| StandupCom Magazine | |||
| [Home] [Interviews] | |||
| REVIEWS ARCHIVE December 2000 - February 2001 | |||
|
Reviews Archive Interviews |
Reviews Archive December 2000 - January 2001 Pear-Shaped in Fitzrovia, The Fitzroy, London W1.BRIAN DAMAGE has really done something good with this club. It has come a long way since it started in this venue - and a lot farther still since it was called The Oval and staged in a barn of a rough house in darkest Stockwell. The Pear-shaped now has a small-club atmosphere and an appreciative audience that gives even the worst of acts a sporting chance. This night's fare was typical of the breadth of skills and styles the Oval encompasses. Jo Romero has been doing comedy for a good few years and has acquired some stage presence and confidence. But the strained, laboured way in which she delivers her corny lines can be painful, even if the audience let her off lightly on this occasion. Brian Damage is quite the opposite - a polished professional who delivers his gags perfectly in persona and has a good pace to his act. Sadly, his comedy skills have not yet rubbed off on his wife, Australian actress Vicky de Lacy, who performed her set to near-silence. The typical comedy hack gagster style does not suit her at all. Vicky might be better off being more honest with the audience, telling genuinely funny stories from her own life. Best act of the night was Paul Foot - now a seasoned pro whose move into the humour of cruelty is a shrewd and effective one. He had the crowd in fits with his new material about smashing up presents. By contrast, some of the new acts he introduced in his section of the show were unutterably bad - all part of the charm of the Pear-Shaped. Overall, it was a most entertaining night. STAR RATING (out of five): **** Ollie Wilson February 2001 issue The Tut Club, London N1 THE TUT lived up to its reputation of providing one of the most receptive and encouraging crowds on the open mic circuit. Compere Andy Fox is a superb foil for the acts and has the knack of loosening up a crowd and getting them to like him no matter how hard they try not to! It was his assured and unassuming performance which enabled the newish acts to excel. Best of the night was Ava who had to battle the first-on syndrome. She was funky, original, fresh and funny. If she drops the tacky big boob gags and gets a solid 20-minute set, then prepare to catch her at a pro club soon. Another highlight was David Ward who has some great gags but just needs to work on his delivery, as it would benefit from a better flow. Simon Happily also had a great night, and is at his best when ad-libbing with the crowd. But he seemed on autopilot with his material and needs to inject some of his abundant energy into the material as well as the banter. But, overall, it was great to see some acts on their way up the comedy ladder. STAR RATING (out of five): **** 'The Kritik' February 2001 issue Mitch Benn, Andrew Pipe and Steve Keyworth, Comedy Cavern, Bath A RAINY night in Bath - but the Comedy Cavern was full to the brim with stand-up fans. Compere Steve Keyworth was original and off-beat, though it took a little while for the people of Bath warm to him. He won them over with cleverly-entwined observation and whimsy which tickled the funnybone in unexpected ways. Opening act Andrew Pipe was an experienced and accomplished comic and, as one might expect, gave an accomplished performance. It was hard, however, to shake off the feeling he was running on autopilot and could have done his set in his sleep. There was still plenty to admire, though, including the story of a gig he had done in South Africa where an audience member had brandished a gun at him - 'I don't mind heckles, but a gun?' he reflected. Nobody at this gig in Bath had a gun. Perhaps if they'd had we might have seen Pipe making more effort. Musical headliner Mitch Benn comes in one size only and that's Extra Extra Large. He's not just physically big. Benn's presence is also huge and could fill any stage. Indeed, at first he seemed almost too big for the intimate Comedy Cavern. His suprisingly deft and often hilarious songs, however, quickly bridged the performer-audience divide. And the rapid-fire gags in the monologues between songs had the audience laughing heartily. The songs came thick and fast and were very funny. Musical highlights of his set were the self-aware 'Singing Comedian' and the self-explanatory 'Crap Shag'. The only downside was the commercial break he inserted in the middle of his set to flog his CD compilation. Overall, it was a good night, and by the end even the rain had stopped. STAR RATING (out of five): **** 'Cloth Ears' January 2001 issue Craig Campbell, Comedy Cellar, Huddesfield. HERE'S a little comedy secret. Craig Campbell, already a cult TV star in his native Canada, is currently gigging around the UK circuit and if this performance is anything to go by is in danger of becoming a star all over again in this country. Taking the stage of the packed Comedy Cellar club at Huddersfield's Lawrence Batley Theatre, Campbell's huge skill and comic artistry took a vocal West Yorkshire audience on a mesmerising world tour of the imagination. With enjoyable anecdotes about the way North Americans are perceived in Asia and Europe, why Continental Europeans are so much fun to punch, and how news of the crash of Concorde was greeted so differently in Canada ("Oh my God it could have been me") to that in Great Britain ("A bunch of Germans, riding a French plane, on the way to New York"). Campbell's skill lies in telling extremely funny jokes that contain a truthful story. Add to this a quick-fire imagination that can rap with the audience and seemingly be able to just take off on any subject into realms of truly original comic invention, and what you have is a truly world class comedian. STAR RATING (out of five): ***** 'Cloth Ears' January 2001 issue Omid Djalili and Arj Barker, The Red Rose, Finsbury Park, London N7 THIS was the first of a new format of show at the Red Rose - with two comedians performing longer sets of 40 minutes each. Arj Barker ambled on stage looking like a drugged-up desperado out of a spaghetti western. Is this man famous? Well, he is certainly seriously funny. He said that someone outside had told him they did not recognise him - because they had never heard of or seen him before. Barker's casual, rambling and shambling style is in itself funny. Just when you think he is wandering into a dead end, he hits you with something really hilarious. Like: 'I went to a party. I nearly had a threesome. All I needed was two women.' It was interesting that he was not approaching the 40-minute set any differently from a 20 minute one, but simply making the jokes twice as long. Great stuff! I think Omid Djalili suffered a touch for having to go second. And by the end, he claimed to have run out of material, winning a huge laugh. The first 20 minutes of his set were the funniest, as he went through his Islamic Fundamentalist stuff, pulled silly faces and generally did Godzilla impressions. He electrified the crowd with the audience participation racial stereotype game, which produced a truly side-splitting moment. So if his new material failed to hit the spot, what did it matter? Djalili is an outstanding talent. Overall, it was an enjoyable evening, but the jury is still out on the new format. STAR RATING (out of five): **** Comedy Spy December 2000 issue Amused Moose Central, London W1 IT was a mixed night at the Moose. The punters were a strange lot. Having paid their money to get in, they seemed content to sit rigid and let rigor mortis set in. And it very nearly did. Cocky Jennifer Brister managed to draw out some energy from the grim room but got the best reaction from having a pop at the audience with remarks like, 'Just checking for a pulse'. She performed with great confidence but some of her material was weak. And you cannot get away with a dull rant about the Millennium Dome by dressing it up as something that is not funny but you needed to get off your chest. Remember, Jennifer: Not funny is not funny. Rohan Agalawata was cool, laid-back and stylish, as he ran through his set of clever gags, not bothering with smooth links but leaning more towards bizarre juxtapositions that hinted at a Harry Hill influence. His material is good but it did not hit the mark on this night. His biggest laugh came when he messed up a gag, totally destroying his cool persona in the process and becoming lovable. And funny. Alex Zane is also likable, despite being something of a pretty boy. But is he funny? Well, he has a nice line in self-depreciation and shows a welcome, though as yet undeveloped, tendency to reveal embarrassing stuff about himself. For instance, he was the only child in his school forced to carry a briefcase. Humiliating! But Zane committed a cardinal sin, almost unforgivable in comedy, by doing a Sean Connery impression (Brister had already done one earlier) and an Ikea joke in the same act. When will comedians realise that these topics have been hung, drawn, quartered, minced and turned into dog food that not even a famished mongrel would sniff at? Please stop this outrage now and put us out of our misery! Ninia Benjamin has been known to storm it with her big woman without a boyfriend act, and perhaps expected to on this occasion. How else would you explain the fact that she burst into laughter at her demise on stage. Her laughter eventually became infectious and she got her best response from the observation that 'you lot are not so impressed'. If there was any doubt that Francesca Martinez is succeeding because cerebal palsy gets her sympathy laughs, she blew the notion away. And if she can storm in front of the audience on this night, she could do it anywhere. Of course her condition gives her endless comedy potential, but she is funny because she has the courage to totally be herself on stage, her struggles magnifying the absurdity of life. One of her biggest laughs came from the revelation that she has a set twice as long. It is the same material but she makes her way on and off stage without a chaperone. Martinez is a refreshing breath of air in a stale comedy scene. Off-the-wall Terry Frisby's nerdy New Zealander also went down well. He has a penchant for self-mockery. Could there be something in this? The bulk of his act was an anecdote about meeting a wild English girl. The yarn got increasingly unbelievable, as it featured Frisby actually being invited back to her place and getting down to carnal activities, which he acted out for us, before finishing with a killer punchline. Ridiculous! Jason John Whitehead - winner of the BBC Comedy Awards - tried out a lot of new material, much of which failed to hit the mark. You sense that Award may be feeling like a millstone around his neck. Whitehead squirmed when it was mentioned in his introduction. But he was likable and built up a good rapport with the dead people at the front of the room. It is a shame his story about getting mugged went on for ever and was not funny. STAR RATING (out of five): *** Comedy Spy December 2000 issue The Comedy School's Funny Festival, Cecil Sharp House, London NW1 THE School of English Folk and Dance provided the unlikely setting for the Funny Festival's Comedy Showcase and, thankfully, there was not a weirdy-beardy bloke on descant recorder in sight. The warm-up man for the evening, Eddie Nestor from BBC 2's Real McCoy, tried to gauge the mood by telling a neutral joke and then asked the punters if they would like the tone to be heightened, kept at a medium leve, or lowered. Surprise, surprise - the crowd opted for it to be lowered. He went on to do some bog-standard observational stuff about toilet seat etiquette and the contrasting habits of men and women. Not exactly groundbreaking but passable, Nestor got some titters and nods of recognition from the crowd. Kojo, at 20, is young indeed, but with his 100-watt smile and genuine charm he draws the crowd in instantly. He paces up and down the stage, exuding confidence and works the room well. His set draws heavily on his family life where he recreates living with Nigerian parents complete with authentic accents. A talent for the future. Resembling the Karim character from the TV adaption of the Buddha of Suburbia, Paul Chowdhry, hit everybody's funny-bone with the re-telling of his upbringing in an Indian household. The audience particularly related to his description of his father listening in on his telephone conversations with his girlfriend. The dad responding to the ensuing flirtatious talk with abusive remonstrations (with Indian accent) had me in tears. He the went on to do impersonations of famous people having sex, a comic device that has been used too many times by other comedians in my view, famously Robin Williams who did a take on Elma Fudd. He gets away with it though, on the strength of his impressions, notably that of Arnold Schwarznegger. I shot out of my seat when I heard the announcement for 'Tina Turner'. With the familiar opening of Let's Stay Together, I knew we were in for a treat. Miming every word with powerful emotion, Sandra B screwed her face up like a spent crisp packet, and her lip quivered more than any American Soap Star upon hearing terrible news. This wonderfully exaggerated performance managed to steal the show and, in my opinion, would have blown the real queen of flamboyant pop off the stage. Fine stuff! STAR RATING (out of five): **** Ivan de Mello December 2000 issue Mothers Comedy Club, London W1 This show was hosted by Teresa Hellen, the Catholic compere with no surname! First up was Welsh comic Alison Cannon who has a timid manner and is softly spoken but has well-constructed surreal material. To quote her: "Thank you for groaning. It confirms the inventiveness of my jokes." Mark Lucero gives you a choice of political satire or high-quality knob and bum gags. You can guess which people choose. Gay comic Simon Happily does not mind you being straight. He just does not want to hear about what you get up to! He found a young victim in the front row of the audience and worked him well, which was enjoyable to watch. Mandy Muden performed comedy and magic. Flames, cards, rope cutting and turning a tatty fiver into a fifty pound note. And she was also outstandingly funny. Oddball pigeon man Phil Zimmerman finished the show with bundles of energy. He gets better every time I see him. STAR RATING (out of five): *** Peter Merrett December 2000 issue Sunday Up The Creek, Greenwich THIS was a Sunday night special to celebrate the 10th anniversary of this infamous London comedy club. Up The Creek is run by Malcolm Hardee and, despite his legendary drinking, it has gone from strength to strength. The club's South London crowd is notorious for its rough treatment of try-out acts. I have to say the majority of the evening was spoiled for me, because I sat behind a group who constantly talked throughout the show. Heckling is something that can be answered by the acts, but these people were just ignorant and impossible to handle. First act up was established George Egg from Brighton. He stirred schoolday memories for most of the audience with his material about the speak-and-spell machine and the beloved Spectrum 64. He had a suitcase full of props and ended the performance by strategically stripping off with just a coat hanger to protect his modesty. Steve Best was next up. He says he gets lonely so he changed his phone number to 1471. After that was try-out Eric who has the hair of Jesus but, sadly, not the presence. After this performance, he was lucky not to be nailed to a South London building. Hopefully, he will be reborn at a comedy venue some time soon. Then came Chris Newby who has an extraordinary talent of making high-powered military aircraft noises, rather like Al Murray did before he created the Pub Landlord. Apparantly, Newby also played the opening night 10 years ago. Expect to see him back in another decade! With his own Channel 5 series, big-name act Jim Tavare has the experience to handle Up The Creek. But he acknowledged how hard it is for the up-and-coming acts, as he had started out at Up The Creek 10 years ago. Exploding musical instruments might not have been in his set when he started out, but he really is 20 minutes of hilarious entertainment. And, finally, Malcolm Hardee and the gang made it famous and TV people like Chris Evans and Jonathan Ross could only copy. Yes, it was the Naked balloon dance. Steve Bowditch and 'Charles' assisted - until the balloons burst. STAR RATING (out of five): *** Peter Merrett December 2000 issue The Legendary Polowski, Canal Cafe Theatre, London W2 TWO inept East End comedy crooks, Jack and Terence (Gareth Tunley and Phil Brown) plan a diamond heist - but they're not going to do it alone. Enlisting the help of members of the audience who are suddenly called upon to assume roles such as safe-cracker, a getaway driver and, mysteriously, a woman called Angela who insists upon recording everything for a docu-soap called 'Crimewatch'. These mockney rebels carefully plot their scheme despite the warnings of an Italian ex-con called 'Mr Scary' and the long arm of the law. The dynamic duo have excellent timing with Gareth Tunley acting as a foil to Phil Brown's more energetic character. Brown's flashy patter and 'Eastender's' Mike Read mannerisms are a particular treat. Rather than being a series of disparate sketches, the search for the sparkler provides a hook on which to hang the various comic set-pieces. It, also, works as a fine pastiche of the glut of Brit gangster movies that have recently hit our cinema screens. You won't be wanting to make a quick getaway when you see these two diamond geezers putting in an arresting performance. STAR RATING (out of five): **** Ivan de Mello December 2000 issue Visit our sister site: Oliver's Poetry home Get your poems published for free Friends' Poetry home Oliver's Poetry Garret Interactive Blog Oliver's Poetry Garret No Frills Blog A-Z of Poetry Oliver's Poetry UK |
||