Hello all! Hope you have had (or having) a pleasant day/night/evening/period of total laziness and welcome to my first official post! Of sorts, under my pseudo-name Mr Pleasant (not that it matters as my real name is on the side and underneath the post) but to be honest, I like it and it sounds awesome so I'm sticking with it.
Back to the post. I have always liked comedy. Whether it be comedy based plays, shows or media in general as always have a place for a laugh in my life since most of us need it to get through the day. Yet, even though I have been to comedy 'gigs' in the big stadiums like Metroradio Arena and the O2, I have never been to a comedy club. The smaller shows in which you see either up and coming comedians honing their craft or veterans, who play the festivals and like to tour the smaller clubs.
Today however, I finally went to a local event called Funny Bones Comedy Club at the Gala Theatre near where I live and loved the living hell out of it. Even more than the bigger gigs I have been too as I get to see acts I have never seen before. You can only see Lee Evans so many times before you begin to notice that some of the same jokes from old shows leech into the new ones. But don't get me wrong, I still like him but the reason Live at the Apollo and Comedy Roadshow appeal to me is that I get to see acts I have never seen and experience different styles of comedians (naturally some I like and some I loathe) but that's the whole point of comedy, its about tastes, preferences and if your gallows sense of humour is as dark as mine. So watching the likes of John Scott, Tony Jameson and Jack Gardner while being hosted by Christian Steel, it was a new experience for me. To be in this smaller room and environment that feels more intimate since it fully relies on the limited crowd to get into it and get behind the act. The crowd really helps a show as if they refuse to cheer, laugh or get into it, you feel sorry for the act and annoyed that the crowd are just so reserved. You're out watching a show! Enjoy it! Let your deepest belly laughs out as all in the same possibly embarrassing position to potentially let out a full blown snorting laugh instead... or like the crowd tonight which finally got going when you plied them with enough alcohol.
Anyway, to the sets! Without a doubt, the best set of the night belonged to John Scott. The main headline act stole the show as had a lovely blend of political and personal comedy, particularly with the long constructed joke that compared the political journalism of awful tabloid papers that exaggerate issues of immigration, race etc. and compared it to old nursery rhymes. Such utter perfection in joke telling that you can tell he knows his craft and honed it over time so has the great sense of timing, technique and simply some of the best jokes that have made me howl and groan (in a good joke sense) when one goes straight for the nuts, takes away your moral compass and just makes you erupt into dark based laughs. Could not recommend him more, how I never knew about him before makes me feel ashamed for not knowing about this comical genius. Sure, I'm gushing like a fan boy over who is better between Batman and Superman, but screw it as don't care and its true. Go see his material already.
Tony Jameson was the first act on, before the crowd were fully engrossed in their alcohol so where not as lively as they were later into the night. A shame as had some really good jokes and material that actually tickled me quite a lot (even more so when he mentioned Blockbuster and how students always worked for them or some high street shop, basically my life as worked for the company myself). His technique was laid back and relaxed so was easy to keep your focus on him as he crafted his stories about wedding planners, how teachers are alcoholics and other observational comedy that is the norm for the industry these days. I liked his set a lot but some jokes did fall flat or were too long winded when you could have finished them earlier, rather than go for the extra punchline. When someone is already laughing, just let them enjoy it as if the next line falls flat, it pulls them out of the moment. Overall though, would be more than happy to see his stand up again with a better crowd who would help put him at ease more so can just focus on his routine than the silent crowd who barely laughed at the start and just grinned mildly.
Jack Gardner, the middle act, was a weird one however. It was like one part act, two parts crazy excitable persona and last part deciding what kind of comedy he wanted to do. It was like Milton Jones mixed with funny voices and drawn out sentences. Basically, decent funny moments crossed with groans or perplexed looks when the part of his act that relied on drawings and storytelling based around them which you couldn't see as went too quick or just weren't funny (of course, just my opinion as personally never been a fan of certain surreal or 'strange' style of comedy). Yet, you can tell he was relatively new so just needs some time to find his feet and tighten the act up so more focused as don't want to sound too mean on the young lad. His early Rolf Harris joke absolutely killed me as came out of nowhere and sucker punched the hell out of me. Also, poor guy was the only one to get heckled in that his final joke was finished by an audience member but handled it superbly so credit to him. Good luck in our future gigs and hope your act shapes up nicely.
Lastly, the host that was Christen Steel. Funnily enough, I actually know him as does our local pub quiz and was the one who invited me. But don't worry, won't be biased and say what I think. It was the first time I had seen his actual stand up so didn't know what to expect. Only to have my gallows and dirty sense of humour funny bone constantly tickled as was not expecting some of the things he came out with. Burglars faced with your erect penis, not knowing the difference between your girlfriend and the family dog alongside special moments with your grandad. It completely caught me off guard but that's one kind of my comedy leanings so enjoyed it. There were moments in which he took a bit to get going, were jokes didn't work or had nothing. Yet, once the crowd were going and getting behind the acts was when he thrived. You can tell he is a comedian who plays off the audience so when they play back, they give him the chance to spin some comedy gold. It also put him at ease and allowed his set to flow more relaxed and freely so the jokes came back meater and with substance that allowed for further plays offs to other jokes or good repertoire with the audience.
Overall, it was a delightful first attempt at the comedy club scene for me and I liked it so much that it gave birth to this unexpectedly long blog post as never written about comedy before so feel free to trash me if been talking absolute bollocks and know nothing like Jon Snow (oh original, Game of Thrones joke and reference). Don't know if any of the comics mentioned will read this but a big thank you for opening my eyes to a much better sense of what comedy is and how it is displayed to fellow comedy lovers. Keep up your craft as without you all, the world would be a much more depressing place and significantly quieter.
Thank you for reading and have a pleasant weekend my darling readers.
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