In 10 days time I am doing an hour of stand-up on ZOOM as part of Leicester comedy festival, tickets are a fiver and all your money goes to a good cause! Me! Stand-ups in the 2020s are like miners in the 80s! Donate now! Promise it will be fun. https://t.co/G16IRiYcm3
— Fin Taylor (@FinTaylorcomedy) February 11, 2021
https://comedy-festival.co.uk/event/fin-taylor-irrelevant-material-for-a-post-vaccine-world-online/
*日本語では需要がないかと思い（というのもオレがFin Taylor さん大贔屓大会絶賛開催中＆常に超お勧めの芸人さんなのは過去記事で十分かと思ったので）英語賛辞の後に書いてます。よろしかったら読んで下さい。
It has been almost a year since we were deprived of beautiful live comedy shows. Hopes have kept being pushed away, far, far away from the date and time where we have initially set and placed. Live comedy geeks like me are on the verge of losing wills to live (true) as the ability to appreciate live arts makes me feel I'm alive and confirm my brain actually functions as a decent civilised human beings. So, people who create the closest live comedy environment online have been super heroes to me. In this case, the NextUp Comedy team and Mr Fin Taylor as a part of Leicester Comedy Festival 2021.
Many of paid online live comedy shows NextUp Comedy have provided since the first lockdown never allowed the audience to watch later even for a limited time but that harsh time rule has been very crucial for me to feel almost the same as those live shows I used to see at my favourite comedy venues. The feeling of "it happens just once at one particular time and space and that's the only chance you can catch it". Both performers and the audience totally know such a precious moment, so every single joke is tried at the best form possible, shining like a brand new sharpest knife and turn into the most impeccable work of art.
And Fin Taylor is one of the most fantastic comedians who dare to take a risk, telling a type of jokes where artists usually allow themselves to do only when they are provided with some comfort and security by a comedy venue, in this virtual online environment where such a bubble of protection is much more fragile or could be delusional. Those jokes he told were not the kind to expose in general public casually, could be misleading without any context but have EXACTLY the kind of brilliance that fans of his shows expected. The show certainly shook up my comatose memory of all the exciting, one and only live comedy experience I had as an audience, once again making me realise how crucial live comedy is. I was almost used to this new normal, giving up a hope to come back to my life before Covid but I now have a will to refuse it. Live comedy shows are far too good to forget about. Stay strong and keep hoping. I will save up money to spend A LOT for the day when all those live comedy shows (as we know) are back in the physical form.
(If you haven't seen his live shows before, PLEASE go see him when we can. I'd say it's nothing like the kind you see on TV. I think he's got his website for further info. )
正直、オンラインでライブコメディ並みのジョークのギアを入れる芸人さんって少ないんです。１０分とか１５分のチャットみたいな感じになっちゃうことが多い。それとやっぱり放出エネルギーが全然違う。（注：Nick HelmとTim Keyは激しく例外。ありゃすごい汗。）
だけどテイラーさんって、オンラインほとんどやってないんだけど、やるときは（多分オレは見逃してないはず）１hでがっつり！リアルライブと同じ戦闘モードに入る…ように客には見える。ネタも「オンライン？ はぁ？ 知るか！」みたいな、文脈読めない人がきいたら、一瞬で終わる（汗）みたいなすんごいジョークがスタンガンレベルで飛んでくる。毒舌のレベルはオレがフリンジで観たWhitey McWhiteface だった気がする。あの時の衝撃と言葉にできない「す、すげえものみた・・・」感を彷彿とさせてくれたし、ライブってやっぱり最高だな、って忘れかけてた大好きだったものを思い出させてくれた。コロナで流れのままになるしか道がなく、一生このままなのかしら、という不安を消そうという気力も無くなってた時に、「明けない夜はない」の希望を持つ気力を与えてくれました。ライブの素晴らしさを忘れちゃったらいかん。
実はレスター・コメディ・フェスティバルは、3月にグラスゴー、8月に地元で巨大コメディフェスティバルを毎年ほっといても体験できるバラ民にとって、コロナがなければ参加する機会なんて死んでもなかったかと思います。（→ 参加したっていうのかよ（汗））もとの関心がゼロに近いせいと、12月から週のど真ん中で早朝会議に追われるために、夕方以降にコミットするのが辛くて（→全てはコロナでオレもコメディエネルギー量が低い）２−３本くらい、観たいなーと思いつつ、スルーしちゃったものが。Stuart LawさんとかACMSの誰かがやってたやつとか、Tony Law さんとかすみません。今さら頑張って見ればよかった、と後悔してます…（汗）
