Tonight I was in Nottingham for the NCF Canal House gig. It feels like it has been ages since I’ve been here and it’s a shame that it was on the same night as the British Comedian of the Year semi-final in Syston, as otherwise I’d have been there. As it was, this room was packed out and extra chairs needed to be put out, although oddly, it did empty quite a bit towards the end.
Jacob Nussey (MC)
Nussey is looking to get into compering and he has the stagecraft and experience to be able to make a good go of this. Tonight, though, he was unlucky at first in having no one particularly that interesting to talk to within easy range of the stage. There’s not a lot you can do with a chemical engineer who works with plasterboard. He did strike a rich seam later, when he was talking to Connor, though, and this led to some great exchanges. This gave a better idea of Nussey’s capabilities. He was in fine form when he was showing a harder edge with Connor’s life, although in fairness, I also enjoyed his laid back approach during the rest of his work. Given more experience and some decent people to talk to, Nussey will be a fine compere.
Doug Carter
Opening the night was Doug Carter, who was trying out some new material. Doug’s a quality act, so this was a treat. Killer documentaries are very timely, so this was relatable. The Rage gag was especially strong. Farts has potential and could be further developed and it was nice to see him receive laughs and applause.
Helen Prior
I last saw Prior in Wollaton and she’d been a wonderful surprise there. Tonight she continued the good work. She was receiving big laughs from the off and really seemed to strike a chord with the audience. She puts a lot of herself into her material and that helps it find resonance. Her rolling r’s are very memorable. One slight improvement might be to change out Brixton for somewhere local to where she’s gigging that night, like Beeston, etc. After her performance, Prior had people looking to congratulate her.
Chris Cooper
With his American influenced vibe, Cooper was an interesting act. He had a clear voice that projected well and his performance rolled along nicely. There was some good quality autobiographical material in his set and I enjoyed it. It was great to hear material about the Queen’s death, as it is certainly ripe for comedy. The only discordant note was him saying Phillip a few times when he meant Andrew, and I think this had a few people doing a bit of double take. However, this is a minor quibble in what was a good set.
Hussein Ali
Despite not having been gigging long, Ali made a strong impression. There was absolutely nothing to dislike in his set. He did everything well. His material was unique, his writing skilled, his delivery well pitched and there was a good balance to his set. There was a nice edge of darkness to his material that he went up to, but never crossed and I think this added a lot to what he was saying. There was plenty of laughter and applause for Ali. He’s a very promising act.
Rachel Olivia
This was Olivia’s first ever gig and she did well. She didn’t look nervous and although it felt a bit more like a recitation than a delivery, that will obviously come in time. She held the room and received laughs and whilst her material was felt more by her own demographic, it was still accessible to all.
Big Jon Pearson
Big Jon was simply in another class to everyone else. This was a fantastic set that everyone thoroughly enjoyed. I absolutely loved the line, ‘Any orphans in?’ which came following a chat with some people at the front of the room. This was a smashing performance.
Richard Pulsford
With his well written one-liners, Pulsford had a great night. There were a lot of good jokes here and I especially enjoyed the ones that you had to think about for a moment. In his delivery and writing, he reminded me a bit of Tony C and that’s good going. There were a lot of laughs during this set.
The Edi Johnston Bit
Johnston had a good night and certainly did the business. At one point he had to stop as a lady on the front row was trying to take a selfie with him and his shirt in, but he got laughs out of this and it wasn’t anything that knocked him out of his stride. Johnston worked well with the room and brought everyone into his performance, but to me the most entertaining parts were his asides. I really appreciated these.
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