Acts that have impressed me the most – August

This has been a bit of a slow month for me with Edinburgh running and plenty of nights closing down for a Summer break. However, owing to the quality of act that I have seen, it’s been incredibly difficult to pick the acts that have impressed me the most. There have been some amazingly good performances.

These are the acts that have impressed me the most:

Dave Longley (MC)

Longley is a lot more versatile an act that what he gets credit for. Everyone knows that he can eat stags and hen parties for breakfast, but he should be equally well known for how nuanced a performer he is.

From the night:

Our compere was Dave Longley and this was the first time I’d seen him perform. I hope I see more of him. He’s a big lad is Dave, but his personality is even bigger and it filled the stage. This wasn’t a case of him making a point about being the alpha male present, this was a far more subtle and nuanced performance. He was almost gentle in how he spoke to people, but it was still very obvious who was the authority in the room. The audience largely seemed to be made up of firefighters (past and present), coppers, engineers and medical types, plus a car salesman, whom much to Longley’s disgust, didn’t have a favourite car. His expression of disbelief was very well acted out, but this was easily topped by his reaction to a chap from Matlock calling his home town of Ilkeston ‘rough’. Longley’s facial expressions were all very well done. Retired firefighter, Des, provided him with a lot of laughs, but he got the balance right in talking to him, but not letting him dominate proceedings. Longley was very fast with his responses and he had a lovely habit of whirling round and pointing to whoever he was speaking to and this didn’t half serve to focus everyone’s attention. The only thing I wasn’t that keen on was him saying that he was there to ‘talk shit’ as I think that that devalued the great work that he was doing. This was great compering and a heck of a lot of fun to watch – there was a lot of laughter.

Ellie Pollard

Whilst still a fairly new act, this was a performance that showed a heck of a lot of promise.

From the night:

Being aware that Pollard was a fairly new act, John Scott gave her a big supportive build up and she hit the ground running. Pollard is a very bubbly, friendly and nice and this comes over off stage as well as on and the audience warmed to her very quickly. This was a local gig for her and she did have a lot of friends in, but this was a case of everyone liking her, not just them. Pollard is a musical comedian and gave the room two songs. The first was family dinner, which was great. The asides that she used really made this song stand out and provided the bulk of the laughs. The rapping (with audience stamping their feet) provided a nice change of energy. I’m not sure that she needed to repeat the chorus to end, as this didn’t really add anything in the way of a conclusion and there weren’t any extra laughs in it. The second song was also good, but not all of the asides were quite up to the quality of the first one. Between the songs Pollard had some fun material. Syndrome and deleted were both standout lines. When she finished the mood of the room was that they wanted more, which you don’t often get at this stage of the night. Taking to the stage to announce the intermission, Scott commented that Pollard looks as if she may go a long way and after this performance he may well be right.

Jeff Innocent

This act took the roof off.

From the night:

I’ve seen Innocent a few times and he’s a consistently powerful performer. Tonight he smashed the gig. Being fully aware of how he looks and sounds (picture an all in wrestler who used to have a sideline robbing post offices), Innocent uses this to massive comedic advantage. Whilst the other acts and Nina had been on stage he had kept his eyes and ears open and had tailored a couple of jokes specifically for the night and these went down a treat. His material took in race, Yorkshire (spoons was a superb line that he may well have written specially for gigging in Sheffield), family, London, his past and getting older. There was no end of superb jokes in this set and Innocent received huge laughs for all of them. This set ended with cries of more and I think it was only the lack of time before the pub closed that prevented him being encored. This was a magnificent performance.

Simon Lomas

An absolutely brilliant act.

From the night:

Big Shaun gave Lomas a cracking build up, describing him as the Bad Boy of comedy and I’m sure that the audience were expecting an act full of barely contained rage and energy to burst through the door at any second and this worked extremely well. Simon took to the stage and gave the Lescar 20 minutes of brilliantly written and delivered material. His slow delivery built up loads of comic tension, the visual jokes were well thought out and the asides were absolutely spot on. Lomas’ performance is powerful, but at the same time subtle and he makes this a winning combination. The new material he ran out was great. One of the jokes created a very vivid picture in my head, almost with a cartoon acting out of the gag and to get a response like that is impressive. The audience were a touch flat and opening to them and still getting such big laughs is no mean feat. This was a great performance.

Honourable Mentions:

Alex Hylton, Anthony Williams, Jack Campbell, Joe Zalias, Tom King

The Little Last Laugh – Peter Brush, Alex Hylton, Jeff Innocent and Nina Gilligan (MC)

Tonight I was in Sheffield at The Lescar for The Little Last Laugh. There was a real energy about the room tonight and it was obvious pre show that we were going to be in for a lovely night. Numbers were good and everyone seemed to be really up for it, especially Alex Hylton, who not only stayed to watch the rest of the show after he’d performed, but who also wasn’t shy about laughing and applauding the other acts and things like this are always great to see.

Nina Gilligan (MC)

Compering was Nina Gilligan, who has a semi-residency and this is a wonderful thing. The audience really like how happy and bubbly she is and give her a lot back when she’s chatting to them. She scored a direct hit with a retired guy when she made a joke about him having a static caravan and it turned out that he actually did have one (Ingoldmells). Being fresh from Edinburgh (like Brush and Hylton who also had shows there), Nina talked a bit about her experiences and asked if anyone had seen her show. One chap had taken a flyer from her, but not knowing he was onto a good thing, hadn’t gone to see it and Nina’s playful indignation was a pleasure to behold. To keep things fresh, she plays a different game every week with the audience (prize two free tickets for the show) and this works very well. Tonight’s theme was prorogation, with a request for folk to write down things that they have left until the last minute with disastrous consequences. It was good to see her working during some of the intermission, handing out pens, collecting answers and just generally ensuring that everyone was involved in the night. This was really enjoyable compering from Gilligan, who worked hard and succeeded in adding a lot to the show.

Peter Brush

Brush’s set was razor sharp. He had incorporated elements of his Edinburgh show into his performance and this worked extremely well. The writing was excellent, with wonderful misdirection and genuinely unexpected reveals. His timing was impeccable when giving the big punchline just after the audience had received what they thought was the reveal. Every single joke seemed to hit with the force of a sledgehammer and this led to a lot of laughter breaks and applause. Unusually there was a bit of noise bleed from the bar, but this didn’t seem to make any difference to the momentum that Brush generated. This was a cracking set.

Alex Hylton

Radiating tons of energy, Hylton got off to a great start with fast and easy to follow material. He speaks pretty quickly and repeats key words in a manner not too dissimilar to Tim Fitzhigham and I like this. When he acts out events on stage this brings to life what he is talking about and makes it very easy to picture things. The comments about his housemate were good and the game that they play struck a chord with a lot of the audience, especially when Hylton was speaking about how other people have began to play at home. When he was describing how one lady laid a trap for her partner I could hear a lass commenting about how that was genius and it’s nice to see someone so involved in what an act is saying. Through a mistiming Hylton did overrun a touch and that was unlucky, but this was still an enjoyable set from someone whom I don’t see as much of as I’d like to.

Jeff Innocent

The Little Last Laugh: Simon Lomas, Joe Zalias, Duncan Oakley and Big Shaun (MC)

Tonight my mum and I were in Sheffield at The Lescar for the Little Last Laugh. She’s a big fan of Simon Lomas and given the quality of the other acts on the bill I was confident that she’d enjoy everyone. The crowd wasn’t huge, but it was pretty good for mid August, however, they were pretty flat, but this didn’t detract from skill and talent on display.

Big Shaun

Shaun had a nice night compering. He opened with a couple of good jokes and then began chatting to everyone. He received a huge laugh for mistaking a fairly young looking guy and his daughter for a couple. Shaun is pretty much a Sheffield institution and when he was talking to people about Sheffield schools he hit a decent vein of laughs – his own school stories were great. The Brexit song was brilliant, feeling very much bang up to date with today’s news I really liked the line about bright lights and judging by the applause, so did everyone else. It’s always a pleasure to see Shaun at work.

Simon Lomas

Joe Zalias

Next was Joe Zalias who was trying out some new material. He opened with a couple of established jokes to get a feel for the room and then began with the new material. The joke about the cat was very strong and I especially enjoyed him letting the room finish it for him, as this spot of thinking makes people appreciate the reveal more. The notion of rescue was very good and there are a fair few directions that Joe can go with this – all of them being interesting and funny. The routine about a new game was another bit that showed a lot of promise, even if it’s not yet the routine that it will become. This one felt as though it would strike a chord with a lot of people and with the right tone I think everyone can get onboard. Zalias has solid performance skills and even working from a few notes he easily held the room. This was a set that made me want to see more.

Duncan Oakley

Headlining was Duncan Oakley, who despite the flat audience had a great gig. He injected a lot of energy into the room from the off by getting everyone to stamp their feet and clap along. There was a very pleasing playfulness about Oakley’s set. The bell was a nice fun idea and along with the songs, instruments and jokes it helped to form a polished performance that stayed fresh all of the way through. This was a tightly worded set and I really enjoyed the jokes, like cremated and the phone number, which deserved far more than what the room gave him. This was a very enjoyable set.

The Little Last Laugh – Sally-Anne Hayward, Jack Campbell, Tanyalee Davis and Dave Longley (MC)

Tonight I was back at The Lescar for The Little Last Laugh. Numbers weren’t quite up to the level of last week, where emergency seating had to be brought out, but for August they were pretty good. It was nice to see Tom King there supporting live comedy on a night when he wasn’t gigging.

Dave Longley (MC)

Sally-Anne Hayward

The last time I’d seen Hayward had been at a rare good night at Jongleurs and she’d done very well then as compere. Tonight she started well and carried on the good work all the way through. The writing in this set was very tight with no wasted words. The material was also very well thought out and there were any number of great lines present. Charity shops was solid at the top, proposals and airbnb were wonderful and the closing routine about minor ailments was champion. This was a set where the jokes came almost at the rate of a one-liner comedian and the laughs came thick and fast.

Jack Campbell

Campbell had a great night, despite a little bit of a slow start. After the first 30 seconds he moved into a much higher gear and built up a lot of momentum. The room took to him in a big way. Posh names was very good, as was village life. I thought he came very close to an applause break for palms at that point. His partner’s name tickled a lot of people, as did kisses at the end of texts. The yoga routine was strong. It perhaps wouldn’t do him any harm to just slow his delivery down a touch, but this is a minor quibble. This was a strong performance from someone who is making progress.

Tanyalee Davis

Davis was instantly funny the moment she took to the stage. The mix of a surprisingly forceful delivery and powerful autobiographical material was a big hit. The room reflected her energy very nicely. Gigs in distant places and travelling were all great routines. Following this Davis asked if she could try some new material, to which the room enthusiastically agreed. This was, as you’d expect, more of a mixed bag. VR was good, shopping better, haunted if it were tighter would be good and the turtle was very good. Davis then switched back to established material and ended the night on a superb callback.

Ofton Funny at the Schoolhouse – Ellie Pollard, Jack Vincent, Joshua Crosse, Becky Heaviside, Anthony Williams, Nial O’Dwyer, Rob Coleman and Al Grant (MC)

Tonight I was in South Normanton for the Ofton Funny comedy night held at The Schoolhouse. Usually this is compered by Tommy Tomski, but at the moment he is resting. He has asked that it be pointed out that this is due to him being on a detox (mentored by Ian Peskett) due to alcohol issues and would like everyone to know so that they don’t offer him a drink. With a positive approach like that he will hopefully find his situation improves soon.

Al Grant (MC)

Grant is quite new to compering and like anyone else inexperienced, has a bit of a way to go. On the plus side, he’s visually interesting (think Sons of Anarchy), outgoing and has a fair sized personality. Also he’s got a varied approach, with balloon animals and guitar (Spacey was a great song). It was lovely to see him going out of the room to quieten people at the bar, too. However, he’d benefit by not doing material between acts, as it resets the audience, not doing a song just before bringing a musical act on (it wearies the audience’s appetite) and keeping his material tight. Some of his gags were too long to hold the room. Grant brought the audience into the night with balloon animals and through remembering names and this was a nice touch, but he could improve on it by cutting out some of the guitar work as I’m not sure it works well with the energy levels during compering. There was a fair bit to like in what Grant was doing, but he’d perhaps be stronger with a bit of a change around.

Ellie Pollard

I only saw Pollard last week when she’d had a great gig at The Lescar and she continued the good work here. As before, the asides when she broke the fourth wall during the songs were a true joy. It got to the point where you could feel the audience leaning in with anticipation for them. The foot stamping was loud enough tonight that it was hard to hear the lyrics whilst she was rapping, but there’s not a lot that can be done about that. There was an odd shout out during the second song, which sounded unfortunate, but I think it was a case of someone genuinely enjoying it and trying to help her. This was a great set.

Jack Vincent

This felt like a set performed by someone who has watched a lot of other comics and has seen what works well for them and hasn’t yet found his own unique voice. He may wish to rethink using the words ‘rhymes with’ to describe something, as that is a bit overused by comedians, or at least give it a twist so it is markedly different. There were three solid gags that didn’t hit as well as they could do, due to the order he had the subject, set up and reveal. At the moment he telegraphs the punchline in the first part when keying up those gags and the audience are then trying to put the jigsaw together in a race to guess the ultimate reveal. If he were to, in the case of his mother’s advice, change it to keep her advice to the end and use that as part of the punchline instead of at the top, it would keep the element of surprise and it would land harder. There was some good stuff in Vincent’s set, but with a bit of work he would be much stronger.

Joshua Crosse

Crosse is coming on nicely, getting better every time I see him, but he’s not yet the finished article. His opening room was pretty decent (he was the first person on the bill to reference the room), but the memory gag was a bit obvious and nowhere near up to the level of a lot of his other material. The second punchline on bread was superb. It was that good, it made me wonder why he even bothered with the first one, as that took away a bit of impetus from the second, more powerful reveal. His material on racism shows a lot of promise, but isn’t there yet. However, he’s certainly onto something with it. The scary story was too bleak and long and hurt the atmosphere – it was probably not worth the punchline. It was great to see Crosse end on a callback. There was quite a lot to like in this set and it’ll be interesting to watch him improve further.

Becky Heaviside

Heaviside had a good night. Her opening, hair based joke, was nicely visual, showman was a solid line and the conversation with her mother was delivered very naturally. The material on her ex was good, as was the kindle joke. This was a well written set. What would have improved it, though, was if Heaviside had tied more of the delivery into the audience, perhaps referenced the odd person, or even asked someone laughing at her mum’s conversation if their mum was like that. This would have helped her in building up more of a rapport with the audience. All the same, this was an enjoyable set.

Anthony Williams

The construction of Williams’ set and performance was impressive. In a contrast to the previous acts, he came to the stage full of beans and began with some sturdy room work, talking about funny things he’d spotted in South Normanton and then the venue itself before he threw in some callbacks to things that other acts had said. He even managed to get the names right of audience members. This showed a deft touch and it all felt highly of the here and now, laid on especially for this room. It also made me wonder how he’d make out as a compere. The material on Derby went down very well, although the only question with one part was if he was talking in pence or pounds and I think he can be more subtle than that. Alexa was nicely novel and the line about the baby was superb, as was portmanteau. The Wetherspoons material could have been a touch tighter, but it was still fun. This was an impressive set.

Nial O’Dwyer

This was O’Dwyer’s 12^th gig and he’s got obvious ability. Although he didn’t look as relaxed on stage as he could have done, he’s a cheerful, likeable and disarming presence, plus he’s got a great voice for comedy. His tone lends itself very well to humour. He gave the room short set ups and then punchlines and there were some very pleasing jokes in this set. The misdirection over his name was nice, the interview was good and Amsterdam received a big laugh. His material was all down to earth and felt very real. Hardly any of his gags were obvious. This was a very promising set from someone who should gig a lot more.

Rob Coleman

Coleman had a great night. He is visually arresting and he made the most of this with his first few jokes and these all got big laughs. I especially enjoyed his comments about the hairdresser – his use of language here was absolutely spot on. Coleman’s pacing was very pleasing. Everyone could follow what he was saying and he has a clear voice, which is a big bonus. I enjoyed his material on parents and the callback to cleaning was a great idea, even if it did lead to a tangent. Coleman managed this tangent very well and kept his performance nicely on track. The closing gag was great and it was lovely to hear the chap sat on the row in front of me comment on how excellent Rob’s performance had been.

The Little Last Laugh – Karen Bayley, Ellie Pollard, Debra-Jane Appelby and John Scott (MC)

Tonight I was in Sheffield at The Lescar for The Little Last Laugh. Usually clubs struggle for numbers during August, but this was standing room only, until the emergency chairs were brought out. This helped to create a great atmosphere.

John Scott (MC)

Compering was the very talented John Scott. I’ve seen Scott a lot of times and he’s an act that can always be relied upon to do well. Tonight he was lucky enough to find a Glaswegian lady in the audience and this led naturally into material that was easy for the room to buy into. A few moments later, Scott discovered a German lady and again, this gave him an almost organic route into existing material (Brexit this time). During the second section, Scott went with more material and his political comments are incisive and very funny. He makes genuine points and doesn’t go for easy low hanging fruit. The highlight of Scott’s night was when a lady replied that career-wise, she was a retired prostitute and his reaction to this was champion. Without naming any names, he referenced a spot of comedy industry business from prior in the week and then said don’t say any of this on twitter, which took the roof off with those in the know and also people who couldn’t possibly have gotten all of what he was referring to. This was due to the way in which Scott sold the line, putting the emphasis on keeping it off of twitter, which everyone could understand. This was thoroughly enjoyable compering.

Karen Bayley

Bayley had a good night. She opened by finding a fellow Brummie in the room and then chatting to a young lad at the front before moving into material. There were some great lines in her set, such as the poem, the dress and especially speed dating. On the other hand, I could have lived without her being yet another comic to do a joke about vegetarians not having much energy. This was a good set that had the feel of being well established material. Bayley got a lot of laughs and the audience enjoyed it.

Ellie Pollard

Debra-Jane Appelby

Closing was Debra-Jane Appelby, who gave the room an extra length set. She began well with some strong room work, almost compering the room for the first few minutes. The material largely concerned age, Yorkshire, aged parents, smoking and health. There was some good stuff in here, such as buses and the secrets of living to a ripe old age. I also enjoyed the way that she would stare at the audience to emphasise a point. Appelby’s delivery was fairly understated and this was a performance that seemed to plateau pretty quickly with no sense of it building to a big joke to close on. It would have been nice if she could have ended the night on a high, though.

Ofton Funny at the Chameleon Arts Cafe – Jay Droch, The Delegate, Lulu Reubens, Colin Hayward, Ian Peskett, Jen Bower, Tom King and Tommy Tomski (MC)

Tonight I was at the Chameleon Arts Cafe, hidden up an alley in the centre of Nottingham for the Ofton Funny comedy night. The gig was located up a couple of flights of stairs in an area nicely closed off from the main cafe. It was very hot there, which was a bit of a disadvantage, but numbers were good and it’s always nice to see Brent at a gig. There was a nice rock vibe to this venue.

Tommy Tomski (MC)

Tomski was an affable compere. He began with a good visual gag, but instead of Ilkeston for the town, he may have been better name-checking a rough part of Nottingham. The light topper, though, was like the badge last week, too soon to make a real impact. Asking people their favourite dead celeb is a smashing idea and not one I’ve seen done before. Tonight’s answer was Adam West, which Tomski got some jokes out of. The existing material worked well, although he probably didn’t need to do as long in the second and third sections. I enjoy Tommy’s compering and feel that his bubbly personality suits his gigs well, but for larger rooms he may need more polish.

Jay Droch

Droch started the night off well. He’s an extremely charismatic act who is nigh on unstoppable at gong shows. He has superb performance skills and manages to bring characters to life almost effortlessly. However, his material still requires work. American customs was superbly delivered, but the actual reveal was totally unsubtle – with a twist to what you’re expecting this could be so much more. Similarly, the blame for America wasn’t quite fully formed. DJ, though, was a real highlight, but mostly because this relied more on Droch’s performance skills. This was a bit of a frustrating set, because Droch is an amazing performer, but if he can only match this with his material, he will go far.

The Delegate

The Delegate is a character act performed by Taylor Saranic. There is a beautiful use of language here. Some of it, such as eldritch edicts, is almost poetic. They’re a high status act who informs us of various things, but unfortunately you tend to lose focus due to the totally surreal content. Surrealism usually works best when it is built up to (such as with King later in the night) or when it is added to something tangible, pushing that into the odd. All of the surreal content in this set felt highly removed from real life and with nothing real to work as a contrast against, this robbed it of any real meaning or consequence and so it quickly became hard to care one way or the other about what was being said. If The Delegate could approach this differently, then they may well be onto something.

Lulu Reubens

There was some good material in Reubens’ set. Parking was good, as was brother and dick pics. Her delivery was pleasant, too. There were only a couple of minor quibbles with this set. She didn’t need to ask where folk were from, as she lost traction there and I don’t think she’d have been any better off if someone was from anywhere more exotic than Lincoln. Bradford doesn’t need this set up. Similarly, asking the audience for horrible brother stories risks opening a can of worms, or getting very little back. Tonight it worked alright, but I’m not sure that her material on her brother needed that set up and she could probably use the time more creatively. This was an enjoyable set that with a few tweaks would be that bit improved.

Colin Hayward

The was some good and bad in Hayward’s set. On the negative side he had a lot of errs and this broke up his flow, but this might be related to the fact that it felt as if he hadn’t put in a lot of preparation with his material. Trump, mental health and guns had the air of something he’d seen on facebook as he was waiting to go on and decided to go with there and then. On the plus side, he was a relaxed confident presence, he spoke in a well paced way and he ended on a belter of a local comedy industry joke that brought the house down with the comics present. If Hayward had been more focussed then he would have been so much better.

Ian Peskett

Peskett had a good night. He began with quick jokes and these established that he was worth listening to straight away. There was a lot of great material in this set, such as the effect of drugs, baby-proofing and Trip Adviser, where the use of local areas added a nice level of depth. Birds and bees needed more, as did mail order. Sir was an exceptionally strong joke and earned Peskett the first applause break of the night. Going forward, I’ll be very interested to see what he does with his material on sex toys. He has an original premise here and with a bit of thought, this could become a great routine.

Jen Bower

Bower has a well constructed set, but hasn’t yet found her voice as a comedian. If she could relax into what she is doing then her delivery would feel more natural. She’s a low energy act with fair sized gaps between punchlines and at the moment her material and performance aren’t really strong enough to fill these gaps. Perfect numbers was interesting, but by the time it had been explained, it was no longer funny and this was a shame. There were some nice lines in this set, such as the camel and the quiz, but I think that with more stage time she would be stronger. Bower could be onto something with intelligence, pedantry and being middle class – this may be her comedy niche.

Tom King

It’s been ages since I’ve seen King do a set, rather than compering and this was a belter of a performance. He began with some visual jokes about his trucker look and these were all tangible and funny. From here he did a fast prop gag that received applause and then he was well away into a high energy performance. There was a lot of surreal material in this set, but it started off all being grounded in palpable topics and because he eased people into the more wacky stuff fairly gently he kept everyone with him for it. Even when he was in full on surreal territory, there was enough real world stuff there to keep it grounded. Pigeons was great, soup (probably didn’t need qualifying as Northern) was a wonderful flight of fancy that just grew and grew. Bushes worked well, but might have worked a touch better with a local reference. When King mentioned TV and food, I felt a lovely touch of anticipation. I’ve seen him reference the A Team both on stage and online and I had a feeling that King would have something interesting to say about telly. I wasn’t wrong. His take on Sherlock Holmes was really well thought out. It was also funny and unusual in equal measure. Corned Beef was a brilliant routine and his singing fully deserved the applause it received. King built up absolutely tons of momentum and had a lovely gig.