Molotov (the sign-up-on-the-night room, previously known as Mugg and Kettle) has always been a bone of contention but that was part of its charm. So we were cheap, used the f and the c words, and broke most of the licencing laws. We got a lot of talent flowing through those poorly lit, poorly sanitised, poorly maintained halls.
On Wednesday 30th May 2018, after a nine month experiment to prove the proposition that underground comedy can work at a Christian run bar, the team (Freddy McManus, Billy Darcy and George Pettifer) called it a day. Don’t get me wrong, there was as always an enthusiastic following, but in this the third try for the franchise, artistic differences were cited as one of the reasons the venue gave for the split. The audiences loved us; but the venue had God on their side.
I have always been kind of hooked on this room because there were none of the constraints that there are in many rooms where you have to be good. I think you have to be bad to be good. It’s all part of the creative process. Try things out, throw out what you don’t like and then build on what remains. That’s what was so valuable about this room. And I’d just like to say well done to all the people who have been involved, running, participating and most of all, supporting the room; because no room is any good without a crowd.
Molotov crowds have been very kind to me and for that I thank them. They are champions. Sitting through 40 plus comedians week after week, some of whom are doing comedy for the first time, can’t be easy, especially when they have to do it sitting on very hard chairs.
I took a survey on the last night of Molotov because I was afraid that I was solely responsible for the room’s demise. The other comedians brought up a lot of controversial concepts for the audience to deal with like: drug taking, racism, religion, pederasty, bestiality and sex toys, making it a challenging and lively show.
Welcome to my world 