WHAT A YEAR

At the end of any year it always seems appropriate to look back on the last twelve months. I suppose it’s a great way of analysing where you were at the beginning of the year and where you have establish yourself at the end. For the Real Deal Comedy Jam 2009 has no doubt been an incredible year. We have seen the brand grow by establishing itself in Bristol, London and Manchester. Along the way JEP have gained two really strong promotional partners in ‘Play Ents’ who manage the brand in London, and T.W.E who manage the brand in Bristol, seeing the production level burgeon to new heights unrivalled in UK urban stand-up comedy.
In the words of Jay Z ‘Men lie, women lie numbers don’t’. So lets look at the actual numbers behind RDCJ 2009.

In 2009 The Real Deal Comedy Jam achieved the following:

· Completed 4 UK comedy tours

· Produced 13 individual shows

· Got involved in 1 music festival

· Showcased the talents of 20 individual comedians

· Performed at 7 venues in 5 different regions of the UK

And wait for this, have attracted just under 10 thousand people and had over 2 million hits on the Real Deal Comedy Jam website. Wow! When you look at it like that I would definitely say 2009 has been a successful year.

So what have been my highlights of the year so far?

We’ll if I were to consider that question from a performance angle then it would be hard to top Toju’s performance on the February Birmingham show where after completing his set he stood in the middle of the stage demanding his dues, he seemed to get a standing ovation for about 5 minutes. The only other set that came close for me was Glenda Jaxson’s performance on the Bristol leg of the April tour. She was only supposed to do 25 minutes but ended up doing about 45. Naughty, naughty but we forgave her.

If I were to consider that same question from the point of view of who I thought stepped up to the plate then I would have to give it to our show DJ Gman, who in Bristol on the April tour filled in for the show host Kojo who was stuck in traffic! That was a close call. Gman not only held his own he actually did a really superb job in maintaining the crowds attention.

There have been other top performances like Daniel Dugar in Brum, Mike Yard in Brum, Tony Woods in Bristol, Kevin J’s performance in Manchester, Eddie Kadi in London, Papa CJ in Brum, Corey Holcomb in Bristol and who will forget Kat’s entrance at the September show in Brum. But for me, personally, the performance of Toju and Glenda, plus the flexibility of Gman to step up in that adverse situation had the edge above all.

So what other highlights have we seen in 2009?
I was always taught that a chain is only as strong at its weakest link. The same can be said about your team. I have been really proud of the way we have all worked together towards one common cause. There are people who work behind the scenes dropping off flyers, putting up posters, sending emails, taking photographs, designing, writing, selling tickets, etc etc. The list goes on. To all those people who have helped the Real Deal Comedy Jam in 2009 we salute you and commend you.

My final word has got to be to all the people that have attended a Real Deal Comedy Jam show in 2009. Without you we do not have a show. So if you are one of those ten thousands attendees of 2009 we thank you for your support.

Now lets make 2010 even BIGGER!

Nathan Wilkins

Director

JEP Entertainment Ltd