Festival ComedyReviews at a Glance list.co.uk/festival
The Gentleman of Leisure ●●●●● Tom Neenan and Nish Kumar are The Gentlemen of Leisure, bringing you an energetic and enlightening hour of satire and silliness. Although a little more on-stage chemistry between the pair wouldn’t go amiss, the duo are engaging and sharp, and pull off ‘uncool and awkward-chic’. A snip at £5, the show puts these gents firmly on the map. (Rebecca Ross) The GRV, 226 0000, until 30 Aug (not 19), 1.40pm, £5. Gordon Southern ●●●●● On the night we popped into Southern’s show, the audience were a touch rowdy. Still it gave him a chance to display his well- honed crowd-control skills. Audience pacified and on with the show, one with the theme of borders, inspired by his Australian wife being unfairly detained at Heathrow and teamed with some slightly more tenuous ‘border’ material that leads to a routine about his fridge. Nevertheless it makes for an enjoyable hour with a cheeky chap. (Marissa Burgess) The Tron, 226 0000, until 29 Aug (not 25), 9pm, £5. Grainne Maguire ●●●●● Flitting back and forth between a 19th-century literary fantasyland and her actual life, Maguire’s one-woman show is a rather ramshackle affair. Afflicted by a small audience, she bravely soldiers through some tired routines about Facebook and young love before personal disclosures jar the atmosphere. She’s an engaging performer who would benefit from judicious writing and a larger crowd. (Murray Robertson) The Caves, 556 5375, until 29 Aug, 10.15pm, £7 (£5). Greg Davies ●●●●● The mischievous 42-year-old – a gangling 6ft 8in cross between Rik Mayall and a ‘warped Mr Tickle’ – hits his stride with this debut solo show. Deliberately homing in on anecdotes ‘devoid of meaning’, the ex-high school drama teacher tears through a well-developed and magnetic set about his consciously eccentric father, absurdly large owls and an S&M-loving family pet. (Claire Sawers) Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6550, until 29 Aug, 9.45pm, £9.50–£10.50 (£8–£9). Gyles Brandreth ●●●●● OK, so we’ll ignore that Brandreth is both a former Tory MP and a wearer of particularly bad jumpers to focus on the fact that this hour of anecdotes about his life in theatre, TV and politics is sharply written and squeezed for laughs. Though inevitably it will be his fans that trundle through the door, if they happen to be accompanied by any naysayers, The One to One Show is especially strong to stand in its own right. (Marissa Burgess) Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6550, until 30 Aug, 4.30pm, £14–£15 (£12.50–£14). Henry Paker ●●●●● Henry Paker has one of those lovely minds that sends out little constructs of the gleefully absurd in all directions. This is a charming, friendly show where ad-libbed flights of fancy spiral out of observations and Paker ties himself in delightfully daft knots. If you like Bill Bailey but can’t bear the thought of what’s living in that hair, try this one. (Laura Ennor) The GRV, 226 0000, until 29 Aug, 7.50pm, £5. His Eyes Were Like Oysters ●●●●● Imagine The Mighty Boosh without the mellowing constraints of consistent characterisation and mainstream 44 THE LIST 19–26 Aug 2010
Holly Burn
success. Oyster Eyes’ sketches are a bewildering tissue of pop culture references, surreal concepts and non- sequiturs gummed together by dour, anti- comic disco DJ Alan Starr. While there are undoubtedly some unconventional ideas on display here, the show revels just that bit too much in its own oddness. (Matt Boothman) The Caves, 556 5375, until 29 Aug, 6.15pm, £7 (£6). Holly Burn ●●●●● Burn’s awkward, absurd and occasionally hilarious routines are enlivened by recurring delights like the DIY musical theatre of Jason the Very Rich Lion and the kitchen-sink surrealism of super-villain Custard Flanagan. The Newcastle comic offers an arresting, uncomfortable experience – her stand-up, characters and sketches are unadorned and in your face – yet Burn’s bizarre imagination is vivid, boundless and contagious. (Nicola Meighan) The Caves, 556 5375, until 29 Aug, 3.35pm, £6.50 (£5). Ian D Montfort ●●●●● This promising new character from Tom Binns (creator of hospital DJ Ivan Brackenbury) is a Sunderland ‘actual psychic’ who can talk to dead celebrities as well as deceased aunties. Some great shambolics and ad-libbing are let down a bit by occasionally bland material and a questionable Mackem accent. Still, it’s worth a spin. (Sam Healy) Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6550, until 30 Aug, 2.15pm, £9–£10 (£7.50–£9). Jimmy McGhie ●●●●● The consumer perversions of iPhone owning, Tesco Metro shopping, gap-year funding middle-class twonks form the meat of McGhie’s show, and if you are such a twonk then you’ll enjoy laughing at your own foibles. Zaire despot Joseph Mobutu features as the voice of McGhie’s conscience, and adds texture to what is otherwise a set of simple but funny observations about the pettiness of the comic’s overly comfortable life, with reference to yours. (Jonny Ensall) Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6550, until 30 Aug, 9.45pm, £8.50-£9.50 (£7-£8). Joe Bor ●●●●● Bor makes his Fringe debut with a show themed around embarrassment, but his collection of routines isn’t particularly harmonious and they vary greatly in quality, the weakest of them feeling like they’ve just been thrown into the mix. That said, Bor has an easy and relaxed way with the crowd and he’s got a unique closing gag about having two bumholes. (Miles Fielder) Le Monde, 270 3914, until 30 Aug, 8pm, £5. Jollie ●●●●● Earnest and classy nautical storytelling from two consummate performers is strengthened by an evidently seasoned friendship and although the duo’s on-stage bickers begin to drag, this is a charmingly silly piece of musical comedy. Accordion, clarinet and box drum make for a chintzy accompaniment to tall tales of two over- qualified cruise ship artistes entertaining the blue rinse hordes of the high seas. (Rosalie Doubal) Pleasance Dome, 556 6550, until 30 Aug (not 23), 7pm, £9–£10.50 (£7.50–£9.50). Jon Richardson ●●●●● Richardson’s trademark affable angst spills over into common or garden griping and moaning here (small talk, optimists and sex addicts all incur his wrath), with fewer laughs per hour than previous years. Perhaps the grumpy card has been played to death, while the stuff that relies on his rock solid, never- ending stash of regional accents and physical gags works better by miles. (Claire Sawers) Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6550, until 30 Aug, 7.40pm, £11–£12 (£9.50–£10.50). Lach ●●●●● This frenetic, guitar- wielding New Yorker laces together humorous vignettes and songs with long titles about growing up, including tributes to Kiss and meandering paeans to pot. Minutely referential and full of pithy asides, Lach’s particular skill is in
making an audience warm to him by force of personality. The poetry portion of the evening is a highlight. (Peggy Hughes) Gilded Balloon Teviot, 622 6552, until 30 Aug, 10pm, £8.50–£9.50 (£7.50–£8.50). The Leftovers ●●●●● A promising if underbaked sketch show that gains some of its biggest laughs from the wonky, withering facial expressions being contorted from the London trio. Tintin, Venn diagrams and their proud sponsors, Chatham Historic Dockyard (absurd corporate plugs are shoe-horned in throughout the set), provide the comedy content, but jumbled, fast- forward delivery bogs down the first half of the show. (Claire Sawers) The Caves, 556 5375, until 29 Aug, 3.20pm, £6–£7.50 (£5). Loretta Maine ●●●●● The joke here is that Loretta Maine is a drunkard with emotional problems. And that’s it. Every song starts with simpering, sweet Loretta and morphs into raging bunny- boiler Loretta. An improvised ode to an audience member and a bit of light Melua-bashing are the highlights, but other than that it’s all a bit one-note. That said, one lad was heard to remark on leaving: ‘I shall marry her one day.’ Rather you than me, mate. (Laura Ennor) The Caves, 556 5375, until 29 Aug, 6.35pm, £9–£10 (£8–£9). Luke Toulson ●●●●● A sweet show from a decent bloke who’s recently kicked a drink habit features riffs on the perils of bad parenting (in reality, he’s probably a great dad), first dates and teaching geography. There’s not a lot more than good vibes to keep tepid material moving forward, however, with the audience enjoying it most when they can help Toulson through the tricky parts. Plenty of bonhomie, but not much else. (Jonny Ensall) Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6550, until 30 Aug, 10.45pm, £7.50–£8.50 (£6–£7).