And on the topic of comedy shows: it quite literally was one. When watching the videos online, I’d been struck by how funny and polished they were, but I assumed we were just seeing the cream of the crop. Not quite. Out of about 11 pitches, I’d estimate that four weren’t experienced comedians, including myself and Steph. I asked about this afterwards, and it was explained that bringing in performers helps create a good show for the audience and keeps everyone engaged. Understandable, for sure. But that’s approaching it more as a comedy night than a dating event.
Because the result is, firstly, that it makes things much harder for regular presenters like myself, and secondly, that the audience don’t necessarily take what they’re seeing too seriously. How do we know someone is actually single if their friend is clearly doing a skit? How do we know they even want to be approached?
Also, in the quest to be funny, you don’t always learn that much about the person being pitched. Evie did a great job of balancing both, detailing my perfect Sunday, where I’ve lived, and my job — eloquently described as “a sexy sex writer.” But for some others, all I really learned was that there are apparently a lot of jokes to be made about their job, they like sleeping in random places, and they clearly pissed off that friend at some point in their life. Funnily enough, I actually got less information than I would from a Tinder profile.
I did really appreciate the labels offered at the entrance, where colour-coding indicated your relationship status, like single, in a relationship, and Facebook’s favourite: “It’s Complicated.” Honestly, it’s something that could be applied to any social event, and maybe should be.
I think the hardest part of these pitch events, in terms of actual dating success, is that you’re hearing from the friend, so you can’t help but become more interested in them. One guy was exactly my type and spent five minutes gushing about his best friend, but the only question I wanted to ask was: ” Are you single too?” I’m sure his friend was lovely, but I’d just spent five minutes listening to him passionately applaud his mate, rolling his words around in a gorgeous accent while commanding the stage. Meanwhile, his friend had just sat there in the cuck chair looking a bit nervous.
At this point, I’d sooner recommend Pitch and Pair — or any pitch-your-friend night — as a fun and relatively cheap source of entertainment, rather than a replacement for dating apps. But fret not, dear reader. We’ll find the best IRL dating events eventually.