Acts that have impressed me the most – November 2022

This has been a fantastic month for live comedy. It’s been almost impossible to narrow the sheer talent I’ve seen this month down. As always, acts who have featured recently are time-barred to give space to others.

Emily Webster

Webster is a very new act, but there’s gold here.

From the night:

This was Webster’s sixth gig and crikey, but she could become something special. She doesn’t so much deliver material as perform it and she sells it in such a way to draw you in and make you feel totally invested in what she is saying. Webster has a keen eye for the funny in the day to day of life, which can be incredibly relatable and hence powerful on stage. For a new act, she was also pretty astute in using Notts Forest as a reference point for this gig and I’d be amazed if she didn’t change that out for just as solid a one for wherever she was gigging. Webster’s style is conversational and low key, but with her natural talent she doesn’t need to be flashy or in your face to get laughs and to entertain a room. I think she’s a real find and with more experience will become a formidable addition to a gig.

Kevin Daniel

He’s wasted in his day job.

From the night:

Wow.

It’s incredibly tempting just to leave it at that, but this was a tip top performance from an absolutely splendid act. The sooner he takes early retirement and does this full time the better the industry will be for it. Daniel is a very astute person and has a cracking comedy brain – this shows strongly in the end product. He opened with 3-4 minutes of room work, where he name checked everyone correctly and made it feel as if he was performing specially for this audience. This is always a powerful opening to a gig. I was enjoying his room work so much, that I could have quite happily watched him do a full set of it. When it came to material, he went with the vasectomy story, which is an evolving routine that gets better every time I hear it. Whilst telling it, Daniel continued to tie sections of it into the audience and had a couple of people up on stage with him to act part of it out. The added kiss to one, was a brilliant idea. From start to end, this was a powerhouse of a performance. This was one of the rare times I’ve heard an audience try to get an encore for the middle act.

Louis Etienne

There is a heck of a lot to admire here.

From the night:

Etienne is a fairly new act, but I can see him going places. He has a heck of a lot going for him. He’s confident, has stage presence, his material is fresh and intelligent and he already has a touch of polish. I liked him from the first 30 seconds. He opened with some well considered room work, his material was punchy, the routine about patriotism excellent and even the Farrage tattoo, which was possibly a bit too clever for the audience was a solid joke. Etienne is a bookable act.

Honourable Mentions

Alfie Carter, Charlotte Cropper, Danny Deegan, Dom Hatton-Woods, Eddy Midgley, Harry Jenkins, Ian Whitcombe, Kevin McDonnell, Kwame Asante, Matt Stellingwerf,

The Blessington Carriage Gong Show: Harry Jenkins, Dom Bant, Andy Lloyd, Ed Sumner, Kevin McDonnell, Emily Webster, Daniel Blacow, Oliver McGrath, Jim Brown, Ian Whitcombe, Eddy Midgley, Israel Martin, Alex Lennox and Michael McKenzie

Tonight I was in Derby at the Blessington Carriage for the Funhouse Comedy gong show. Although there sadly wasn’t a dog there this time, numbers were great, with a lively woman sat on the second row. Spiky Mike did well to deal with her early on, as otherwise she could have dominated proceedings.

This was a very strong line up for a gong show and not only were some excellent acts voted off, but when it came to the cheer off at the end, there was absolutely nothing in it and so Mike had to ask for a show of hands and go through every single act.

Harry Jenkins

Only on his second ever gig, Jenkins gave a remarkable performance. He’s got a good comedy brain and has either watched a lot of comedy, or is a natural at working with the energies of a room. He began with some very well judged room work, which in itself is unusual for a gong, before delivering some delightfully meta material about comedy itself. He was a bit sweary, but not overly so and got the balance of this right. Jenkins easily made the final, where he gave the audience some more high energy room work. I was surprised that he didn’t place higher.

Dom Bant

Bant’s material rolls along nicely with a good sense of flow to it. Surgery was nicely dark and the stag do is a quality routine and I’m sure it could be developed further. His delivery isn’t as strong as his material yet, but it’ll get there.

Andy Lloyd

There was plenty of good stuff in Lloyd’s set. Medical school was interesting, catheter was excellent. Darwin was possibly more clever than funny and I think he lost a few people there, but the long game routine in the final minute was another great one. I enjoyed his set.

Ed Sumner

Sumner had a good night. Although brunch was perhaps a tiny bit foreseeable, it still did well and the spider routine is strong, but might perhaps be improved with a tiny bit of reworking. How the joke goes already works, but I can’t help but think it’s such a good idea that he might be able to get more out of it. I was surprised to see Sumner voted off, as he was doing well.

Kevin McDonnell

McDonnell is a very strong writer and he plays to his strengths in his delivery. There is a great sense of words and language being used in his set and he has picked exactly the right turn of phrase to get the most out of what he is saying. McDonnell’s five ended on a brilliant cliff hanger that set his final minute up a treat. McDonnell was the worthy winner of tonight’s show.

Emily Webster

Webster is a new act whom I saw for the first time the other week and I already think she has the makings of a stupendous act. Her delivery is conversational and her material is extremely relatable. She also sells it well with her physical actions. She was doing very well tonight, but was a shocking gonging, which Mike got the audience to boo the judges for.

Daniel Blacow

Blacow had a cracking gig and there’s nothing in his set to dislike. Names is great and he did well to deal with a shout out over this without losing his stride. He built up loads of momentum and played his final minute very well.

Ollie McGrath

This was McGrath’s 4^th gig and he’s got the makings of a decent act. He did a lot right. He opened with a callback to Dan’s set, delivered his routines well and was thoroughly competent. The only thing that let him down was that his material wasn’t quite punchy enough to impress over the short space of a gong show. It was all decent stuff, with sit down being a highlight and I think he’d have done better over a ten spot.

Jim Brown

Brown had a good night with there being plenty to enjoy in his work. Dating apps was decent, as was baths. He looked very much at ease on stage and less busy deserved more applause than it received. The pics on the phone were all but invisible to anyone not sat close to the stage, but as he explained them, this wasn’t a huge problem. Brown placed well in the final.

Ian Whitcombe

Doing some new material, there was initially a spot of confusion over the running order, which Whitcombe smartly turned to his advantage by using it as a lead into material. I appreciated his stagecraft in this, similar with bring Myra into the performance. With it being new material, Whitcombe was working off of notes, held up by his partner just that bit too far away for him to see easily. However, this was no impediment to him having a good gig. Every time I see him, Whitcombe is developing as an act and he did well tonight.

Eddy Midgley

Midgley has the makings of a formidable act and his energy fills a room. His material is solid and his delivery is spot on. He’s going to do well. Tonight he made a slight error in using Leicester for a joke when probably Nottingham would have worked better, but that was no big deal and in future if he were to ask for the local shit town, then it would hit home harder. His physical comedy on arms was very much appreciated by all. Midgley made the final without any trouble and I was surprised that he didn’t place higher in the votes.

Israel Martin

Martin began well and made his opening joke topical, which helped to sell it. He was doing well, but ran out of material before the end of his time and that was a shame.

Alex Lennox

This was a very enjoyable set with plenty of well thought out material. Algorithm was smart and funny, Royal Mail was strong, but needed more of a punchline. Unfortunately Lennox also ran out of material before he got to the end of his set. However, he shows promise.

Michael McKenzie

McKenzie is a good act with decent material and he has a great awareness of how to play a room. Benefits was a belter of a line and clowns is an interesting line of thought. McKenzie made the final, where he did well with a good ad lib concerning the mic stand. This was another good performance by him.

The 2022 Notts Comedy Review Awards

These are only open to non-pro acts and this year the categories and awards are:

The best performance of the year: £50

Most improved act of the year: £25

New act of the year: £25

The prize money will be remitted through paypal, in cash when I see the act or if our paths don’t cross, I can pop a cheque in the post. I’m not doing postal orders, as they were a bit of a pain.

I have excluded pro acts because it is nice to give something to the up and coming acts who don’t (yet) earn a living through comedy. Past winners are also excluded from their winning category so as to give other acts a chance. The awards are done in late November so that the winners have chance to get themselves something nice with the money in time for Christmas.

The best performance of the year: Tal Davies. I could probably have awarded this for any of the times I’ve seen her gig. She’s a fantastic act, but the one that stuck out the most was at the Cowshed in Belper (RockCentral), when she was doing her first ever double. Everything was just that bit better than the previous time I’d seen her. Tal Davies wins £50

Honourable mentions: Dawn Bailey, Gary Hyland, Jonny Brook, Okse,

Most improved act: Charlotte Cropper. Cropper is going places, make no mistake about that. Her delivery is fantastic, she performs her material rather than delivering it and she makes the most out of every line. I liked her style when I saw her last year and she’s gotten even better very quickly. I can easily imagine her becoming pro in a few years. Charlotte Cropper wins £25

Honourable mentions: Daniel Lythe, Dom Hatton-Woods, George Coppen, Howard Anstock, Ricky Balshaw,

New act: Jack McLean. This was a very easy decision to make. McLean’s a new act, but whenever I see his name on a bill I know I can relax, as whatever else happens that night, his set will be class. If he carries on writing and gigging regularly, he’s going to progress very quickly. Jack McLean wins £25

Honourable mentions: Cameron Sinclair Harris, Dom Bant, Emily Webster, Kevin McDonnell, Louis Etienne,

Previous winners include:

2021: The best performance of the year: Kevin Daniel, Most improved act:

Jacob Nussey, New act: Tegan Marlow

2020: Funniest twitter feed: Tony Cowards, Youtube channel: Diane Spencer, Online show: Scott Bennett, Twitch performance: Laura Monmoth – note this has been the only year that pro acts were permitted, simply as so many had lost the majority of their livelihood that year.

2019: Best performance of the year: Mad Ron (Steve Lee), Most improved act: Donald Mackerel, New act of the year: Ellie Pollard,

2018: Best Performance: Lindsey Santoro, Most improved act: Jack Topher, New act: Doug Carter

2017: Funniest act: Simon Lomas, Most improved act: Jamie Hutchinson, Best performance: Stevie Gray

2016: Written comedy: Phil Pagett, Most improved act: Moses Ali Khan, Best Compere: Jim Bayes, Funniest act: Roger Swift

2015: Funniest act: Billy Lowther, Best Compere: Wayne Beese, Most improved act: Chris Giles

Yellow Arch – Daniel Lythe, Sarah Adams, Lauren Smith, Louis Etienne, Elise Lawrence, Eddy Midgley, Jake Donaldson and Daniel Inniss (MC)

Tonight I was in Sheffield at Yellow Arch for the comedy night there. It was such a wet and miserable night, if I’d not said I was going, I’d have easily been able to persuade myself to stay at home and watch Bangers and Cash, instead. I’m very glad that I went, though, as it was a cracking night. Unusually for a gig, this is a venue that actually gets busier as the night goes on, with people coming in later and enjoying the acts that they manage to see. It’s nice that they put something in the bucket even if they’ve not seen all of the acts. The green room is located behind and next to the stage, but most of the acts congregated at the back of the room and given the distance between them and the stage, the applause always ran out before they got to it, meaning that Inniss had to tell the room to keep the applause going. Only Dan Lythe, opening, made the smart decision to stick in the green room and just walk the few feet to the stage, which meant that he was able to take full advantage of the build up.

Daniel Inniss (MC)

Inniss has likeability and energy, which he used well tonight. When he crouched down to be at eye level with the people on the front row, it added some intimacy and perhaps made him look easier to talk to than when he was stood up. He received some fun responses and did well with a chap called Trent. He might have perhaps been better to have done some room work first and then done the rules, as he’d have established his comedy credentials prior to the admin, but it went down well. He kept it tight at the top and the rest of the night on track so it didn’t overrun, which was highly valued.

Daniel Lythe

Lythe is a skilled act whom I enjoy seeing. He has a good balance between dark material and lighter stuff, which means there is something for pretty much everyone to get their teeth into in his set. He also delivers it well, with the little hand movements adding a lot to what he is saying. Quite a few comics overlook the visual aspect, so it’s always lovely to see it used. The pretty niche aside was great. Lythe had a very good gig.

Sarah Adams

Only 6-7 gigs in, Adams did very well and I suspect that she has already found her comedy voice. She’s low energy, almost anti-comedy, doesn’t particularly look at the audience, her delivery is almost a monologue and the material concerns her life. It went down a treat with the audience who bought into it and laughed a lot. There were some very good lines here and you didn’t have to wait long between laughs. Life changing was a superb line. Adams received laughter and applause.

Lauren Smith

This was a good performance with the benefits of disability doing well and then break up doing even better. There were a few gaps between the laughs, but these were never overly long and it was nice to see Smith hold the room so well.

Louis Etienne

Etienne is a fairly new act, but I can see him going places. He has a heck of a lot going for him. He’s confident, has stage presence, his material is fresh and intelligent, and he already has a touch of polish. I liked him from the first 30 seconds. He opened with some well considered room work, his material was punchy, the routine about patriotism excellent and even the Farrage tattoo, which was possibly a bit too clever for the audience was a solid joke. Etienne is a bookable act.

Elise Lawrence

Lawrence has a fruity southern voice and a chatty style of delivery. She’s pretty easy to listen to and her set rolled along nicely. There were no low points in her set, but also, there were really no standout lines, either. She did well, the room liked her, but I think quite a few will struggle to remember much about her, which is a shame, as this was a competent enough performance.

Eddy Midgley

On his second gig of the night, Midgley did very well. His opening joke about Barnsley went down very well and established his comedy credentials with the room right at the top of his set. I’m not sure it would work so well outside of Yorkshire, but I also think he’s smart enough to change it for a different county. From here, this cheerful and happy looking comic gave an engaging performance that everyone enjoyed. It was a fast moving set and he built up a lot of momentum. There was a lot of good material here, with doctor and landlord being the standouts. Midgley has a good turn of phrase and I’d like to see him again.

Jake Donaldson

Headlining with a twenty spot, Donaldson did very well. He began with some strong room work and then slid into a polished set. Blind sports was great and his closing joke about infertility was excellent. There’s a lot of well thought out material in this set and writing like that is always very enjoyable to see. Another bonus to Donaldson is just how good he is with an audience. He looks relaxed on stage and he’s not afraid to tie things into the room, or to break what he is doing to talk directly to people and this gave his performance something extra. This was a good headline set.

The Final Whistle: Nipper Thomas, Kevin Daniel and Matt Stellingwerf

Tonight I was in Southwell for the Funhouse comedy night and what a night it was! This is always a good night, but tonight was extra special and not just because I was sat next to a working radiator and there were two dogs sat on the front row. Spiky Mike had a whale of a time talking to Cissy, who was a former Notts County player and had unfortunately just been dropped. Upon her reply saying she used to play left back, he came out with the unimprovable line of, ‘Left out now’. This isn’t a huge room, but it has a big atmosphere and we were soon ready for our opening act.

Nipper Thomas

Nipper did well, giving the room gag after gag, with a good hit rate. There was a time lag on a couple, such as fingers, between him saying it and all of the audience getting it and this ensured the laughter rolled nicely. There was a lot of stagecraft in evidence and whilst I enjoyed the one off gags, it was the strings of jokes that I felt were when he was at his best, with elephant’s head, lion and Blackpool all being standout short routines. The audience interactions, such as when he chatted to one of the dogs and joked about sweet FA with Cissy shook things up well. The Winters joke was good and he was wise to use it with this older demographic. It would benefit Nipper to write a few topical gags, as these would work very well with his obvious stagecraft. This was a good performance that the room enjoyed.

Kevin Daniel

Wow.

It’s incredibly tempting just to leave it at that, but this was a tip top performance from an absolutely splendid act. The sooner he takes early retirement and does this full time the better the industry will be for it. Daniel is a very astute person and has a cracking comedy brain – this shows strongly in the end product. He opened with 3-4 minutes of room work, where he name-checked everyone correctly and made it feel as if he was performing specially for this audience. This is always a powerful opening to a gig. I was enjoying his room work so much, that I could have quite happily watched him do a full set of it. When it came to material, he went with the vasectomy story, which is an evolving routine that gets better every time I hear it. Whilst telling it, Daniel continued to tie sections of it into the audience and had a couple of people up on stage with him to act part of it out. The added kiss to one, was a brilliant idea. From start to end, this was a powerhouse of a performance. This was one of the rare times I’ve heard an audience try to get an encore for the middle act.

Matt Stellingwerf

On his third gig of the day, Stellingwerf hit the ground running. He was great the last time I saw him and has gotten even better in the meantime. Stellingwerf is a skilled act and in addition to the obvious great quality of his material, I could also enjoy the more subtle aspects, such as his facial expressions on team names and his use of ‘dahhhling’ when ribbing upper class areas. The baby monitor routine, which I’d not heard before, was superb and his description of how it must have looked was vivid and funny. His call back to Notts County was excellent and well researched – the fact he was correct in his details made it hit home that much harder. It was at this moment that his pint was knocked over. Mike went to get some flannels, but in trying to mop the stage managed to knock over a bottle of wine and in the ensuing chaos, Stellingwerf swapped from material to room work. It was here that he struck absolute gold. He’d been having a smashing gig already, but when the male half of a couple mentioned that they’d met online, the look of consternation on his partner’s face was hilarious and Stellingwerf made the most of this discord to a heck of a lot of laughs. The next few minutes were fantastic and all the more so as they were ad libbed. This was a great performance and Stellingwerf also left the stage to cries of more.

Canal House – Kwame Asante, Andrew Thompson, TJ McDonald, Kitty Messalina, Charlotte Cropper, Akua Doku, Ian Peskett and Doug Carter (MC)

Tonight I was in Nottingham at the Canal House for the NCF night as part of the festival. I hadn’t realised that Notts Forest were at home and so got caught up in some horrendous traffic – it took longer to do the last few miles than the rest of the trip from home. To add insult to injury, when the gig finished, the football had already kicked out and so it took 20 minutes just to leave the ruddy car park. This was all rather annoying, but the comedy made it worth it.

Doug Carter (MC)

Carter has a natural charisma and likeability that will stand him in good stead as a compere. Upon seeing him, folk like the man and this is no bad thing. Tonight his compering utilised more material than audience work, but there was some cracking stuff here, especially Italy, which is new material. I liked how he used Kes as a nickname for one of the girls on the front row and even if some people hadn’t seen the film, he sold it in a way that everyone bought. Doug’s got natural ability and he’ll make a cracking MC.

Kwame Asante

I was very surprised by Asante – I thought that I knew all of the top quality acts in the area and so to see someone so good, but whom I’d never even heard of, was a real surprise. He has the polish and smoothness of a pro act and his material was universally strong. The NHS stories were a real highlight. It wouldn’t hurt him to drop ‘strap yourself in’ as it’s an overused line and I’d change 2017 to the other year, as 2017 makes it feel a bit like ancient history, but these are very much minor points. If he’d not been leaving early, then this would have been an excellent headline set. Asante did 20 and then there was a break, which was just as well, as he’d have been very difficult to follow.

Andrew Thompson

Thompson is a low energy act who knows exactly how to sell his material. He began by looking round in silence as if wondering how he got up there, which built up some tension. From this he gave the room an intelligently written set that played nicely with the audience’s expectations. He received lots of big laughs from this mostly young crowd and I suspect he’d go down even better with a more mature one. There were only two things that I weren’t keen on, dick in bacon slicer is a well travelled line and whilst his low energy delivery was splendid over ten, he might have to do something to break it up a bit over a longer set.

TJ McDonald

Originally from New Zealand, but now living in London, this was McDonald’s first gig in four years, but I think he’ll be gigging more often. He built up a lot of momentum and it was nice to see someone with his energy levels. Accents was good, kids’ birthdays has potential and whilst the potted history of Skynet probably wasn’t needed, the subsequent material about Arnie was strong. McDonald was an entertaining act.

Kitty Messalina

I’d not seen Messalina performing for a while and in that time she’s added another string to her bow in the form of musical comedy. She gave the room two songs, one with guitar and one with a keyboard, which must have made getting to the gig more awkward than otherwise. Although the mic was a bit low, her voice was clearly heard, even above the laughter. The first song was good, but the second was a real belter. This one went down a storm. Messalina is developing into a versatile act.

Charlotte Cropper

Cropper was doing new material tonight, possibly the first time it had ever been heard in public and I liked it. To be fair, I really rate her as an act, but that aside, there was loads to get your teeth into in this set and she’s such a good performer that she gets the most out of what she’s written. Surnames was good and I really liked Parcs and Robin Hood. The best part is, whilst this is already promising material, by the time she’s worked on it, it’ll be even better.

Akua Doku

Hailing from New York and probably just on a fleeting visit, this was an easy performance to get into. Doku’s material concerning relatives was very accessible and would have flown in any country. Although this was only a five spot, she built up momentum, gained laughs and had a good night.

Ian Peskett

Peskett got a big laugh from the off for slipping on the stage and going flying in the direction of the back wall. Luckily, neither he nor the wall was damaged. This didn’t bother him and he gave the audience a set that contained a nice amount of new material. It’s great to see him spreading his wings like this. What I probably enjoyed the most, were his ad libs to the audience. I can’t recall him doing many of these before, but they really added something extra to his set and he also looked really happy when he said them, which was also nice to see. This was a good set.

The Rock Central showcase at the Juice Bar: Jack McLean, Ian Whitcombe, Elmz XIX, Emily Webster, Daniel James Blacow, Marty Riley, Elliot Murawski and Anthony Williams (MC)

Tonight I was in Nottingham at the Juice Bar for the Rock Central new act showcase night. This was a sold out gig, but for some reason most of the audience were late, so there was a slight delay whilst we waited for them to arrive. Unusually for a fair sized audience, all of the room had been to see live comedy before and so were fairly comedy literate.

Anthony Williams (MC)

Williams is a skilled compere. He puts in plenty of preparation through finding topical references to make jokes about and I’ve never seen him caught out by not knowing the local area of wherever he is. Williams has got a cracking general knowledge and would be a useful member of a quiz team. He’s also funny, which helps. His jokes about Peter Kay were delightfully meta, labelling Mick and Kev as former roadies was a good shout and whilst the elephant joke was perhaps a bit too clever for the start of the night, the construction was sound. I really enjoyed watching Williams at work.

Jack McLean

McLean is fast becoming one of my favourite up and coming acts. I think he’s something like 65 gigs in, but you’d think he’s been doing it longer from how good he is. McLean is a skilled writer, talented performer, his material is made very relatable and he’s someone whom rooms warm to very quickly. There’s nothing to possibly dislike about him. He’s even mastered those little physical performance actions on stage that emphasise what he is saying. I look forward to him developing further as an act.

Ian Whitcombe

The softly spoken Whitcombe has a nice line in ideas and did well tonight. It was great to see him spread his wings a little and introduce some new material and prop gags into his set. The one-liners towards the end of his slot changed the pace a touch and were very welcome. I also enjoyed him ending on a callback to his earlier material. The construction of his set was sound and it was well performed to a lot of laughter. He’s improving every time I see him.

Elmz XIX

We resumed after the intermission with Elmz, who’s a new act. He’s got some stage presence and holds a room well, but at the moment his material isn’t that strong. In fairness, it’s easier to write material than to develop stage presence, so this isn’t a huge impediment. There were some nice lines such as work out and the notion of horror films and council flats – this last one could perhaps be expanded upon, but a lot of the rest wasn’t that strong. He still got laughs, but that was through personality as much as anything else. The baking running joke worked tonight, but perhaps came close to being over egged. With better material Elmz will do fine, though.

Emily Webster

Daniel James Blacow

Blacow is an original thinker and a good performer. There was a lot to like in this set. He opened by discussing names, bad ones and also an excellent one and then went off into a well delivered flight of fantasy concerning the idea name. Shoulders was a good line and he received applause for ‘not…’ The bar room scene was another well thought out slightly surreal situation that went down a treat.

Marty Riley

Riley has a spectacular moustache, a dead pan delivery and highly original material. He had a great gig and held the audience without hardly any effort. The whole room was interested in what he was saying. There was a lot of good writing in this set, with telepathy, Cleethorpes and aperitif being standouts. Aperitif was a wonderfully clever joke that came as the culmination of a string of them. His performance rolled along nicely and he collected consistent laughter. I liked what I saw.

Elliot Murawski

Murawski has plenty of energy and this felt refreshing. He’s not the finished article, but there’s some potential here. His material about his former life as a deliveryman/courier was very good and I liked the joke about helping them look for it. There’s possibly space for a topper here in the form of – go halves with them if they found any. On the other hand, jack off/Jack, off is a well travelled line. That minor point aside, this was a good performance.

The UK Pun Off – Lin Smith, Richard Pulsford, Stevie Vegas, Friz Frizzle and host Iain MacDonald

Tonight I was at the Playwright for the first ever live UK Pun Off, which was debuting as part of the Nottingham Comedy Festival. Although there was some unavoidable noise bleed from the bar, John Morris had laid the room out well and it’s well suited to comedy.

It was nice to see what is effectively a showcase for one-liner comedians, as puns don’t always get the respect they deserve. The format of the night was that there were five categories to be punned: music, zoo, Europe, films and fruit and veg and each act would take it in turn to pun the topic of that round and this would be completed three times to complete the round. This was then followed by MacDonald taking puns from the audience, which was nicely interactive and helped everyone to feel invested in the show, especially an audience member on the second row, who was really into this. With four contestants and five rounds, scores were level until the final category, which meant that the winner of the medallion was undecided until right to the very end.

Iain MacDonald

I can remember seeing MacDonald at the UK Pun Championships in 2017 and I was impressed by him then and I’ve admired his work ever since, so seeing him at this event was a real pleasure. Tonight, resplendent in his UK Pun Off tshirt, he had what was probably the hardest job of the night. Not so much keeping the show on schedule and balanced between contestants, which he achieved seemingly effortlessly, but to not get carried away and dominate proceedings. MacDonald managed to be funny, authoritative and to let the others shine, which was good going. He had a great night.

Lin Smith

This was Smith’s debut on the Pun Off, but you wouldn’t have known it. She’s a musical comedian, who appeared tonight sans instruments, but as her word play was good, the lack of musical kit didn’t hold her back. There were some good jokes on display and the toppers – underused by the other acts – added a lot to what she was doing. It might have helped her a touch if she had spoken a little bit more slowly, as I don’t think everyone heard every word she said, but she still did well.

Richard Pulsford

On his fourth show of the day, you’d have expected Pulsford to look more tired than he did. Either way, it didn’t interfere with the sheer quality of his output. In terms of construction, writing and delivery, he really does remind me of Tony Cowards and that I do like. I’d argue that he had the best quality jokes of the contestants. In terms of construction, he was well ahead of the rest. Meerkats was arguably the best joke of the whole show.

Stevie Vegas

With his R2D2 suit and props, Vegas stood out. Whilst he had some decent jokes, such as hippo, he didn’t really get chance to make the most of the props and it might have benefited him to have injected a bit more of his personality into proceedings.

Friz Frizzle

Friz was the well deserved winner of the show. They were a real presence in the room and whilst this might be partly due to them being sat in the corner (with keyboard) and being left with the contestant’s mic at the end of each round, they were happy to heckle, ad lib and generally throw themself more into the night than the rest, who kept the funny to their own parts. This ensured that they were great fun and had more chance to be funny throughout. Perhaps half of their answers were in the form of songs, which gave them the chance to work in 2-3 punchlines on each. I was impressed by their nous in getting an audience volunteer to assist in one joke. This really kept what they were doing fresh and different to the others. Frizzle was the most entertaining of the panel through the entire course of the night.

Killamarsh Comedy Club – Alex Leam, Eric Powers, Dan Lythe, Danny Deegan and Greg Philips (MC)

Tonight I was in Killamarsh at the Nethergreen WMC for the Laffa Cakes comedy night. This is a big room with a high ceiling and from the noticeboard with the raffle prizes, through to the sea of drinks on the tables, it has a proper WMC vibe to it. The stage is large with plenty of room and they could easily get more people in. As it was, it was sold out and that’s always lovely to see.

Greg Philips (MC)

Philips grew up in Killamarsh and this gave him an advantage in local knowledge. However, despite that, this first ever audience only really seemed to warm to him when he began to insult ‘Papa Smurf’. Twigging onto this, Philips changed direction and became more cutting with his comments, which the room were much more than happy to buy into. In a tightly knit audience like this, asking people something different to what they do for a living might be an idea, as 90% of the audience probably already knew the answers and there wasn’t any especially exotic trades being practised. Philips explained how it all worked, did the rules and kept the show on a tight schedule, which was good going.

Alex Leam

This was the first time I’d seen Leam in a long time, and so I was looking forward to his set. His experiences as a DJ formed the framework for his performance and there was a lot of good stuff here. It probably wouldn’t hurt for Leam to have a couple of quick jokes at the top to establish his credentials, as it was possibly a slightly slow start, but he built up nicely from there. The musical gags were all good and when it came to lyrics, if he were to repeat the lyric in some way on more of the gags, that might help, as not all of them are clear to the ear for everyone in the audience. This is just a small matter. I especially enjoyed the asides and throwaway lines, these all added a lot to what Leam was doing. The audience tonight was pretty inconsistent. They went with some dark references, then drew back from a comparable one, which was very odd and possibly a bit unsettling, as it was hard to guess which way they’d go on any given joke. They were also pretty shy about joining in, which Leam made the most of when it came to 5% of the room singing the odd lyric. This was an enjoyable performance.

Eric Powers

This was the first time I’ve seen Powers and he did very well. He opened by standing on stage and looking wide eyed as if he was flummoxed at being the only non-white person in the room and had no idea if he’d been booked for a very different event. This received big laughs and then applause and lasted for a good minute, which is a cracking start to a set. Powers had some solid material here, talking about his past, his family and passports. The kidnap routine was especially good, but it might be the car seat, which involved a volunteer, that will probably stay with the audience longest. In addition to this, Powers dealt well with a few incomprehensible shout outs and one of ‘brilliant!’ on a particular punchline and wasn’t fazed at all when an elderly lady walked very slowly across the front of the stage part way through his set. She seemed to take an age to make that journey and possibly hoped that if she moved slowly enough, then no one would notice her. This was a very good set.

Dan Lythe

Next up was Lythe who impressed me very much when I saw him last. He had to deal with an immediate shout out of ‘fuck me, he’s even smaller than me!’, but this didn’t bother him. Lythe then proceeded to give the audience a well written set that had some delicious tinges of darkness to it. He didn’t go overboard with this and risk losing people, but instead it was well balanced and the laughs came consistently and loudly. The search history running joke was great. This was a quality set.

Danny Deegan

Deegan hit the room like a tornado and totally dominated it. He began with room work, which was all immensely relatable and of the here and now to the room and this established his presence in no time at all. Deegan’s material was well written with Butterfly Effect, warehouse and Covid all flowing seamlessly together. What impressed me the most, though, was his delivery. This made his material feel less like something he’d been saying every night for a year, but much more personal and special for this audience, as if he were confiding in them about the last few years. I think if he’d not got a train to catch, then there would have been an encore in the offing, he did that well.

Wollaton – Romina Puma, Ryan Hayes, Charlotte Cropper, Alfie Carter, Dom Hatton-Woods, Dominic Woodward and Fran Jenking (MC)

Tonight I was in Wollaton at the Admiral Rodney for the Funhouse comedy night. This is a lovely little gig that attracts some good acts.

Fran Jenking (MC)

Fran had a fun night compering. He’s a very laid back and genial host and this sets the tone for whole show. This isn’t a frantic gig, but it’s a relaxing and pleasant night. His local knowledge is always a bonus and tonight it involved garden centres which brought the audience onboard and readied them for the show. I always like to watch Fran, he’s a nice and amiable guy.

Romina Puma

Opening was Puma, who riffed off of Fran chatting to an immigration officer sat in the audience, before moving on to talk about her own life. She covered muscular dystrophy and being a technical cougar. This wasn’t a bad set, but with her low energy, it’s possible that she might have been better on later in the evening. The line concerning chandelier was particularly memorable.

Ryan Hayes

Next was Hayes, who’s a comparatively new act. There was some good stuff in this set. Whilst being probed by a doctor is fairly well travelled ground, Hayes did well with this. Midlife crisis was stronger and there was some good writing in evidence throughout his set. His delivery isn’t fully formed yet, but that will come in time. It might benefit him not holding the mic so close to his mouth, as although we could all hear him clearly, it did obscure his face and make it that bit harder for the audience to form a connection with him. This was a promising set.

Charlotte Cropper

Cropper has superb performance skills and doesn’t just deliver her material, but she sells it to the room. She’s also got her own unique voice and some slightly surreal material. Combine these assets with good writing, then she’s a new act who is going to go far. It was great to see some new material tonight, too.

Alfie Carter

Carter was another fairly new act and I liked what I saw. He’d got a good energy level and is an original thinker. This made everyone sit up and listen during this performance. A performance where he took full advantage of the available space by ignoring the ‘stage’ and used the rest of the room to perform in. It was nice to hear a catchphrase being used as a sort of running joke in the early part of his set. The turtle material was excellent, being well thought out, odd and very funny, although snapping might well split an audience. The vending machine idea was nicely interactive and got the room involved in his set, which shifted the energy up a touch. The chess gags were all cracking.

Dom Hatton-Woods

By opening with gags concerning his name, Hatton-Woods gave the audience something immediately tangible to get onboard with. This was magnified when he restarted his set for the benefit of a guy who had just nipped to the loo between acts. The section concerning coke might not work with every room, but the routine about his dad’s partner was absolutely solid. I was impressed by the line about the descending ages and how DHW allowed the audience to fill in that punchline. There was a lot of high quality writing in this set and it was one that I enjoyed. DHW has improved a lot since I last saw him.

Dominic Woodward

Woodward had a popular opening slagging off Mansfield and never looked back from there. He was strong from the off and never took his foot off of the pedal. He’s very easy to listen to and it’s easy to have confidence in his ability. The brexit routine was splendid, as was chatting about furlough. The three set pieces that concluded this performance were all absolutely spectacular. Speed maths was amazing, balloon animals wonderfully daft and the graphology great. This was a very versatile set from an act who really should have an higher profile. Woodward’s performance had a feel good factor to it and ended the show on a very happy and positive note.