`After 15 minutes, my audience walked out`: standups on their Edinburgh debuts
(The Guardian Culture News)

Bridget Christie got locked out, Nina Conti ran off with a monkey - and Reginald D Hunter begged his ex for help. Top comedians relive their first fringe gigDave GormanI was 19 and nowhere near ready. I had a decent enough act - if there was a full house and everyone was up for it. But I had none of the skills needed for working a small, arms-folded, go-on-prove-it audience. Luckily, the only reviewer who came along didn´t hear my name and reviewed me under the title of the double act I´d replaced at the last minute. `Brute Farce,` wrote the critic, `is a strange young man who mumbles as he walks about the stage.` They´re probably still peeved.Dave Gorman´s With Great Powerpoint Comes Great Responsibilitypoint tour starts in September. Continue reading...