Reviews Archive
The Reviews Archive from 1997.

Interviews
Interviews with stand-up stars.

2007 Reviews including 2007 Edinburgh Fringe
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It was as big a pleasure as a surprise to find my local comedy club in Lewes, East Sussex, had upped sticks and relocated to within a stone's throw of my weekday abode in Leamington, Warwickshire. The debut gig at the new venue did not disappoint.

Resident compere Kevin Precious was on superb form. He appeared to leave his self-effacing patter in the South, warming up the audience with more self-assured chat than previously.

And he was gifted a couple of eccentric women in the front row who had apparently come on the wrong night in the vain hope of seeing the film Atonement! They were utterly uninhibited and hilarious in their own right.

Precious also homed in on a handsome middle-aged man seated betwixt two young blondes. He was doing well in getting gags out of that situation, even though one of them won a big laugh by announcing that she was the bloke's daughter! (only the other was his girlfriend).

And so, swiftly, the first act was brought on! Dan Evans had a strong set, starting with a quirky Dad's Army gag, and finished with some very funny sex material.

His voice and manner reminded me of Harry Hill, and I liked the comedic way he moved around the stage with plenty of different poses.

One-liner king Gary Delaney, who lives near Leamington Spa, tried his 'nice' gags on his local audience. They worked fine but he could not resist wheeling out the dirty big guns.

It was amazing how far he could push the boundaries of taste. I especially enjoying his habit of lambasting his audience for their reaction to his rudest gags.

Headliner Steve Day - who bills himself as Britain's only deaf comedian - was fantastic. He gets the mix of general material and jokes about his disability just right.

Over the past few years Day (pictured above) has grown into a very solid headliner who leaves the audience reeling with laughter.

It was a tremendous night. Barnstormers was always good in Lewes, but it is great in Leamington.

Joe Wilson
October 2007


Idiots Of Ants, Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh

Idiots Of Ants are one of the most hyped sketch groups performing at this year's fringe - but, sadly, did not live up to the marketing.

The group - Andrew Spiers, Benjamin Wilson, Elliott Tiney and James Wrighton - can certainly act, but there was little originality in what they were doing. Sketches about TV sports show theme tunes or sexual stereotypes are unlikely to set the town ablaze, and it was no surprise to learn the group has been going for less than a year.

I suspect that pushy parents have masterminded their premature debut at the fringe, along with sponsorship from Charlie's Special Reserve, Jeffery-West, Jelly Bean and Hawes & Curtis (there you are - I've plugged all of them!). But it takes more than snazzy black suits and fashionably pointy shoes to make a great comedy show.

Too much, too young!

Chris Wilson
August 2007


So I Suppose This Is Offensive Now!, Pleasance Dome, Edinburgh

It is a tremendous thrill to see a comedian who has been excelling at his craft for years reach a new peak.

Brendon Burns has achieved this with a truly remarkable show in which he tests, pushes and attempts to redefine the boundaries of taste in racism, sexism and homophobia.

The venue was packed, due in part no doubt to a publicity poster in which Burns appears blacked up, in a wheelchair and hanging from a cross.

The show started with two scantily dressed women, dancing provocatively, jiggling all they had got, until a beaming Burns emerged between them sporting a bizarrely sideburned and moustachioed look.

He wasted little time in getting into the issue of racism, talking about Islamic terrorists, skin colour and being an immigrant in Britain.

Where once Burns would have ranted, he cajoled and teased his audience, winning the argument as well as the laughs.

He pulled off the same trick with sexism, a certain intellectual rationale underpinning the most ferocious attacks on women in the audience.

It is testament to his stage charm and gift at mocking himself that he emerged unscathed.

And the finale to the show, which we will not give away, was absolutely brilliant.

A comedy masterpiece and my tip to win the if.comeddies award.

Chris Wilson

August 2007
Stewart Lee - 41st Best Stand-up Ever, Underbelly, Edinburgh

This show marks a return to form for Stewart Lee.

In a soft, intelligent manner, Lee used the rather silly fact he had been named in a TV programme as the 41st Best Stand-up of All Time to belittle the television industry, especially Channel 4, the sponsors of his venue, the E4 Udderbelly.

It was hard to argue with Lee's core assertion that the 20 or 30 people who run the British TV industry have lost touch with beauty and intelligent thought.

When you stop watching television, you generally find your life is improved by its absence.

Lee also cleverly used the comedy of repetition to milk a story about his mother praising the quick-wittedness of comedian Tom O'Connor whom she had seen on a cruise liner.

He incessantly reiterated his mum's words until the audience was in tears of laughter.

Equally strong was Lee's story of his cancelled BBC2 television series, which led to him having to perform to a conference of entomologists, while clad as a giant insect for no reason and no money.

The only flaw with the show was Lee seemed to have written too many endings, all of which he used.

Overall, though, it was beautifully delivered and a joy to watch.

Chris Wilson
August 2007


Jerry Sadowitz - Comedian, Magician, Psychopathn Underbelly Udderbelly, Edinburgh

Age has not mellowed Jerry Sadowitz as a comedian. The ferocity, bitterness and sheer brilliance of this performance was breathtaking.

Over the past couple of decades, Sadowitz has written and delivered many inspired shows, but I have never seen his raw rage prove as devastatingly funny.

This was a no-holds-barred performance that left few areas of tasteless humour unexploited.

Even recent taboo subjects were fearlessly tackled and made funny for the benefit of a shocked audience, crying with laughter.

Of course it was dressed up as a close-up magic show, and Sadowitzıs card tricks were extremely clever.

Yet he treated his own remarkable sleight of hand skills almost with contempt as he interrupted tricks to rail against an unjust world that makes household names out of less gifted performers.

There is a sense that Sadowitz genuinely feels the world has conspired to make his life miserable and that every second of stage time is an opportunity to put it right on a thing or two.

Whatever the case, the audience gained the benefit of his magnificent comedy writing skills and unequalled pace and delivery.

A truly great show!

Chris Wilson
August 2007


How To Rock, Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh

Christian Reilly is a guitarist who was inspired to become a stand-up comedian by the great Rich Hall in whose band he toured on or off for six years.

Wisely, he has placed his obvious skill as a guitarist and songwriter centre stage in this production and penned stand-up material around it.

The result was some blisteringly funny songs, interspersed by dodgy, half-baked comedy routines.

At the root of Reillyıs problem was his stage persona.

He came across as a cheeky, ruddy-faced guitarist chappie, and then, incongruously, used date-rape material on a pretty woman in the audience. Suddenly, the persona did not ring true.

The show was also a bit of a misnomer.

It was not so much informing the audience of how to rock as telling the story of how Reilly became a rocker, through his parents' divorce and motherıs numerous boyfriends, including a cool hippy who gave him his first guitar, a Gibson Flying-V.

It was an interesting story with some good yarns, like how he missed his band's big break by overdosing on dope cake.

But weak material prevailed too often.

The songs, however, saved his bacon and there was no doubt the audience left having been entertained.

Chris Wilson
August 2007


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