RED 24 Management

Blue is the Colour?

Jon Grant | 04-05-12

So the bank holiday is upon us and for fans of Chelsea (such as myself) it means an FA Cup final. Always an exciting time, even if you are lucky enough to support a team who have been in a few of late – thank you the fall of the Soviet Union and the rampart spread of criminal capitalism which let dear Uncle Roman make his billions, truely Communism loss is west London footballs gain.

It was not alway thus however. When I was at school in the early – mid nineties (cue montage of lads ‘having it’, Tony Blair waving and Liam Gallagher swearing) I was frequently derided for supporting a team as useless as Chelsea. An average mid-table team if ever there was one we reached the FA Cup final in 1994 for the 1st time in 24 years and were hammered 4-0 by Man United. Not a good day. But we were back there in 1997 and beat Middlesborough 2 – 0. I wached it with my dad, himself a Chelsea fan since birth who had been taken to watch them as child by his dad. On an emotional day he was especially so and when I asked him why he said because watching it with me made him think of watching it with his father years before and that has always stayed with me.

Football is often criticised by those who neither like nor understand it and it has to be said the sport makes it easy to do this. But just sometimes we can forget the exorbitant fees, accusations of racism, corruption and assault, the megalomaniac chairmen and odious managers and be overtaken by the excitement, nerves and passion that we as fans feel. Few things have the power to unite (or divide) like football and it has given some incredible memories to millions across the globe. Now that has to be worth cheering about.

Come on Chelsea!!!

Out With The Old In With The New

Jon Grant | 18-04-12

Yesterday on Twitter – aside from championing the comedic skills of Michael Bolton – I was slagging off the latest effort by Will I. Am. I have nothing personal against Mr. Am – indeed I enjoy him on ‘The Voice’ where he looks like a colour blind 13 year old’s attempt to dress like a Micheal Jackson tribute act – but the song ‘The Hardest Ever’ is truly awful. I also listened to some other new songs on my laptop yesterday. Actually ‘new’ is not strictly true – I now have Abigail Cullen’s Spotify account on my computer. Abby is a friend of my wife’s and was at my house on the weekend with several other ladies drinking wine and singing, amongst other things if Spotify is to be believed, the Karaoke version of ‘Flying Without Wings’. And I wonder why our neighbours hate us. There were a couple of songs on there I have not heard in years (‘Scatman’ by Scatman John and ‘Spaceman’ by Babylon Zoo anyone?) and I really enjoyed listening to them, even though they are both undeniably awful. The main reason for my enjoyment is they remind me of being 15 and indeed so much of why we like songs is tied up with memories and places. Most of the music I listen to is from the recent past as opposed to the present and I know sometimes I’m missing out because of this. So maybe I should be more open to new songs rather than retreating to those which remind me of years past. That said if it’s a choice between the novelty scatting that was popular for all of 3 weeks in 1995 and Mick Jagger shouting at Jennifer Lopez I know which way Miss Cullen’s Spotify account is going…

We Will Rock You

Jon Grant | 28-03-12

The weather Gods smile on us once more and all seems well in London town. The bank holiday weekend is looming and we will be at the final of the Musical Comedy Awards at the magnificent Bloomsbury Theatre. A venue of some considerable comedy history – Eddie Izzard, Ricky Gervais and Russell Brand to name three have played there – Saturday April 7th will see six of the very best musical comedy acts in the UK battle it out to be crowned best act.

If that were not enough – and apparently it’s not – then to top it all off the headline act are the incredible Frisky and Mannish. Finalists in the very first year the competition ran they have gone on to become one of the best known acts in this genre and have played venues as diverse as the O2 Shepherds Bush, Glastonbury Festival and Sydney Opera House. They are faves on Radio 1 and their style, musical ability and downright funnyness (not a word) won them fans across the globe.

We are thrilled to be partners of such an amazing competition and there are still a few tickets left so what are you waiting for? See you there – http://www.thebloomsbury.com/event/run/1639

Rock ‘n’ Roll Is The New Comedy

Jon Grant | 21-03-12

An excellent article in this months addition of GQ about the rise of comedians in stadiums and the sustainability of putting acts with only 15 minutes of good material on TV shows. Some interesting points made and good contributions from the likes of Steve Bennett (Chortle) and Brett Vincent (Get Comedy).

Tomorrow I am at UCL to talk to a group of students who are aspiring stand ups. I watched them all perform for the first time last week and there was some really good stuff in there and the enthusiasm and nerves reminded me of my first open spots at university (in the last century!)

While we have new generations of exciting and keen acts coming through then we have a comedy industry that will remain in good health. If you want to see what the face of comedy is going to be like in 10 years time then £2.50 and a gig in a pub is a better investment than £50 for a seat on row Z of the O2 any day of the week.