Alan Davies II

When I was living in London in the mid-nineties, one of my locals, The King's Head in Crouch End, had a twice weekly stand-up night. I'd often go either on my own or with friends, squelch downstairs through the traditional pub carpet, get a pint from the bar, light up and listen to the MC playing a track from Lyle Mays Street Scenes. It was perfect intro music to what was, invariably, a superb evening's entertainment. Some acts were a bit scrappy, some marvellous, but the most remarkable occured one chilly Friday evening in November. I'd gone along to see an old friend from university made good, Rainer Hirsch, hoping to surprise him as I had done a few years earlier on a comedy boat moored at the Embankment. As luck would have it, Rainer cancelled but the ever-alert MC spotted Alan Davies in the audience and begged him to get up on stage and fill in. Poor Alan had, judging by his beer intake, not bargained on this, but gamely staggered on stage and gave us a fabulous set of new material he was preparing. It got an earlier outing than anticipated, but maybe that was no bad thing. As for Rainer, I finally met up with him again in Bayreuth, summer of 2010...