Blog: They're Back!

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On Wednesday afternoon i TORE myself away from watching OLYMPICS (er... whilst studiously Working From Home, of course) and went round to Chez Hewitt, for our first practice of the REVISED version of Dinosaur Planet, ready for the GIGS we're doing the week after next.

I must admit I have been a bit worried about this - we're doing the show at GREEN MAN a fortnight tomorrow, which will be one of the biggest audiences I'VE ever played to (obviously not the biggest Mr S "Opening Ceremony" Hewitt has had, but STILL) and certainly the most people who'll have ever seen the two-man show in one sitting, and I'd like it to be GOOD. The fact that we haven't performed it for nearly 18 months was a bit frightening, and also I was haunted by memories of the LONGEURS in certain sections. We'd agreed some judicious CUTS to certain sections, but I still FEAR how it might go over For A Festival Crowd.

The Hewitts are currently very MUCH in The Festival Mood, as they've both got the whole fortnight off to see MILLIONS of Olympic Events, also to go to pubs, loaf around having lie-ins, eat fast food and drink BEER. They appear to be doing the Edinburgh Festival without the travel, hills, or comedians asking them what they do for a living, and so I am INSANELY JEALOUS!

After some tea, cheesecake, and CHAT we set to it - I'd envisaged us doing this first practice hunched over the script, stumbling through it, but Steve got THE PROPS out and we LAUNCHED into it full throttle. And blow me down but it was PRETTY DARN GOOD - MUCH better than I'd've DARED to DREAM to HOPE it might have been! We did stumble over some bits, but CRIKEY! It appears that we pretty much still KNOW about 90% of the songs and script, and the rest we are sufficiently COMPETENT to mostly get through anyway!

The CUTS worked really well too - every time we did the show I was acutely conscious of how SLOWLY it got going, so we've cut almost ALL of the first scene ("Not my Darry-Lamb", that bit) and EXCISED Professor Peter Probersite COMPLETELY. It feels a bit sad to lose these bits, but CRUMBS, it doesn't half make things get going FAST! There's a few other places we've applied SNIPPAGE, though when we actually did the run through many of those slipped back in anyway.

We finished in about 50 minutes and, with the addition of LARFS (hopefully) and SUBTRACTION of occasional FLOUDERING, I reckon that's how long it'll take on the DAY(s), which is IDEAL really. We celebrated with a BEER, and then I stumbled out, KNACKERED (I had forgotten how exhausting it is to dance around playing a guitar while wearing a DINOSAUR MASK), but rather relieved. I think it's going to work!

If you'd like to see for yourself you have roughly two and a half opportunities to do so - we're doing the show at The Camden Head, London on Monday 13th as part of The Camden Fringe (doors 7.30pm, show starts 8.00pm, click here for tickets), just the songs on Tuesday 14th at Freedom Of Expression in Croydon (at The Green Dragon, starts 8.30pm and is FREE) and then on Friday 17th at The Green Man Festival (we're on at 2.45pm on the Solar Stage in Einstein's Garden ). Do come along if you're around for any of them, we're going to try and make it GRATE!

posted 3/8/2012 by MJ Hibbett

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