Radio & Video

Acclaimed comedian and broadcaster Jeremy Hardy was performing in Stafford on Friday night, taking his new show to the Gatehouse Theatre. After the show he stopped by to meet with JUICE Comedy and have a few drinks. Topics of discussion ranged from how to go about promoting/advertising comedy in Stafford, the mirage that is the Edinburgh Festival and the problems that come from having people on the comedy circuit who are only interested in getting on the telly. Jeremy also dished-the-dirt on a number of high-profile radio and TV personalities, to such an extent that we desperately wish we could share the stories but are acutely aware how much trouble that would cause.

The two interviews between Rob Halden and Jeremy Hardy have garnered a lot of attention for Rob and for Stafford FM. As well as being plastered all over the internet, the first interview was played at comedian Mark Steel’s wedding to the gathered wedding party right before Jeremy Hardy made his Best Man Speech. Last week the segment was also played on Radio 4’s News Quiz, which featured both Hardy and Steel as panelists.

Speaking of Stafford FM, the radio station is currently back to broadcasting on 87.7 FM (albeit only for a four week trial period). Which means that Rob Halden’s Comedy Club can be heard on a traditional wireless radio for the next few Saturday morning’s at 10 a.m. The show has undergone some changes recently, stripping back from the original four hour format to just two hours. Creatively this makes the show a lot tighter, punchier and more satisfying. The original four hours was only ever set up to fill time on the fledgling radio station. Now the station has attracted lots of presenters and personalities, The Comedy Club can re-shape itself for the best. A new addition to the show is Rob’s sidekick Kate Gallow. Kate is a Stafford-based filmmaker and photographer, and also acts as JUICE Comedy’s Official Photographer at all our live events. She is a very silly person.

We’re gearing up for our return to The MET Studio on Friday 6th July. Previous shows at The MET have been fantastic, full of a great atmosphere with warm, receptive audience members and hilarious comedians. Each of them has been a total sell-out as well, which is very encouraging. The line-up this time includes two local comedians. The ever-popular Cannock-based Tom Allsopp, and the Stafford-based, bearded-weirdo Rob Halden. This show will mark the first time either act has performed at the Gatehouse Theatre, and tickets are sure to be highly sought after.

We launched our brand-spanking-new YouTube Channel last week. JUICE Tube is going to not only archive all the daft videos we’ve already made, but also play host to some exciting new video content from some of your favourite regular JUICE Comedians. If you’ve not already Subscribed then head over to JUICE Tube now!

Finally, since our sexy new JUICE T-shirts have been distributed to our staff & associates, we’ve had quite a few people ask if they can buy one. At the moment these shirts are not available to the public, but let us know in the comments or on Facebook if anyone out there would be interested in purchasing a sexy JUICE T-shirt. No promises, but you never know . . .

Tweet Prizes!

As part of Cocktails & Comedy Part II on 2nd June we’re launching the second of our Tweet Competitions. Back in March our first Tweet Competition took place at Cocktails & Comedy Part I and was won by @Pedro_Dee who took home a Goodie-Bag full of comedy DVD’s, CD’s and books.

Above you can see all the wonderful prizes going into June’s JUICE Goodie-Bag, including stand-up DVD’s from Tommy Cooper, Eddie Murphy and Mark Watson; BBC Classic Comedy DVD’s from Dad’s Army and Morcombe & Wise; The Marx Bros. masterpiece Duck Soup; books from comedians Bill Hicks and Frankie Boyle.

As well all these brilliant comedy prizes, we’re throwing in ‘Served Raw’ the album from Stafford-based hard-blues band 44.Pistol. Last month JUICE signed an agreement with the band to play their excellent music at all of our live events, setting the perfect tone for a great night out.

On top of this, the lucky winner will receive their very own JUICE Shirt! These exclusive new t-shirts were released last week to the key backstage personnel of JUICE Comedy, and are NOT available to the public, so this will be a truly unique prize!

To be in with a chance of winning you’ll have to be an audience member at Cocktails & Comedy Part II. During the show we want our JUICE Fans to create Tweets using #juicecomedy and the best one will win our awesome JUICE Goodie-Bag!

Why are we giving this all away? Well it’s good publicity. We want to get the ball rolling on people Tweeting about JUICE, we want to try and get #juicecomedy trending and we want more people to Follow us on Twitter. We could take money and spend it on some form of advertising to try and get our name out there to the people of Stafford, perhaps buy an advert in the local newspapers. But realistically, would this pay us dividends in the end? We get small mentions in the local newspapers from time to time, and it doesn’t seem to bring any extra audience-members our way. Advertising in Stafford is difficult. So instead of that, we’ve decided to spend the money directly on our audience.

Yes, it’s a bribe. We want to bribe you all with some cool prizes to try and get some publicity. What does Stafford think about that?

T-shirts & Poetry

Here’s a sneak-peek of the brand new JUICE T-shirts which are currently winging their way to our Headquarters as we speak. These simple, cool shirts were designed by local artist Peter Burns (CODENAME_U81K). Pete is a very talented artist who does all the art & design for our promotional needs, creating the brand logo as well as the unique JUICE Boxes that we use to dress the backdrop of all our sets. You’ll be seeing these T-shirts on all the key individuals who work with JUICE…and we might also give one to Paul Savage as well. Also, as part of our huge Tweet Contest at Cocktails & Comedy Part II, the lucky winner will not only win a whole host of comedy DVD’s and books, but they’ll also win an exclusive JUICE T-shirt as well!

Last week we headed into Stafford’s Victoria Park to shoot some videos with Paul Savage and Rob Halden, which sounds really dirty when it’s typed out like that. Paul and Rob created some unique JUICE Poetry, never before seen. The first video has already gone live through Facebook & Twitter, but look out for more entries in the future.

Speaking of future videos, we’ll soon have our very own YouTube Channel where you can watch all the silly and embarrassing videos we’ve made in the last year. Starting with the excellent videos we made with Cloud Bay Studios last Autumn, we’ll archive Rob Halden’s most ridiculous celluloid moments and post fresh, new videos from some familiar JUICE Family faces.

The New Act / New Material Night on Bank Holiday Monday was a lot of fun. Stand-out performances came from Leanne McKie, Peter Brush and Eddie French, all of whom we’re eager to book again to entertain Stafford in the future. Don’t be suprised to see their names crop up at Cocktails & Comedy or The MET Studio in the next year. Mick Crisp also returned after his first gig with us last month, and MC Neil Reading summed Mick’s performance up best when he said “It was five minutes of beautiful whimsy, bookended by two of the most horrifically bleak jokes I’ve ever heard!” We also had a First-Timer on the bill, a rosy-cheeked young chap by the name of Alex Hylton, who did so well for his first ever gig that all the old comedians were promptly sick to their stomachs. Alex didn’t get chance to stick around after his set, but JUICE certainly hopes to nurture his burgeoning talent . . . which, again, sounds dirty when it’s typed out like that.

Predicting The Future

Five Years From Now . . .

• Following the precedent set by Man Of Steel and The Amazing Spiderman, Hollywood’s obsession with reboots will accelerate until every new film released will immediately be followed by a complete reboot of the film, played during the end credits.
• The expression “amazeballs” which has already been contracted to “mazeballs” will continue to be contracted from both ends, until something good is described as being “azeba!”
• The Kardashians will continue to breed at a frightening rate, until their very existence threatens the planet’s resources. With glossy magazine ink and fake-tan almost completely drained, humanity sends one loner soldier back in time to wipe the Kardashians out before they can begin.
• The London Olympics of 2012 have not yet taken place, with facilities still under construction. The Olympic Village now occupies Cornwall, Devon, Somerset and Dorset. A mass exodus of Cockneys march into Wales and overthrow the Welsh Assembly.
• The hotness of Megan Fox doubles every year, draining the hotness from every other Hollywood starlet. By 2015 ‘The Fox Event’ is a Black Hole stretching across California, from which no hotness can escape.
• Having dismantled the NHS, the BBC, the Police force and every other great British institution, the Conservatives sell off the remaining ownership rights of Great Britain to the highest bidder. The country is renamed Tesco Extra.
• Childhood knife crime increases in direct proportion to childhood obessity, fat levels acting as kevlar-like protection from blades. Jamie Oliver is stabbed to death by a gang of fat ten year-olds. The nation does not mourn.
• In the film industry, reboots, sequels and prequels spin wildly out of control until Hollywood creates ‘the Preboot’. A complete reboot of a film franchise that does not yet exist. Zack Snyder is attached to direct everything.