South Holland Centre hosts Variety Comedy Night in aid of council chairman’s charities and council worker Michael Hayward-Salvadori returns to the stage for second gig

A council worker hopes to ‘survive’ performing a longer stand up set at a town’s theatre — as he braces himself for a second-ever gig.

Michael Hayward-Salvadori, who works for South Holland District Council, will be back at the Variety Comedy Night at the South Holland Centre in Spalding tonight (Saturday August 24).

He performed an open ten minute set for the first time earlier this year in the show that raised funds for SHDC chairman Coun Andrew Woolf’s charities Spalding Mencap and Blood Cancer UK and has been rebooked for a half hour performance after that went down a storm.

Mr Hayward-Salvadori said: “It is a bit daunting doing 30 minutes but the strange thing doing the ten minute set last time was that I had no idea how long I was on as it went so fast.

“Maybe I will pause for four minutes in between each word.

“I am looking forward to it, I think.”

The audience really warmed to his set in January and the material this time will be similar.

He said: “It will be about me, my specialised subject!

“I will be looking back on my entire life, from birth, and pondering where I have got to today.

“I feel I winged the first ten minute set with a rough idea of what I wanted to say, so I will be pacing myself.”

Mr Hayward-Salvadori uses self-deprecating humour as a way to poke fun at himself and also his colleagues who showed a lot of support at his first gig, where Zeph Churchill acted as MC.

He said: “I was a chubby child and I am self-deprecating because I would put myself down before someone else had the chance.

“I have a relevant amount of sarcasm with my colleagues - it’s my nature.

“It will be nice because you can’t really see the audience but they seem to be laughing.”

Since his debut he has looked for comedy open mic nights but felt that ‘Lincolnshire almost seems to be a dead end to open mic nights’.

So will he be doing any more gigs following this extended set?

He said: “If I survive the set in one piece, unscathed and avoid having to have therapy, it might be I do a little bit more.

“Really it is just a bucket list thing.

“Although once I’d done it I did think why wasn’t I doing it 20 years ago.”

He says his family keeps him grounded and hopes his mum, who is coming to the show, doesn’t mind some fruity language but that his nine-year-old is not as impressed.

He said: “My mum is fine about me occasionally saying a naughty word and the last time it was exciting that I was in the paper and online.

“I gathered the children round and said hush children I will show you something magical.

“But unless it affords me to buy a castle and a pony it doesn’t have much impact.”

Having had good feedback from Keith Farnan who was the MC at January’s gig, the stage is now set.

For further details visit the website https://www.southhollandcentre.co.uk/

Will you be going along to the comedy night? Post your comments below…