Reviews & features: Comedy, Issue 664

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• Issue 664
• Comedy

A

• Adam Riches (10 Aug 2010)
  Riches’ latest show is supremely daft
• Aidan Bishop (12 Aug 2010)
  Sounds more like he’s 50 than 30
• Alex Horne (10 Aug 2010)
  Clever maths, quantum mechanics and pleasingly lo-fi graphics
• Ali Cook (10 Aug 2010)
  Cook’s magic is both slick and sick
• Andrew Bird (11 Aug 2010)
  Like being beaten with a roll of toilet paper
• Arj Barker (11 Aug 2010)
  Disappointing gaggery from much-hyped actor

B

• Babbling Comedy: The Perfordian Show (9 Aug 2010)
  Slapstick, magic, juggling all lend to adequate family entertainment
• Bec Hill (12 Aug 2010)
  An endearing quirkiness
• Beta Males’ Picnic (11 Aug 2010)
  Preoccupation with death and sexual deviance
• Bound (9 Aug 2010)
  Brimming with comedic talent, weaker on emotion, generally lovely
• The Boy With Tape On His Face (12 Aug 2010)
  A masterclass of mime
• Brendon Burns (10 Aug 2010)
  Overly serious rants about killing paedophiles and getting religion
• Bridget Christie (11 Aug 2010)
  Dabbling around the unhinged fringes of stand-up

C

• Caroline Rhea (13 Aug 2010)
  Flirting with fame and audience patience
• Celia Pacquola (10 Aug 2010)
  A buoyant performance, surprising and cathartic
• Chris Corcoran (11 Aug 2010)
  Corcoran makes his people sound rather lovely
• Chris McCausland (10 Aug 2010)
  McCausland meanders off on wildly varying tangents
• Comedy Bitch (10 Aug 2010)
  Intelligent, surreal and original
• Comedy in the Dark (10 Aug 2010)
  Well-known comics pitched out of their comfort zones
• Conor O’Toole (12 Aug 2010)
  Some good joke-writing
• Could it Be Forever? (12 Aug 2010)
  A bittersweet comedy will have you recall youthful emotion

D

• Damion Larkin (11 Aug 2010)
  Cuddly Loser has the feel of being hurriedly chucked-together
• Dan Antopolski (10 Aug 2010)
  Confidently entertaining
• Daniel Sloss - My Generation (8 Aug 2010)
  Teen comic hits home with the personal
• Dave Hill (11 Aug 2010)
  Navigates a fine path between the crass and the classy
• Delete The Banjax (13 Aug 2010)
  Hyped foursome not quite there yet
• Des Bishop (13 Aug 2010)
  My Dad Was Nearly James Bond
• Dommett & Lapaert (13 Aug 2010)
  Material tossed aside for engaging tomfoolery
• Don't Run with Scissors (9 Aug 2010)
  A Betrayal of Penguins can't quite regain of glory of 2009
• Doon MacKichan - Primadoona (8 Aug 2010)
  Turning tragedy into comedy

E

• Edward Aczel (10 Aug 2010)
  Somehow incredibly funny without even trying
• Elis James - Daytripper (8 Aug 2010)
  Scruffy yet sharp show about obsessions
• Emo Philips (13 Aug 2010)
  Over-familiar but still funny

F

• Felix Dexter (10 Aug 2010)
  Observational stand-up and nicely realised characters

G

• Gary Delaney - Purist (8 Aug 2010)
  The Basil Brush of stand-up
• Gemma Goggin - Get Laid or Die Trying (8 Aug 2010)
  Hilarious and graphic sex tales
• George Ryegold (11 Aug 2010)
  A gloriously bleak worldview
• Geraldine Quinn (10 Aug 2010)
  Flash your flesh, your cash and your camel toe
• Giacinto Palmieri (10 Aug 2010)
  This stilted performance was a pile of sweaty meatballs

H

• Henning Wehn (10 Aug 2010)
  German humour remains a joke in itself

J

• Jack Whitehall (11 Aug 2010)
  Lacking real substance
• Jarred Christmas (11 Aug 2010)
  Personal set from personable stand-up
• Jason Cook (11 Aug 2010)
  Well-crafted, life-affirming stuff
• Jeremy Lion (9 Aug 2010)
  Soused kids entertainer goes green
• Jimeoin (10 Aug 2010)
  Low-key observations about the little things
• Jim Jefferies - Alcoholocaust (13 Aug 2010)
  Vitriolic rants from the bottom of his LA-based heart
• Jo Caulfield (11 Aug 2010)
  Trademark snarky wit
• Joe Rowntree: Peaceful Worrier (9 Aug 2010)
  Paranoia revolves around this comic’s past
• Jonny Sweet - Let's Just Have Some Fun (9 Aug 2010)
  Derailing a show about a boat

K

• Kai Humphries (10 Aug 2010)
  Desperately needs an injection of sharper gags
• Kate Fox - Kate Fox News (8 Aug 2010)
  A slow news day
• Keith Farnan: Sex Traffic (9 Aug 2010)
  Facts to gasp at and jokes to die for
• Kevin Bridges (9 Aug 2010)
  Rising star effortlessly wins over the home crowd

L

• Lady Garden - Top Secret Gig (8 Aug 2010)
  Slightly too fast-paced sketch show
• Laura Solon: The Owl of Steven (9 Aug 2010)
  A curious show about owls and oddballs
• Lee Nelson (11 Aug 2010)
  If his game is satire he keeps it well hidden
• Lesbian Bathhouse (8 Aug 2010)
  A feminist comic romp

M

• Maeve Higgins (12 Aug 2010)
  She could talk all day and keep you smiling
• Maff Brown (11 Aug 2010)
  You probably had to be there
• Magnus Betnér (9 Aug 2010)
  Cult comic in the making
• Mark Nelson - Offending the Senses (13 Aug 2010)
  A jolt to the comedy system
• Matthew Hardy: Willy Wonka Explained (13 Aug 2010)
  Nostalgic trip back to a time of Veruca Salt and Everlasting Gobstoppers
• Mike Keat (13 Aug 2010)
  A massively talented and very entertaining tool
• Mike Wozniak (11 Aug 2010)
  A frustrated and edgy figure

N

• Nathan Caton (11 Aug 2010)
  Tackles issues of race with refreshing ease and sensitivity
• New Art Club (11 Aug 2010)
  Original, charming and very funny
• Nick Mohammed (11 Aug 2010)
  Fantastically irritating and inappropriate
• Noise Next Door (10 Aug 2010)
  It’s very rare to see improv comedy so consistently hit the mark
• No Son of Mine (9 Aug 2010)
  Family secrets uncovered amid a heap of gags

P

• Pappy's (13 Aug 2010)
  Bringing you sketch sunshine
• Paul Chowdhry - Not PC (13 Aug 2010)
  Self-censorship blunts some impact
• Paul Foot - Ash in the Attic (9 Aug 2010)
  "Comedy connoisseurs" only for divisive yet invigorating hour
• Paul Sinha - Extreme Anti-White Vitriol (9 Aug 2010)
  Handling some hot political spuds
• Paul Zenon - Lounge Wizard (8 Aug 2010)
  Old tricks with some new twists
• Pete Johannson's - Pete's On Earth (9 Aug 2010)
  Solid stand-up as it was meant to be
• Pros from Dover (9 Aug 2010)
  Sketch comedy from accomplished trio inject form with inovation

R

• Ray Green (9 Aug 2010)
  The 3D adventures of a two-bit character
• The Real MacGuffins (8 Aug 2010)
  Deliciously daft sketches
• Reginald D Hunter - Trophy Nigga (9 Aug 2010)
  Funny but familiar material
• Richard Herring - Christ on a Bike (9 Aug 2010)
  A disappointing retread of past glories
• Roaring Boys (11 Aug 2010)
  Enjoyable, surreal character comedians
• Rob Rouse (11 Aug 2010)
  Spinning the mundane into the finest yarn
• Ross Sutherland - The Three Stigmata of Pacman (9 Aug 2010)
  Life’s daftness exposed via poetry and music

S

• Sam Simmons (11 Aug 2010)
  Somewhat lacklustre
• Scott Agnew proves himself as storyteller with eye for absurd (8 Aug 2010)
  Devilish entertainer with broad appeal
• Seann Walsh (16 Aug 2010)
  Making the humdrum hilarious
• Shirley and Shirley (12 Aug 2010)
  Dark twists on familiar sketch topics
• Smith and Smith (11 Aug 2010)
  Dry self-deprecation and an irreverent take on immortality
• Sound and Fury - Private Dick (8 Aug 2010)
  Playful postmodern romp with knob gags
• Stephen Carlin - The Podium of Unconditional Surrender (10 Aug 2010)
  Airdrie wag refuses to get tough
• Storm Large - Crazy Enough (9 Aug 2010)
  A musical memoir with bawdy tales
• Stuart Goldsmith (11 Aug 2010)
  On the road to proper glory

T

• Tiffany Stevenson - Dictators (8 Aug 2010)
  Top Trumps of despots
• Tom Craine (10 Aug 2010)
  Achingly upper middle-class meanderings
• Tony Law (10 Aug 2010)
  Some laugh-worthy material
• Two Episodes of MASH (10 Aug 2010)
  Offbeat charm and wit

U

• The Ukulele Project (8 Aug 2010)
  Charming folk take on modern classics
• Unshakeable (11 Aug 2010)
  Paul Betney jokingly describes his life with Parkinson's