two Bop & Bingo events in Rochdale and Colne and performing Disco Divorce Party in Telford before both shows appear at The Greater Manchester Fringe on September 1st and 2nd (see my Show page for more info.) I'm also performing At Home With Miss Angela Bra online with Laughing Horse on August 22nd at 7pm. Email me at angela@andyquirk.co.uk for the Zoom link.