It is with great sadness that it was announce on Thursday evening that the Blackburn comedian Martin Cassidy was found dead in his home. Mark (Martin was his stage name), age 42, was the co-founder of the Lock & Load Comedy nights which were originally held at the Eanam Wharf Pub in his hometown. The nights got ever popular with local punters so with that in mind, the gig found bigger premises and its new home became the King George's Hall. The night was a success and regularly drew crowd of around 400 people per show. The hard work & endeavour that was put into Lock n Load was all down to the hard graft of Martin and Ruth White.
Since Friday, many Comics and promoters from all over the UK who knew Martin have been leaving their tributes to him - as a comedian, promoter and friend. Tony Kinsella led the tributes to him on the Manchester Comedy Forum. He said "Martin was a truly lovely guy and a massively underrated talent. Great supporter of the comedy scene, Lock N Load was one of my favourite ever gigs."
"I remembered that Martin was compere when I played my first ever gig for the Comedy Balloon at the old Briton's Protection. He was supportive from the off - made me feel welcome and valued, gave me a really warm intro to get the crowd onside and was fulsome and gave generously of his time when the gig finished. A great talent and a truly genuine bloke has been lost to us. God rest you, Martin."
Here are some more tributes from the Circuit...
Mick Ferry - I wasn't big mates with Martin but i knew him and like i said he was great company, just a lovely guy but the last two nights i have got the Comedy store crowd to give him a big round of applause and a big send off to the great promoter in the sky. He was one of us and i'd like to think he would have appreciated it.
Geoff Taylor - "In 2001-ish we were both trogging round the open-mics and playing the Frog and Bucket each week. When he started Lock 'n' Load at the Eanam Wharf pub it was obvious that he had a knack for running a good gig. Thinking about it now, I don't think he was really recognised for being a good promoter of gigs, but he was."
"The more I've thought about this today, the more gutted I feel. Sleep well, friend."
Pictured above (L-R): Geoff Taylor, Martin Cassidy, Freaks Outing's Richard Lilley and Ruth White at Lock n Load, August 2006.
Rob Riley - "I only ever met him a few times. Did a couple of gigs for him and he once did a spot for me. One thing i do remember is he had a routine which used the premise of going into the Oldham Coliseum to chat to them about a comedy night. I took it wholly literally and shit myself. Apart from that the main thing that stood out about him was the quality of the nights he put on. The last gig I did for him was 2 years ago in the Georges Hall, Blackburn and it was a joy."
James Christopher - "I had the pleasure of spending several hours in Martin's company when he drove me to a gig in Cardiff and back. He was a friendly, upbeat and considerate man, and bloody funny at the gig too. I met him on a few occasions since, and he was always full of humour and generosity. I'm so sorry to hear the bad news, my sincere condolences to his family."
Ava Vidal - "Des Sharples, John Gordillo and I (with a female comic who's name I forget) had the weirdest gig for him. Only 2 people had turned up and he made us do it anyway. Another night John had been trying to fool the audience into believing he had some authority within our relationship(!) and at the end of the night, Martin sent me back on stage instead of him to give me a right to reply. We stood there arguing furiously while the audience cracked up laughing thinking it was part of the show. Afterwards Martin was really happy with how it went and couldn't understand why we weren't that keen to do it again!"
"Sweet, funny, kind and generous guy. Really gutted to hear this. Makes you realise how short life really is."
Roland Gent shared the same stage as Martin at the 2007 Edinburgh Fringe Festival in a show called "Best Laid Plans. "Sometimes it was improvised and other times we did straight stand up. One night we had a car crash the rest of the time we ripped it. We always wanted to play around with the form of comedy and see where we could take it."
"In 2007/2008 Martin, Dave Turquoise, The Mighty Swob, Rob Hallam, Susan Hanks and Paula Bland did what I could only describe as an awesome amount of brilliant hard work putting together a monthly show of brand new sketches each month, at Darwen Library Theatre." Roland continues. "I lobbed some money into it and we took it to Edinburgh as BULLSH*T TV. It was awesome to watch it get better and better through the week, on the last night I have got to say all of the cast were fantastic. One guy wrote on the Edinburgh Fringe site that it was the funniest thing he had ever seen. Martin's Boring Jeweller skit was as funny as Monty Python."
"They were going to take it around theatres and did one show at Manchester Comedy Festival. It was worth it to knock around with them all for a week and get pissed - I had a ball. I am so sad."
Fellow Comedian & sketch team member Dave Turquoise, also worked alongside Martin as a street lighting inspector for the Highways Agency. “Martin was a great comedian and a great man. He was so generous and helpful to other comedians" as reported on the This is Lancashire website.
The generalisation of it all is that Martin was a great friend to most, be it on stage or off. I met him on several occaisions and he was nothing but a true gent. He really did make a difference to many lives. He will be sorely missed and I think its only right he has a say in his tribute.
"The Guiness Book of Records: It's just a catalogue of mental illness. One guy holds the record for putting 138 pegs on his face. I bet his family are proud." Martin Cassidy, 1967 - 2009
(Photos: The Lancashire Telegraph & www.bbc.co.uk)
0 comments