A Day In The Life Of… Jason Cook

Jason Cook

The good thing about being a comedian is that not too many days end up being the same. Travelling around the country doing gigs or having a day off are two entirely different things, so here is a guide to both.

Gig days:

I’m up at lunchtime, find out the location of the gig that night, and, more importantly, use the internet to find out the last possible time I can leave the house and still get there on time – then I have to pack the relevant bags with projectors, laptops and stage clothes to get changed into.

After that, usually a bit of Jeremy Kyle is watched then a shower and off on the road. Driving is the biggest part of any comedian’s working day. I’m becoming too familiar with the M6 and M62 corridor for it to be healthy for a human child. Usually, when driving, a stop at a service station is in order to get a “car picnic” to munch on, and then whack on whichever podcast or audio book I’ve chosen for the journey.

Once at the gig it’s set up time, which, after doing this for a few years, has gone from about half an hour to roughly six or seven minutes. After that it’s just killing time until show time. Angry Birds on the iPhone and the range of apps I have acquired helps.

Usually I have a walk around the venue to have a look at the crowd and try and get a feel for what kind of audience they will be. Maybe see a couple of people who have seen me before and catch up with them. Then backstage and into ‘stage clothes’, which really means ‘clean and ironed t-shirt’ – if you’re driving for 4 hours, it’s best not to do it in the t-shirt you’re wearing for the gig. It becomes a bit too “lived in”.

About 5 minutes before the show someone will come and tell you that it’s time to get ready, which usually involves a quick scan through the show notes and a couple of things scribbled on my hand that I should include, be they stories about the last time I played that venue, or something that has been in the news that day.

Once the show has started it all become a bit of a blur – I try and find some characters in the audience to bounce a few of the stories off, and try to do the best show possible.

Post-show there is the selling of DVDs to be done, the occasional photo (my Facebook is littered with pictures of a very sweaty me looking exhausted next to smiling people), then back in the car for the journey home. Luckily, the adrenaline from a show takes a few hours to wear off, which will usually be enough to keep me awake for the long drive through the night.

After getting in, I have some dinner, a little bit of Xbox Live then bed about 3 or 4am.

Days off:

Up whenever I wake up, and move body and soul to sofa.

Ring wife, get her to get something from Marksies for my dinner.

Do admin, emails, writing projects like this, spend too much time on Facebook.

The wife gets in. Dinner. Crap telly.

Bed.

If you want to see Jason Cook live in the North East, he will be performing at a number of clubs this month. His North East dates can be found below:

4th December – Compering Ten Feet Tall’s Big Mouth Comedy show. Ticket information can be found here.

10th December – Compering Ten Feet Tall’s Stockton Arc show. Ticket information can be found here.

11th December – Compering Ten Feet Tall’s Stockton Arc show. Ticket information can be found here.

17th December – Supporting Brendon Burns at The Corner House in Newcastle. Ticket information can be found here.

17th December – Headlining at Queen’s Head in Morpeth. Ticket information can be found here.

18th December – Supporting Brendon Burns at St Dominic’s Catholic Club in Newcastle. Ticket information can be found here.

18th December – Headlining at Lamplight in Stanley. Ticket information can be found here.

19th December – Supporting Russell Kane at Hilarity Bites Comedy Club in Darlington. Ticket information can be found here.

19th December – Headlining Punch Drunk Comedy in Cramlington. Ticket information can be found here.