Launay’s – TJ McDonald, Eddie French, Henry Michael, Tej Dhutia, George Coppen, Jonathan Elston and Rob Coleman (MC)

Tonight I was in Edwinstowe for the NCF comedy night. This is a gig in a posh eatery and can be a little bit awkward to play due to the layout of the room and the fact that by the end of the gig a portion of the audience are pretty drunk. As with most gigs that begin with a multi course meal, with the comedy following, it can be late finishing.

Rob Coleman (MC)

I don’t see that much of Rob, so it was really nice to see him compering tonight. He’s an experienced act and a safe and reliable compere who will get the job done. I quite like how Rob pitches his level of sarcasm – it’s enough to get laughs and to show some authority, but not overdone. Tonight the audience was very mixed in attitude, with people who didn’t really want to give anything away and a few who were almost screaming to be part of the gig. I think that Rob did well to keep the night on track. His material on the NHS was great.

TJ McDonald

McDonald’s proving to be a reliably entertaining act. His material all contains a strong sense of logic and whilst T2 is my favourite, he’s wise to open with accents, as this is all very tangible and easy for the room to get onboard with. When it comes to naming a street, he could possibly get a bigger laugh by naming the street that venue is on, but that’s a minor point. This was a good performance.

Eddie French

I’m more used to seeing French doing improv and it was lovely to see them performing tonight. Their opening joke was superb and had everyone onside and from here they built up a lot of momentum with a fast paced delivery. The non-binary material was particularly strong. I thought that French possibly lost a touch of momentum on national anthems, as it wasn’t quite as snappy, but it was still good stuff. This set was a joy to watch.

Henry Michael

I’ve not seen much of Michael, but I have heard a lot of good things about him and I can see why. He received applause for his third line and never looked back from there. They have good pacing, good material and their delivery is very well pitched. Michael neither undersells, nor over does their delivery. They also took a judicious approach to swearing, with it just being used sparingly to add emphasis to individual jokes. 3 stars was a fantastic joke. This was a very impressive performance.

Tej Dhutia

Dhutia is a fairly new act and whilst they’re not the finished article, with enough gigging they’ll get there. She’s got a pleasant stage presence and whilst her material is ok, it’s a touch underpowered at the moment with gaps that are a touch too long between laughs. There are some nice ideas here, but they’ve not yet fully come together. Dhutia received a big laugh for her final joke, which hit home hard.

George Coppen

Coppen is shaping up very nicely and is improving with every gig. He had a lovely opening joke, lots of energy and the audience really took to him. His performance was sharper than when I last saw him, his material more polished and in every respect he was much better. He’s definitely going in the right direction and I, and the rest of the room, would have liked to have seen more of him.

Jonathan Elston

This was the first time I’d seen Elston and I liked what I saw. He was unfortunate in going on after some of the audience had reached their tipping point and a chap called Mark kept interrupting his set. Elston dealt well with this, showing authority, keeping it light and gaining laughs. Although he didn’t get to deliver much material, you could see the quality in what he was doing and I enjoyed watching his obvious technical ability.

Acts that have impressed me the most – June 2023

This has been a stupendous month for comedy. I’ve seen some fantastic acts, some new to me and some I already knew were great. I’ve also seen some make real improvement on what I’ve seen them do before. This is one of those months were many who get an honourable mention would have featured more strongly in a different month.

As always, acts I’ve recently included, or could include every time, are barred out to give others a chance.

Jacob Nussey

Although only recently turned pro, this performance was so good, it felt as if Nussey had a heck of a lot of experience. Nussey is certainly going places.

From the night:

Nussey is on his way up and that’s evident the second he opens his mouth. He was superb last night and even better tonight. Nussey has a fairly deadpan delivery, but even he looked a touch surprised when Mansfield got a cheer. I was surprised, too, as this never happens. Jacob mixes excellent writing with a deliciously understated delivery and when you add in a couple of quick toppers to most jokes, the laughter comes thick and fast, almost with the same rhythm of a one-liner comic. Escape was a great line, but urinal was superb. It was great to see the stagecraft in Nussey working in just the right number of callbacks to Tsonos’s running joke about truth. Nussey is going to have a fine career as a comedian.

Josh Reynolds

This was a fantastic set where Reynolds didn’t put a foot wrong.

From the night:

Reynolds put in an impressive performance in Derby last week and so I was very much looking forward to a longer set from her and it was definitely worth it. She opened with a callback to Jack’s set and followed this up later by commenting about the amount of single people on the bill (all of the acts so far had done material on this), and both were delightful, as not only did it make the night feel as if it were more than the sum of its parts, but also showed her thinking on her feet. Top lad was a superb joke, as were the breastforms, yearly quotas and hair. There was plenty of intelligent writing here and also plenty of applause. Reynold’s timing on left them was absolutely spot on. This was a very impressive performance from someone who is very bookable.

Kitty Messalina

Messalina isn’t that well known and that’s a shame, as she certainly deserves to have a bigger profile than what she has.

From the night:

It’s been a while since I’d last seen Messalina and she had a fantastic gig tonight. It was lovely hearing so many people sat near me saying how good she was. Her set began with her having a bit of a nightmare with the mic stand, which Brent managed to fix for her. From here she gave the room 3 very different songs, all of which were brilliant and struck real chords with the audience. The first song was a touch risque, but she has more than enough charm and presence to hold more or less any audience. The second song was solid and the third, being sung for the first time in public, was another winner. Messalina went down a storm.

Phil Jerky

It’s amazing how much Jerky has improved since I last saw him. With consistent gigging and writing, he’ll hopefully be able to capitalise on this and go further.

From the night:

I last saw Phil at a RockCentral gig, where he’d done pretty well, so I was looking forward to seeing him again and crikey, did he have a great gig. Everything came together for him. Material, delivery, pacing and room work. He hit highs with them all and got two out of the three applause breaks of the entire night. The topper on bowel M was great, as was catching. The jokes and the laughs came thick and fast and it was obvious that Jerky was going to be a serious contender as he built up loads of momentum. I wasn’t surprised when he was voted the winner of the night.

Honourable Mentions:

Adam Beardsmore, David Tsonos, Dawn Bailey, Kevin Daniel (MC), Lovell Smith, Matty Oxley,

Comedy at the Caves: Dawn Bailey, Louis Etienne, Jack Wilson, Josh Reynolds, Ant Dewson and Kevin Daniel (MC)

Tonight I was in Nottingham at the Whistle and Flute for the Ian Whitcombe comedy night. This is a unique gig based in a cave and as such, it has a superb atmosphere. It’s an amazing venue and it also sold out pretty quickly (again), so it’s not one to bide your time with before buying a ticket. Amongst the audience were Ian and Kerry, but also Brent and Tom Rostron – it’s always nice to see new acts like Tom out supporting gigs and learning through absorbing comedy. The floor to this gig isn’t that level and tonight that caused the spotlight to shift position a bit, but that’s easily dealt with and it didn’t affect the night at all.

Kevin Daniel (MC)

I like Kevin and so it was a pleasure to see him compering for a change. He’s a very astute person and so I wasn’t surprised in the least to discover that he has a deft touch when compering. He began building atmosphere before he even got to the stage and his room work was impressive, as was his general knowledge. Kevin did the rules early on and he might perhaps have been better doing them after he’d got a few laughs under his belt, or even towards the end of his opening session, but this is no big deal. Similarly, he probably didn’t need to do that much material before the headliner came on, as the room was already warm, but it was a belter of a routine and everyone enjoyed it. I thought the holiday routine has the makings of something really good, albeit a bigger ending is needed. Obviously Kevin’s not the finished article as a compere, but I think he’ll become a terrific one.

Dawn Bailey

Bailey is a very consistent performer and has been doing very well. Tonight she was funny from the off and never took a foot off of the pedal. Dawn’s material is relatable and she makes it even more so by bringing the whole audience into her performance. She sells it all extremely well and the room loved her for it.

Louis Etienne

Etienne impressed me when I first saw him and I’ve never seen him have a less than great gig. Tonight was no different. He received big laughs for his well written and delivered material. I expect to see a lot of Etienne over the next few years and I look forward to seeing him doing 20s.

Jack Wilson

It’s always nice to see acts that are new to me and Wilson was an enjoyable presence on the bill. I did think he might have split the room with the missing submarine joke that he opened with, but it didn’t harm his momentum. A lot of his material concerned his job and there was plenty of good stuff here. The FGM joke has a lot of exposition and set up and although it got a good laugh and applause, I think a lot of that is for the effort and it might be possible that Wilson could have gotten 3-4 bigger laughs with other jokes in the time it took. That’s a minor point and either way, Wilson had a good gig.

Josh Reynolds

Ant Dewson

Dewson is a reliably entertaining crowd pleaser and had as good a gig as he has every time I see him. The songs all landed well, as did the quips between them. Whilst Vorderman is my favourite, everyone found a lot to enjoy and Dewson saw the night off on a high.

The Final Whistle: David Tsonos, Jacob Nussey and Mark Maier

Tonight I was in Southwell for the Funhouse comedy night. Mike had a whale of a time chatting to the audience. He had a row of newbies sat on the front row and made the most of them. Johnny had returned, which was fantastic and Mike took great pleasure in chatting with him again. This is a very nice room, but it’s not a very big one and so I’m quite happy that we’re moving back to the Saracen’s Head in September.

David Tsonos

I don’t see as much of Tsonos as I’d like. He’s a very smooth comedian who is a genius at making his material feel relevant to an audience. Tsonos, without seeming to make a big effort, which is a skill in itself, tied what he was saying into the audience with various asides and bits of room work. This made everything he was saying feel important and special for this gig. His running gag about truth was superb, whilst the way in which he dealt with the suggestion of Leaf as the national animal of Canada was great. The joke about eating national animals resulted in a very long laugh as different members of the audience got it at their own pace. This was a fantastic performance.

Jacob Nussey

Mark Maier

Maier is a well experienced professional act who would be hard put to put a foot wrong and he didn’t tonight. Maier’s set is very well constructed, his writing strong, all topics are very accessible and his pacing good. However, what makes it such a powerful set is Maier’s performance. He doesn’t just deliver his lines, but he raises this almost to a theatrical level as he acts out the various parts of routines. Maier has an enviable ability to put on accents and voices and this adds a lot to what he is doing. What is already very funny, becomes even more so. I was very pleased to see him reference the truth running joke of the night and also thought he was very astute in working in the football – match, comment that came from the chap sat on the front row. Maier provided a very enjoyable headlining performance to close off what had been a great night of comedy.

Canal House: Will Mayze, Gurps Cheema, Rosa Keaton, Kitty Messalina, Jacob Nussey, Lovell Smith and TJ McDonald (MC)

Tonight I was in Nottingham at the Canal House for the NCF comedy night. Whilst audience numbers weren’t in the treble figures for once, there were quite a few folk there from the East Mids scene, with Ian Whitcombe and Tom Rostron there for the whole show and Ian Peskett, Jay Sandhu and Tommy Tomski also dropping in for a bit. Everyone saw a great show.

TJ McDonald (MC)

Although I’d seen TJ doing a set before, this was the first time I’d seen them compering and whilst they did well, there were naturally things that they might have possibly done differently. Canal House isn’t an easy room to compere, as 90-95% of the audience can’t be seen from the stage and if those on the first couple of rows don’t have much of interest about them, then you’re on a sticky wicket. However, it might have worked better if TJ had done a lot more audience work, as most of his time was spent delivering material. This was good stuff, especially accents (cosmology was interesting, but isn’t there yet), which he did try to tie in a bit to the audience, but the end result, felt more like we’d got a bonus act instead of a MC. In balance, TJ got everyone’s names right, kept the night on track and the room liked him. With more experience he’ll be a stronger compere.

Will Mayze

I’ve been wanting to see Mayze for a while and I enjoyed his set tonight. He has a resemblance to a young Michael Caine and that’s no bad thing. His material about not being young was ok, but isn’t yet as good as what I think it could be. Notts TV was very good and went down a treat, although I’m not sure it’ll travel well, which is a shame. I liked how it naturally linked into his next subject of crap telly. This was very smoothly done. Mayze was possibly brave mentioning the events of yesterday, but the short routine about bad witnesses to events was splendid and in contrast to Notts TV, this will travel well if he changes out Long Eaton for somewhere relevant to wherever he is that night. Mayze’s closing joke was solid. This was a good set.

Gurps Cheema

There were a few good jokes in Cheema’s set, with taxi and date both being sound. Only Fans, working from home and knife crime all required more to raise them. Gurps has a smooth delivery, which is all to the good, but might perhaps benefit from holding the mic closer to the mouth. Tonight they ran out of steam a few minutes before the end of their set, which was a shame.

Kitty Messalina

Rosa Keaton

Keaton’s set was a very quirky five, which on paper probably shouldn’t have worked as well as what it did. Her performance opened with a groaner of a one-liner and then she introduced a hula hoop, which was a portal to another dimension, where there was another comedy gig occurring. Keaton then asked our audience for a few of their favourite jokes, popped through the portal and then told the other audience those jokes. Generally the comic tells the audience jokes, rather than the audience giving the comic material to then regurgitate back to them. However, Keaton did well with this approach and the audience went with it. I’m not sure it would have worked over a longer set, but Keaton did well enough with it tonight.

Jacob Nussey

Nussey was here tonight recording a quick 5 for a project and it’s great when you get strong acts like him at this gig. His skill and confidence were made obvious to the room from the second he started walking to the stage and he looked every inch the pro. His material went down a storm, there was a lot of laughter and he had an excellent gig. I think everyone would have liked to have seen more.

Lovell Smith

Smith is a cracking act, but one whom I don’t seem to see that much of around here. Headlining tonight, he demonstrated that he should be on a lot of people’s radars. Smith has a lot of charm and audiences warm to him very quickly. In contrast to his easy going demeanour, but possibly because of it, I found he got the best response to some of his darker jokes, like keep. These all landed hard. Smith was trying some new material and whilst this all worked out well, it might have been better not to have finished with audience work, but that’s a minor point. This was a great performance.

Bar One Gong Show: Joanna Surowiec, Nick O’Kane, Dan Madeley, Ben Ashworth, Michael Mckenzie, Ben Sheldon, Bo Walker, Myles Freestone, Phil Jerky, Ash Gorsi, Josh Reynolds, Rachel Page, Walter Watts and Caleb James

Tonight I was in Derby at Bar One for the Funhouse Comedy gong show. It’s always nice to have a bit of a change and to come here for the summer gigs. Fresh from spending time at Download, Mike and fun with a packed out audience. Despite one guy trying to be evasive and funny about his name and occupation, Mike was on far richer ground with Georgia, who was a performance improvement manager on the railways. Owing to a lack of drop out and a couple of people not responding to emails, we had 14 acts on the bill, which made for a bumper night.

Joanna Surowiec

Hailing from Poland and with a lot of her material concerning being Polish and living in England, Surowiec had a good gig. She delivered her lines leaning slightly forwards, which encouraged the audience to lean into her set, too, as it felt as if she were taking us all into her confidence. The material was ok, but isn’t yet as good as it will become and it perhaps didn’t flow as well as it might. Badly cast was a great line, though and Surowiec was a warm presence.

Nick O’Kane

This was O’Kane’s second gig and I think he has potential. There’s some decent writing here and the jokes came with the regularity you’d expect of someone doing one-liners, but without feeling as if the pace was being forced. Pronouns, in particular, was a good line. O’Kane has a dry delivery which I think suited their style. For some reason, the audience never seemed to buy into them, which was a shame. With more experience, I’m sure they will do well, though.

Dan Madeley

Madeley was a very pleasant surprise. His material had a touch of polish to it and he had not only the feel, but also the confidence of a more experienced act. It was pretty obvious from the first 10 seconds that he was going to be a finalist. The trousers material was great and his set had a natural flow to it. Madeley continued the good work with a well judged final minute. If they’d gone on later in the bill, then Madeley would have been a serious contender for top spot.

Ben Ashworth

I liked Ashworth and he has some nice ideas concerning material. This felt pretty fresh, rather than just his personal take on something that has already been covered by lots of other comics. They do have a slight vocal tic with ‘like’ but that will be ironed out through just recording and listening back to their sets. I’d have liked to have seen more.

Michael Mckenzie

McKenzie is doing quite a few tens and so it must have been a bit odd for them to be limited to five. The skinny chef routine was good and easy to get onboard with. Jesus was interesting, but it might have been improved by ‘had a pint of water’ or ‘been drinking water all day’ as this would have let the audience do some of the work. I do like the hints of darkness in their material.

Ben Sheldon

This was Sheldon’s first ever gig and they didn’t put a foot wrong. Their material concerned the story of a faux pas committed with his missus and this all flowed naturally, with his acting it out all adding to the performance. Sheldon easily made it into the final and this was a very creditable first ever performance.

Bo Walker

I saw Bo last week doing a short 5 spot for Ian Whitcombe and that had gone well. Tonight they were under a bit of pressure having family and friends present, but it all went pretty well with just the one hiccup. Walker got quite a lot of laughs for their material, but also for their performance. Audience’s really do warm to them and their stream of consciousness running commentary style. Unfortunately Bo burned through all of their material quite a long time before the end of their spot, but they’d done enough and had the charm to still go through. What Bo would really benefit from is sitting down and writing more, as that will stand them in good stead for the future.

Myles Freestone

In contrast to Bo’s more energetic performance, Myles was quite relaxed. Their set concerned buying a house and there were a few nice lines in here, such as holiday. Unfortunately, this set was a little bit light on laughs. There’s nothing fundamentally wrong with what Freestone was doing, but with more gigging, they’ll be much improved and their material will be more punchy.

Phil Jerky

Ash Gorsi

With his bubbly delivery and down to earth accent, Gorsi really sold what he was saying. The material was solid, too, with aggressively hungry and names both being sound and him receiving applause for argument. This was an impressive performance and Gorsi was a worthy runner up.

Josh Reynolds

Josh is picking up plenty of gigs and like a few other acts on the bill, just doing five must have been quite unusual. There was no end of good stuff in here, with transitioning being not only funny, but also interesting. Voice and who are you were both quality and tagging was excellent. There was a pleasingly logical construction to her set and Reynolds did well.

Rachel Page

Page did well talking about being a teacher inflicted with an unruly pupil. There was plenty to get your teeth into and she drew everyone in with what she was saying. Sliding was perhaps the more interesting of her routines, but all were good. This set might have been better over a ten, as it wasn’t quite punchy enough to really suit a gong show. Nevertheless, this was a good performance.

Walter Watts

Watts did ok, but never really looked as if they were going to make it to the final. Their delivery was just a touch hesitant and they didn’t look that confident, either. With the judges voting so many acts through, I rather think they took a firmer line with Watts than some of the others and made him an early gonging.

Caleb James

I liked James when I saw them last and I like them even more after seeing them tonight. Good construction, good material, good delivery, there’s absolutely nothing to dislike here and they built up momentum from the off. Although they didn’t make the top two, this was an impressive performance and bodes well for the future.

The Juice Bar – Jim Brown, Rachel Longmore, Tom Rostron, Rahul Somia, Bo Walker, Stanley Norman, Adam Beardsmore and Ian Whitcombe (MC)

Tonight I was in Nottingham at the Juice Bar for the Ian Whitcombe comedy night. As I thought it started at 8pm, I arrived a tiny bit late for the half seven start, which was a shame, as I missed some of Ian’s compering. It was nice to see the room full and also the venue so behind the night, too.

Ian Whitcombe (MC)

When I last saw Whitcombe compering it had been his first ever attempt and he’d gotten far more right than wrong, which was very good going. In the intervening few months he’s definitely learnt a lot more and it was good to see him again. Ian’s got quite a gentle voice and isn’t a threatening stage presence, which works in his favour as people aren’t scared to talk to him. He’s also got a good general knowledge, remembers people and he’s happy to try new things. Hence tonight there was a creative use of props and a rap. These all kept things fresh. I can see Ian doing well with a residency.

Jim Brown

I last saw Brown at the Bless, where he’d done alright at a gong show. Tonight he was trying some new material and he has some good ideas. 3^rd base had a cracking final reveal. Naturally, there were a few things he could improve on. If he held the mic lower it would help him to connect with the audience. There were a lot of short little bits to this performance and most of them felt like the beginning of something bigger, so when Jim began a section and everyone settled in to hear it, he moved on pretty much immediately. This meant that the room kept resetting and this played havoc with him building momentum up. The Rightmove line was good, but it was possibly too young an audience to ask, as most people there were probably not in the housing market. These are all small things and don’t detract from a decent performance.

Rachel Longmore

Longmore is a new act and was only doing five minutes. She was the second act in a row to talk about dating apps, but fortunately went in a different direction. The Leonardo joke was good and the rapping made for something different. With more stage time, she’ll be improved.

Tom Rostron

When I last saw Rostron, he’d been something of a work in progress, with a few nice ideas, but obviously not the finished article. So it’s nice to see him again and to see improvement in a short space of time. The Cumbrian material makes for a nice opening that is easy for everyone to buy into. His local references were spot on and landed well, he got a big laugh for nan. Dogs has potential and the marriage story was a real winner. Pigeon-holed was a bit strained, though, and whilst the screwdriver joke landed well, an older audience might think a hammer would be more appropriate for Sutcliffe. This was a good performance.

Rahul Somia

It had been a while since I’d last seen Somia and I was very happy to see so much improvement. Everything all across the board was so much better. His writing, audience work, stage presence and delivery were all a lot better than before. He looked a very credible act and got a lot of laughs. Make up was a lovely little routine and whilst chopsticks isn’t yet fully formed, it’s definitely got legs. I suspect I’ll be seeing a lot more of Somia.

Bo Walker

It’s always a pleasure to see Walker. Audience’s like them, too. Bo’s certainly got a lot of potential. The Rowling protagonist and wife were delightfully daft and very funny. It was also good to see them working with the audience. Walker has a very energetic performance and it was a shame they were just doing five minutes tonight, as I’d have liked to have seen more.

Stanley Norman

Stanley has a great visual look, which makes him appear thoroughly grounded and this provides a cracking contrast to his material, which is pretty far out there. He sells his material very well indeed. He’s also put a lot of thought into it, with the various props and tonight chopsticks tied in well to Rahul’s set. Stanley built up no end of momentum and this was a really good performance. He might have gotten a bigger laugh by going with dead by 39, instead of at 39, as that could tie in better to the manner of death, but either way, there was a lot of laughter.

Adam Beardsmore

I was thoroughly looking forward to seeing Beardsmore. I’ve liked him since I first saw him at a gong show years ago and he’s gone from strength to strength in the meantime. Tonight, he was on a double and it’s great to see good acts getting on like this. Beardsmore’s polish and experience showed from the off. His writing is rock solid and his delivery just as good. You can tell he’s a good compere from the ease with which he ad libbed with the audience. Cadbury’s was great, motorway built up nicely, as did the skydive, but his closing routine about running was absolutely splendid. He fully committed to this and the audience were totally with him. This was a tremendous performance.

Whitwell – Matty Oxley, Kyle Kraze, George Haddon-Hartle, Scott Bennett and Greg Philips (MC)

Tonight I was in Whitwell for the Laffa Cakes comedy night. It’s lovely having a gig 20 minutes or so from home and sadly quite rare, as Mansfield itself is largely resistant to comedy. There was a good number of people here, which was nice to see. It’s a shame that more people don’t come, as this should be a great gig. As it happens, this was the last one there, which was a shame. Greg had a fun night compering, even though most of the audience weren’t that forthcoming when he spoke to them. The line, ‘House just got louder’ is definitely a keeper and with a topper, salad should work very well.

Matty Oxley

This was the first time I’ve seen Oxley and I very much liked what I saw. He’s very easy to listen to, has very good timing in his delivery and the pacing of his set was spot on. Lost Voice Guy was good, although for a non-comedy savvy audience a bit of exposition might possibly have helped. The running joke about good looking was solid and Nick Nack deserved more. Oxley has a lot of skill and this was a most impressive performance.

Kyle Kraze

Kraze made quite a few jokes at the top about his height, which played very well with him going on after Oxley. His delivery was such that he made it feel as if he’d written them specially for this audience and that was all to the good. His off the cuff comments to the person eating crisps went down well and bronze was a cracking line. Although he lost his way a bit on function room, the first prize joke was an absolute belter.

George Haddon-Hartle

I’d last seen GHH at a socially distanced gig at Canal House and had been curious as to how he’d improved and the answer was very much so. He had a good level of energy and did very well in tying material into the audience. In addition, GHH’s performance skills were strong and his physicality added to what he was doing. The material was a tiny bit more patchy, but lighting, anthem and favourite were all decent enough. A bigger ending would have been an improvement, but in all honesty this was a good set and he is going in the right direction. Given his likeability and stage skills, I shouldn’t be surprised if GHH didn’t make a good compere.

Scott Bennett

Bennett is a phenomenon at any time, but give him a gig like this and he’ll take it up several notches. Tonight he was absolutely magnificent and his room work all but destroyed the place. It’s lovely when you are laughing that much it is beginning to hurt, but Scott’s comments on the shelving arrangement behind him were fantastic. It was a joy to see his new material, too. From a technical point of view, Scott’s ability to slide material into his crowd work and make it appear as if he has just made it up is top notch. This was a performance that I think everyone there will remember for a long time.