Opening night at Harriet's, Greenwich, London
THIS was a new fortnightly comedy night in the shadow of the Millennium Dome (with almost as many visitors) but compere and host Harriet Bowden is determined that it will last longer than the Dome - without public money!
First up is surreal Paul Foot, who takes us through his stories of the local area, description of award winning tv show You've Been Framed, and his butch nanna.
Not to be confused with the 'nana Verity Welch keeps down her skirt, (replacing the previously used and lost chicken). She played with the small audience well.
Phil Zimmerman brought the 'pigeons' to christen the venue, rather like they christen his loft.
Phil wasn't happy with the size of the stage, so he played from behind the curtain! Could catch on!
Ivan Steward, the Comedy Traffic Warden - on this night - was last up. After his success in Edinburgh, he was back on the trail down in the Smoke, and his amusing material worked, as always.
Finally, audience member Rob got up and told pub jokes. Expect to see him live at the Dome soon (Not!)
STAR RATING (out of five): ***
Peter Merrett
November 2000 issue
Daniel Kitson Show, Comedy Cafe, London EC1
I FIRST saw Kitson finish second in the 1998 Hackney Empire New Act of The Year Final.
Even then, he was regularly compering nights at the Comedy Cafe, and he has now decided to do a solo show.
The Metro newspaper stated that he is already tipped for next year's Perrier Award at the Fringe, which Kitson claims is b*****ks because he says he isn't going to Edinburgh!
It is quite clear though that he is starting to experiment and rehearse a show with ten months still to go. The first half was 37 minutes, while the second was nearer an hour.
His regular compering stuff is naturally zany, and relies heavily on insulting members of the audience. No one is safe.
Perrier-winning shows tend to have a subject they focus on. Kitson has introduced playing a game of Scrabble which runs through the show, while he does material, tries sketchs, shows pre-recorded video clips.
Another solo show is planned for November, and I am sure Kitson will be tweaking his material.
STAR RATING (out of five): ***
Peter Merrett
November 2000 issue
Adlib Night, Amused Moose, London
FIRST night of the Adlib Night with Gail Scott compering fun and games of a topical nature.
First up was The A-Z Game, going through the alphabet and making a joke on a subject from each letter.
Next was Voice Impressions followed by In The Papers.
The topical victims were Impressionists at the Tory Conference, Ann Widdecombe, the petrol crisis, Jeffrey Archer, the American presidential Bush vs Gore debate and the Kennedy Clan.
In the second half were Off The Wall, People in the News, West End Final, and finally My Gag Next, which was an opportunity for the comic to do bits of their own stand-up act.
The participants and their best bits were:
Andy Parsons attempting to say something funny about Ann Widdecombe, and Branson trying to fly around the world in a balloon despite the fact he owns an airline.
Paul Rogan's impressions of Slobodan Milosovic, who has stashed all his money in poverty stricken Russia, where there is nothing to spend money on.
John Ryan about Virgin Trains and the waiting list for lottery prizes if it was being funded by the NHS.
Shaun Pye on the odds of his sisters 'fear of flying' counsellor dying in a plane crash.
MC Gail Scott held the evening together, and the attention of men in the audience was helped by the fact she dressed as a schoolgirl.
Some of the stuff adlib worked and other stuff didn't but the 'pass the baton' format allowed the evening to have a fast pace.
It's a cross between 'Whose Line Is it' and 'Have I got News' with some rounds that didn't work likely to be dropped
STAR RATING (out of five): ***
Peter Merrett
November 2000 issue
Mirth Control IV, at Catcher In The Rye, London
THERE was free entry and a lot of local regulars in the crowd. Also local Scott
Pragnall is the resident host, although he informed the crowd that he missed
the previous Sunday to do a gig in Milton Keynes, possibly the location where
he bought garish shirt.
Pragnall plays long on that people complain to Anne Robinson on the BBC show Watchdog for stupid reasons, but, afterwards, goes inspiringly wild over hardly anything at all. I'd say he's an up and coming comedian.
Clyde West is a comedy veteran of 38 who used to sell jokes via the small ads of the stage.
West is a bit of a comedy hack, with a lot a cliched material.
I don't know if he would sell any gags he used on this night. The audience was slow to pick up on some of his humour, describing his hometown Stratford in East London and that he was happy to be present and loved comedy.
I was disapointed he didn't do his stuff on children's TV programmes from the 70s. I loved the red suit, though.
Headline act Anthony King is one I haven't seen or heard of before, but surely will again.
On the lookalike factor he reminds me of a mix between Alastair McGowan and Sean Meo.
His delivery also had me comparing him to Meo, composed and relaxed as he strode through his stuff.
This venue is a newish addition to the comedy circuit, and free entry has worked because locals have turned out on a regular basis, but I think it could do with more seating.
STAR RATING (out of five): ***
Peter Merrett
November 2000 issue
Dave Gorman - Are you Dave Gorman?, The Comedy Theatre, London
COMEDY meets travelogue in this genre-defining show, which sometimes takes the form of an inventive lecture.
In his global quest to find and record meetings with his namesakes, the comedy moves from the attention to the minutiae of people's lives.
Obsessive facts abound with the project being carefully recorded and statistical information provided on the distances travelled and the graphical representations that dictate the journeys.
In a sense, he can be compared to Peter Cook's E.L.Wisty comic creation, a character that excels in recounting his 'interesting facts'.
The uncanny events, which unravel during the travels, surprise and add a mysterious quality to this apparently meaningless project.
It may have some significance after all: for instance, on the very night of the performance two people linked with the evening shared the same birthday, and there was an actual Dave Gorman in the audience.
Surely Doris Stokes would have something to say about that.
So whether you are Dave Gorman or not, go to see this show: It will be a journey well worth the effort.
STAR RATING (out of five): *****
Ivan de Mello
November 2000 issue
Graham Norton: Lively, De Montford Hall, Leicester
YOU might expect a top comedian as openly-gay as Graham Norton to attract a large gay following - but, at this performance, that did not seem the case.
In fact the huge and packed auditorium was dominated by female faces.
And many of the men present certainly gave the impression of having been dragged to the spectacle by their women.
Stranger still, Norton did not appear to have amassed a wealth of strong routines.
His show was a triumph of polished performance and well-honed persona over fair-to-weak material.
Norton was at his best when ad-libbing in chats with audience members, and at his worst when telling long-winded and not especially funny yarns.
In many ways, Graham would seem to have a delightfully warm personality. You could imagine enjoying having afternoon tea with him.
Yet his act is crude, repetitive and unoriginal.
Worse, he falls back time and again on trying to shock laughter out of his audience. In this, he does gay people no favours.
While not talking much about his own love life, he relishes in holding up other gay men - albeit ones with bizarre and potentially-dangerous sexual practices - to public ridicule.
At least half of the audience did not understand what he was talking about in the most explicit section of the show.
But the greatest shame was that before the tour Norton had evidently not found sufficient time to work on his script.
STAR RATING (out of five): ***
Ollie Wilson
October 2000 issue
Ivan's Comedy Gaffe, The Wheatsheaf, London W1
ANOTHER rainy Monday night in Soho but Ivan's Gaffe was packed.
It was only on closer inspection that you realised that everyone in the room was an act, with the exception of two pretty girls on the front row.
So I won't attempt to review the entire bill. It read like a who's who of London's tenacious new acts. Instead this review will focus on four who stood out from the comedy crowd.
Clare Ward has a Miss Brodie look about her. She's prim and proper in her style, with a long traditional dress and short, neat hair.
She also sounded posh which helped her persona and suited her material - somewhat surreal gags about her (presumably private) schooling.
Danny Hurst started on the comedy circuit around five years ago. But he dropped out for a year because of poor health.
It was good to see him back in action and with some excellent new material. But he needs to overcome the nervousness that pervades his performance.
Clifford has confidence by the bagful. He boasts a chatty, intelligent comedy style. His banter with the two girls in the front row won more laughs than his material.
Finally, headliner Terry Lynch showed he is more a quality gag writer than a natural performer.
But his deadpan persona just about carried his puns and comedy-surprises.
STAR RATING (out of five): ***
Ollie Wilson
October 2000 issue
New Acts at the Bedford, Bedford Arms, Balham, London
A GOODISH night of entertainment from up-and-coming comics.
The compere Balls created a pleasant atmosphere with his aggressive yet friendly Aussie demeanor.
Jimmy Razor did well with his quick-fire intelligent gags.
And Baby Jane, from Brighton, appeared a little nervous but amiable, chatting away to the smallish audience.
Johnny Morris displayed characteristics of a very new act - quiet and apparently lacking in confidence.
Pete Armstrong was also too quiet but finished by playing guitar and performing some nice comedy songs.
Supply teacher Rick Smallwood did warm, easy-going and intelligent observational material on school kids and life in general.
A newer act, Anthony Miller, had some good gags, but was evidently nervous.
Last but not least was Clifford who got some great laughs from the by-now-weary crowd.
Not a bad evening at all.
STAR RATING (out of five): ***
Nik Coppin
October 2000 issue
Brixton Comedy Club, London
THIS was a remarkable night in that it offered not one of this year's Perrier nominees - but two.
Dave Gorman performed superbly.
I reckon he could double up as Jez Quigley if Coronation Street ever decides that the hospital death scene should become a Dallas shower scene!
Dave said he'd recently returned from a gig in Bury St Edmonds that he would not have gone to if he hadn't thought he'd been asked if he wanted to dig when they bury Noel Edmonds.
You must see this man!
Stephen K Amos told us he had taken comedy all over the world on our behalf, and due to the strong pound against local currency he now owns Cape Town.
Amos also revealed two old ladies watched his gig in Edinburgh because they thought he was Philip from Rising Damp.
He didn't get political - but he did sweat like Tony Blair.
Mind you, the club was packed out, so we can forgive him for that.
Danny and his yellow ballons was an additional act.
He didn't speak - just played with balloons.
Don't try this at home ? Well, I suppose you could. . . but you'd need a yellow shirt.
The final act Lee Mack was the second recent Perrier nominee.
Mack could be Charlie Chaplin or Frank Spencer depending on what hat or beret he wears.
Mack's nan still loves Angel Delight, and dishing up advice on her husband being like a fish out of water.
Great evening!
STAR RATING (out of five): *****
Peter Merrett
October 2000 issue
The Laughing Horse, The Lucas Arms, Kings Cross, London
IN a room which could best be described as a parlour in a stately home, MC for this evening , the lively Matt Watts, encouraged people to raise their hands in the so-called 'clapatory' position.
A Danish man sitting in the back row got carried away with the prompting and tried to initiate a Mexican wave. He was alone in that.
With a pitch-perfect impersonation of Cilla Black, the lovely Lesley Guiness was rudely interrupted during her act by a heckler.
Lesley didn't mind though: 'I'm glad you came - pity your father did as well' was her terse reply.
I'd heard whisperings that closet pigeon-enthusiast Phil Zimmerman wouldn't be mentioning pigeons in his act.
He was booked to do a tight five-minute set - 30 seconds in: 'PIGEONS!', 'PIGEONS!', 'PIGEONS!
This obsessive character is so fully formed he cannot help but mention 'PIGEONS!' - he is one of the true originals on the comedy circuit.
Like Zimmerman, the timid , quiet suburban dweller, David F. Taylor, is also a complete character.
He manages to work wonders with his understated way by lulling the audience into a hushed silence and then uproarious laughter after the tail-end of each gag.
The miraculous part of the evening was invoked by the Capital Radio DJ Neil Long - before he had the chance to utter a word, the laughing horse reared its equine head and gave out a guffaw.
Stunned Neil said 'Well how can you top being heckled by the laughing horse at the Laughing Horse club!'
He made a sterling effort to try though, only to be upstaged by the furry puppet, Rocky the Racoon, who crawled up and down his arm generally acting like Basil Brush on speed.
Brilliant Eric Petrossian is the real-life Millhouse fom the Simpsons.
And what promise this guy has! There is a moment during his set where he mimics Armenian chanting - and delivers two minutes of hilarity without words ...just chanting - which leaves the room in stitches.
But there's more: a brilliant impression of obscure Eastern European cartoons and a telling observation about the Nightmare on Elm Street movies that leaves the audience thoroughly satisfied.
A pleasing night which left everybody's hands in the clapatory position.
STAR RATING (out of five): ***
Ivan de Mello
October 2000 issue
The 90th night of Joe's Comedy Madhouse, Stoke Newington, London N16
JOE'S COMEDY MADHOUSE diehards who have sat among an audience of five or six might find it hard to believe but this club has been getting bigger crowds since the cellar bar venue was stretched into an L-shape.
Now all the boring people sit round the corner, out of sight.
Even the rampantly in-form compere Hal Cruttenden had trouble getting more than a grunt out of them at first. Yet by the time he had launched into a ridiculously manic impression of a camp Alexander the Great riding towards to Persia, the whole packed room was in uproar.
It took a while for the audience to warm to Ed Hill as the alarmingly avuncular Rev. Hyde.
Perhaps this was down to a suspicion that he was out for converts, although nothing could be further from the truth.
He soon let the usual persona of the Church of England clergy slip to reveal the psychopathic and violently-unstable monster beneath, having the crowd in stitches.
Meanwhile, it has been evident that the bright lights of the manky BBC Comedy Awards Final have done no favours to Angie McEvoy.
For that gig, she dropped her usual style, which was a shame, even though she still came second.
The Madhouse's dim, seedy and authentic comedy ambience prompted a welcome return to form for McEvoy.
Her low-key, can-hardly-be-bothered-to-talk-to-you-lot persona stormed it, as she unwound her 'sad' tales of being aged 33, single and childless. Brilliant stuff!
Steve Day, it seems, is Britain's only deaf comic, and he cleverly bases his act around communication problems.
The remarkable thing is that he does not come across as being aurally challenged, his voice being near normal.
He is also an excellent communicator, making much of the idea that it doesn't matter whether the audience laughs or not - because he can't hear the laughter anyway.
Apart from during his dodgy and rather mysterious Sinatra impression, laugh we did. . . and lots.
Headline act Shan took to the stage on the crest of a comedy wave, stoked by Cruttenden.
He gave a charming and hilarious performance, timing his punchlines to perfection and delivering his set-ups with a confidence that kept the audience in his pants throughout.
But the biggest laugh came he announced that a black woman in a red dress was about to appear among us.
And there she was, coming round the corner - out of the part of the room hidden from most of the audience.
Laugh? We almost hailed Shan as a comedy phophet!
STAR RATING (out of five): ****
By 'Comedy Spy'
October 2000 issue
Ivan's Comedy Gaffe, The Wheatsheaf, Soho, W1.
WHEN acts perform at the Gaffe, they need to be as laid-back, natural and relaxed as host Ivan Steward.
They should almost treat it as a run out in the reserves with only a few loyal supporters watching.
The acts who did well tonight were Tom Burns, Rohan - and Marc Lacero.
Ivan tends to unnecessarily build up the acts, which can place unwanted extra pressure on them.
Those who didn't perform so well were Chris Riley, Ricardo Lewis and Ninia Benjamin.
Ninia Benjamin was trying to impress an agent and had comedian friend Gina Yashere videoing her performance.
I've seen Ninia win a heat at London's Comedy Cafe in front of a crowd of 200, but she failed to hit the spot on this occasion.
The hilarious Paul Arnold I have also seen many times before.
I recall a time in Stoke Newington when I was in tears at his zany efforts to silence a non-stop heckler.
However, on this night he experimented with a new character - called Lord Crispin - and the audience didn't quite get it.
Christa Masbrook is a German girl who's started to do some comedy, and gave a good account of herself.
Tom Burns has been doing stand-up for just six months but has years of comedy writing experience, on Spitting Image to name but one credit. His observations were sharp, his presentation gentle.
Rohan does clever, precise material, mainly about him and Elvis. He waited patiently in the front row for his turn and came on like a late substitute to impress the crowd.
Marc Luzero finished the night off, and dealt with the (fairly well-intentioned) northern heckler with great skill.
Overall, it was interesting night with some promising acts.
STAR RATING (out of five): ***
Peter Merrett
October 2000 issue
Adam Hills - Goody Two Shoes, Gilded Balloon, Edinburgh
THE audience at this extra show - at midnight - was full of Australians.
As Hills said, they probably hadn't made it up in time for the nine o'clock performance.
He put on a highly interactive show, picking out a 'boy band' in the front row.
And when a couple of members of the audience got up to leave early, Hills personally forked out £40 to pay for their taxi - so they could stay to the end.
And it was worth the wait.
Hills did a very funny finish with a send-up of the classic American show The A Team, complete with a medley and credits.
I'm sure we'll be hearing a lot more of Adam Hills.
STAR RATING (out of five): ****
Peter Merrett
October 2000 issue
Noble and Silver, Edinburgh Fringe
OTHER reviewers have likened this double-act's stunts to those of TV star Chris Morris.
I saw them on the Channel 4 Edinburgh show and was not taken by their ridiculous phone calls.
But seeing the live show, I realised how much better the calls fitted in with the general nonsense.
They also used a portable television, big screen and photographic slides to good effect.
And I was amused by the way they constantly referred to the show as shit, crap and rubbish.
It was not quite my tea of cup.
But I concede it was weird and off the wall - and cleverly written and well performed.
So it was not a huge surprise they won the Perrier Newcomer prize.
STAR RATING (out of five): ****
Peter Merrett
Pragnall plays long on that people complain to Anne Robinson on the BBC show Watchdog for stupid reasons, but, afterwards, goes inspiringly wild over hardly anything at all. I'd say he's an up and coming comedian.
Clyde West is a comedy veteran of 38 who used to sell jokes via the small ads of the stage.
West is a bit of a comedy hack, with a lot a cliched material.
I don't know if he would sell any gags he used on this night. The audience was slow to pick up on some of his humour, describing his hometown Stratford in East London and that he was happy to be present and loved comedy.
I was disapointed he didn't do his stuff on children's TV programmes from the 70s. I loved the red suit, though.
Headline act Anthony King is one I haven't seen or heard of before, but surely will again.
On the lookalike factor he reminds me of a mix between Alastair McGowan and Sean Meo.
His delivery also had me comparing him to Meo, composed and relaxed as he strode through his stuff.
This venue is a newish addition to the comedy circuit, and free entry has worked because locals have turned out on a regular basis, but I think it could do with more seating.
STAR RATING (out of five): ***
Peter Merrett
November 2000 issue
Dave Gorman - Are you Dave Gorman?, The Comedy Theatre, London
COMEDY meets travelogue in this genre-defining show, which sometimes takes the form of an inventive lecture.
In his global quest to find and record meetings with his namesakes, the comedy moves from the attention to the minutiae of people's lives.
Obsessive facts abound with the project being carefully recorded and statistical information provided on the distances travelled and the graphical representations that dictate the journeys.
In a sense, he can be compared to Peter Cook's E.L.Wisty comic creation, a character that excels in recounting his 'interesting facts'.
The uncanny events, which unravel during the travels, surprise and add a mysterious quality to this apparently meaningless project.
It may have some significance after all: for instance, on the very night of the performance two people linked with the evening shared the same birthday, and there was an actual Dave Gorman in the audience.
Surely Doris Stokes would have something to say about that.
So whether you are Dave Gorman or not, go to see this show: It will be a journey well worth the effort.
STAR RATING (out of five): *****
Ivan de Mello
November 2000 issue
Graham Norton: Lively, De Montford Hall, Leicester
YOU might expect a top comedian as openly-gay as Graham Norton to attract a large gay following - but, at this performance, that did not seem the case.
In fact the huge and packed auditorium was dominated by female faces.
And many of the men present certainly gave the impression of having been dragged to the spectacle by their women.
Stranger still, Norton did not appear to have amassed a wealth of strong routines.
His show was a triumph of polished performance and well-honed persona over fair-to-weak material.
Norton was at his best when ad-libbing in chats with audience members, and at his worst when telling long-winded and not especially funny yarns.
In many ways, Graham would seem to have a delightfully warm personality. You could imagine enjoying having afternoon tea with him.
Yet his act is crude, repetitive and unoriginal.
Worse, he falls back time and again on trying to shock laughter out of his audience. In this, he does gay people no favours.
While not talking much about his own love life, he relishes in holding up other gay men - albeit ones with bizarre and potentially-dangerous sexual practices - to public ridicule.
At least half of the audience did not understand what he was talking about in the most explicit section of the show.
But the greatest shame was that before the tour Norton had evidently not found sufficient time to work on his script.
STAR RATING (out of five): ***
Ollie Wilson
October 2000 issue
Ivan's Comedy Gaffe, The Wheatsheaf, London W1
ANOTHER rainy Monday night in Soho but Ivan's Gaffe was packed.
It was only on closer inspection that you realised that everyone in the room was an act, with the exception of two pretty girls on the front row.
So I won't attempt to review the entire bill. It read like a who's who of London's tenacious new acts. Instead this review will focus on four who stood out from the comedy crowd.
Clare Ward has a Miss Brodie look about her. She's prim and proper in her style, with a long traditional dress and short, neat hair.
She also sounded posh which helped her persona and suited her material - somewhat surreal gags about her (presumably private) schooling.
Danny Hurst started on the comedy circuit around five years ago. But he dropped out for a year because of poor health.
It was good to see him back in action and with some excellent new material. But he needs to overcome the nervousness that pervades his performance.
Clifford has confidence by the bagful. He boasts a chatty, intelligent comedy style. His banter with the two girls in the front row won more laughs than his material.
Finally, headliner Terry Lynch showed he is more a quality gag writer than a natural performer.
But his deadpan persona just about carried his puns and comedy-surprises.
STAR RATING (out of five): ***
Ollie Wilson
October 2000 issue
New Acts at the Bedford, Bedford Arms, Balham, London
A GOODISH night of entertainment from up-and-coming comics.
The compere Balls created a pleasant atmosphere with his aggressive yet friendly Aussie demeanor.
Jimmy Razor did well with his quick-fire intelligent gags.
And Baby Jane, from Brighton, appeared a little nervous but amiable, chatting away to the smallish audience.
Johnny Morris displayed characteristics of a very new act - quiet and apparently lacking in confidence.
Pete Armstrong was also too quiet but finished by playing guitar and performing some nice comedy songs.
Supply teacher Rick Smallwood did warm, easy-going and intelligent observational material on school kids and life in general.
A newer act, Anthony Miller, had some good gags, but was evidently nervous.
Last but not least was Clifford who got some great laughs from the by-now-weary crowd.
Not a bad evening at all.
STAR RATING (out of five): ***
Nik Coppin
October 2000 issue
Brixton Comedy Club, London
THIS was a remarkable night in that it offered not one of this year's Perrier nominees - but two.
Dave Gorman performed superbly.
I reckon he could double up as Jez Quigley if Coronation Street ever decides that the hospital death scene should become a Dallas shower scene!
Dave said he'd recently returned from a gig in Bury St Edmonds that he would not have gone to if he hadn't thought he'd been asked if he wanted to dig when they bury Noel Edmonds.
You must see this man!
Stephen K Amos told us he had taken comedy all over the world on our behalf, and due to the strong pound against local currency he now owns Cape Town.
Amos also revealed two old ladies watched his gig in Edinburgh because they thought he was Philip from Rising Damp.
He didn't get political - but he did sweat like Tony Blair.
Mind you, the club was packed out, so we can forgive him for that.
Danny and his yellow ballons was an additional act.
He didn't speak - just played with balloons.
Don't try this at home ? Well, I suppose you could. . . but you'd need a yellow shirt.
The final act Lee Mack was the second recent Perrier nominee.
Mack could be Charlie Chaplin or Frank Spencer depending on what hat or beret he wears.
Mack's nan still loves Angel Delight, and dishing up advice on her husband being like a fish out of water.
Great evening!
STAR RATING (out of five): *****
Peter Merrett
October 2000 issue
The Laughing Horse, The Lucas Arms, Kings Cross, London
IN a room which could best be described as a parlour in a stately home, MC for this evening , the lively Matt Watts, encouraged people to raise their hands in the so-called 'clapatory' position.
A Danish man sitting in the back row got carried away with the prompting and tried to initiate a Mexican wave. He was alone in that.
With a pitch-perfect impersonation of Cilla Black, the lovely Lesley Guiness was rudely interrupted during her act by a heckler.
Lesley didn't mind though: 'I'm glad you came - pity your father did as well' was her terse reply.
I'd heard whisperings that closet pigeon-enthusiast Phil Zimmerman wouldn't be mentioning pigeons in his act.
He was booked to do a tight five-minute set - 30 seconds in: 'PIGEONS!', 'PIGEONS!', 'PIGEONS!
This obsessive character is so fully formed he cannot help but mention 'PIGEONS!' - he is one of the true originals on the comedy circuit.
Like Zimmerman, the timid , quiet suburban dweller, David F. Taylor, is also a complete character.
He manages to work wonders with his understated way by lulling the audience into a hushed silence and then uproarious laughter after the tail-end of each gag.
The miraculous part of the evening was invoked by the Capital Radio DJ Neil Long - before he had the chance to utter a word, the laughing horse reared its equine head and gave out a guffaw.
Stunned Neil said 'Well how can you top being heckled by the laughing horse at the Laughing Horse club!'
He made a sterling effort to try though, only to be upstaged by the furry puppet, Rocky the Racoon, who crawled up and down his arm generally acting like Basil Brush on speed.
Brilliant Eric Petrossian is the real-life Millhouse fom the Simpsons.
And what promise this guy has! There is a moment during his set where he mimics Armenian chanting - and delivers two minutes of hilarity without words ...just chanting - which leaves the room in stitches.
But there's more: a brilliant impression of obscure Eastern European cartoons and a telling observation about the Nightmare on Elm Street movies that leaves the audience thoroughly satisfied.
A pleasing night which left everybody's hands in the clapatory position.
STAR RATING (out of five): ***
Ivan de Mello
October 2000 issue
The 90th night of Joe's Comedy Madhouse, Stoke Newington, London N16
JOE'S COMEDY MADHOUSE diehards who have sat among an audience of five or six might find it hard to believe but this club has been getting bigger crowds since the cellar bar venue was stretched into an L-shape.
Now all the boring people sit round the corner, out of sight.
Even the rampantly in-form compere Hal Cruttenden had trouble getting more than a grunt out of them at first. Yet by the time he had launched into a ridiculously manic impression of a camp Alexander the Great riding towards to Persia, the whole packed room was in uproar.
It took a while for the audience to warm to Ed Hill as the alarmingly avuncular Rev. Hyde.
Perhaps this was down to a suspicion that he was out for converts, although nothing could be further from the truth.
He soon let the usual persona of the Church of England clergy slip to reveal the psychopathic and violently-unstable monster beneath, having the crowd in stitches.
Meanwhile, it has been evident that the bright lights of the manky BBC Comedy Awards Final have done no favours to Angie McEvoy.
For that gig, she dropped her usual style, which was a shame, even though she still came second.
The Madhouse's dim, seedy and authentic comedy ambience prompted a welcome return to form for McEvoy.
Her low-key, can-hardly-be-bothered-to-talk-to-you-lot persona stormed it, as she unwound her 'sad' tales of being aged 33, single and childless. Brilliant stuff!
Steve Day, it seems, is Britain's only deaf comic, and he cleverly bases his act around communication problems.
The remarkable thing is that he does not come across as being aurally challenged, his voice being near normal.
He is also an excellent communicator, making much of the idea that it doesn't matter whether the audience laughs or not - because he can't hear the laughter anyway.
Apart from during his dodgy and rather mysterious Sinatra impression, laugh we did. . . and lots.
Headline act Shan took to the stage on the crest of a comedy wave, stoked by Cruttenden.
He gave a charming and hilarious performance, timing his punchlines to perfection and delivering his set-ups with a confidence that kept the audience in his pants throughout.
But the biggest laugh came he announced that a black woman in a red dress was about to appear among us.
And there she was, coming round the corner - out of the part of the room hidden from most of the audience.
Laugh? We almost hailed Shan as a comedy phophet!
STAR RATING (out of five): ****
By 'Comedy Spy'
October 2000 issue
Ivan's Comedy Gaffe, The Wheatsheaf, Soho, W1.
WHEN acts perform at the Gaffe, they need to be as laid-back, natural and relaxed as host Ivan Steward.
They should almost treat it as a run out in the reserves with only a few loyal supporters watching.
The acts who did well tonight were Tom Burns, Rohan - and Marc Lacero.
Ivan tends to unnecessarily build up the acts, which can place unwanted extra pressure on them.
Those who didn't perform so well were Chris Riley, Ricardo Lewis and Ninia Benjamin.
Ninia Benjamin was trying to impress an agent and had comedian friend Gina Yashere videoing her performance.
I've seen Ninia win a heat at London's Comedy Cafe in front of a crowd of 200, but she failed to hit the spot on this occasion.
The hilarious Paul Arnold I have also seen many times before.
I recall a time in Stoke Newington when I was in tears at his zany efforts to silence a non-stop heckler.
However, on this night he experimented with a new character - called Lord Crispin - and the audience didn't quite get it.
Christa Masbrook is a German girl who's started to do some comedy, and gave a good account of herself.
Tom Burns has been doing stand-up for just six months but has years of comedy writing experience, on Spitting Image to name but one credit. His observations were sharp, his presentation gentle.
Rohan does clever, precise material, mainly about him and Elvis. He waited patiently in the front row for his turn and came on like a late substitute to impress the crowd.
Marc Luzero finished the night off, and dealt with the (fairly well-intentioned) northern heckler with great skill.
Overall, it was interesting night with some promising acts.
STAR RATING (out of five): ***
Peter Merrett
October 2000 issue
Adam Hills - Goody Two Shoes, Gilded Balloon, Edinburgh
THE audience at this extra show - at midnight - was full of Australians.
As Hills said, they probably hadn't made it up in time for the nine o'clock performance.
He put on a highly interactive show, picking out a 'boy band' in the front row.
And when a couple of members of the audience got up to leave early, Hills personally forked out £40 to pay for their taxi - so they could stay to the end.
And it was worth the wait.
Hills did a very funny finish with a send-up of the classic American show The A Team, complete with a medley and credits.
I'm sure we'll be hearing a lot more of Adam Hills.
STAR RATING (out of five): ****
Peter Merrett
October 2000 issue
Noble and Silver, Edinburgh Fringe
OTHER reviewers have likened this double-act's stunts to those of TV star Chris Morris.
I saw them on the Channel 4 Edinburgh show and was not taken by their ridiculous phone calls.
But seeing the live show, I realised how much better the calls fitted in with the general nonsense.
They also used a portable television, big screen and photographic slides to good effect.
And I was amused by the way they constantly referred to the show as shit, crap and rubbish.
It was not quite my tea of cup.
But I concede it was weird and off the wall - and cleverly written and well performed.
So it was not a huge surprise they won the Perrier Newcomer prize.
STAR RATING (out of five): ****
Peter Merrett
Ivan Steward - Madman or Genius?, Holyrood Tavern,
Edinburgh
IVAN STEWARD - the legendary Comedy Referee - was on magnificent form in the wake of his appearance on Channel 4's Big Breakfast.
He had just returned from London where he had been interviewed on the basis that he had Edinburgh's 'worst show'.
In truth, he has one of the best, but the Ref wasn't about to miss the chance to score a publicity goal!
And flushed with his new-found fame, he played a blinder!
The Ref was everywhere - flashing his yellow and red cards at any punters who dared to question his judgment.
The gags came fast and furious - too fast for two Scottish boilers in the front row who couldn't keep up with this express train of a gagster.
The Ref did his window cleaner's bucket trick to tumultuous applause - whirling the full pail above his head without getting the audience wet (much).
His guests were also on top form.
Filthy Australian comic Pam Ford was on top form, really amusing the women in the front row.
Newish comic Eric had a good Orangeman joke, and American comic and horn king Randy Wilson did a first-rate and very distinctive set of gently amusing stuff.
Martin Beaumont - formerly Dave Dave - was also good, in his modest, self-effacing way.
But the real star was the Ref - an act so deliberately manic and shambling that the more stupid critics just don't get it.
Madman or genius? Both, of course.
STAR RATING(out of five): *****
Ollie Wilson
September 2000
Mad Mack and Alfie Joey, Holyrood Tavern, Edinburgh
MAD MACK - a.k.a. former Channel 4 press officer Barrie Hall - and Alfie Joey would not at first glance seem the ideal comedy pairing.
Mack is a nutter - a Sunderland cabbie with a violent temper and a mum who allegedly sucks cocks in Tesco's.
Joey is a crooner, a light entertainer with a disturbing tendency to turn himself into Brucie (Forsyth).
Yet their two-hander at the Edinburgh Fringe worked admirably.
Joey did some of Mack's stand-up lines over a back stage mic as feed lines - while Hall did the best of his London comedy-circuit act.
And somehow the duo worked in some of the best American material from Joey's first idea for an Edinburgh show - a nostalgic Hollywood play that he had wisely strangled at birth.
The Holyrood Tavern is certainly not the finest of venues, but Hall and Joey made the most of what facilities there were.
And the audience thoroughly enjoyed their efforts and were left in no doubt that Hall is a character comedy of real quality and Joey has 'showbiz' running through him like the letters in a bar of rock.
STAR RATING(out of five): ****
Ollie Wilson
September 2000
The Stand Up Show, Holyrood Tavern, Edinburgh
THE venue was packed to the rafters for this show - driving the heat level in the room to stifling levels.
Not that it put off the crowd who greeted compere Brian Damage with great enthusiasm.
Damage is the man who put the dead in deadpan - a marvellously depressive character who can find negativity in everything.
I must have heard his gags a hundred times but still laugh at them.
First act on was Kevin Sherwani who is really getting good.
He is a handsome lad with a lot of self-confidence and an endearing style. His material is solid and his persona very endearing. And the story about his tartan trousers was a corker.
Next came boy and girl sketch team Tara and Guy.
The playlet they'd contrived - about a Wacky Races kind of battle over a Welsh rugby player's missing magic boots - was quirky to say the least.
And Tara was so drop-dead gorgeous, her beauty was distracting.
But they performed it well, and with a certain amount of self-effacing comment that added to the mirth.
The temperature in the room was getting totally unbearable by this stage.
The final act, Robbie Pointer, was one of those stand-up comics who concentrates on taking the rise out of members of audience, which is always a bit cheap.
Unfortunately for me, I buckled under the heat and momentarily fainted during one section of his set.
I came round a couple of seconds later to find I can dropped my pint, which had shattered on the floor, and Pointer was taking the piss out of me.
All is fair in love and comedy. But when it gets crowded and hot in the Holyrood, they could do with some effective air conditioning.
For all that, it was a good show, with no weak links in the chain - and young acts who will surely get better and better.
STAR RATING(out of five): ***
Ollie Wilson
September 2000
Craig Charles and His Band, Pleasance, Edinburgh
CRAIG CHARLES was in emotional mood.
The star of Red Dwarf and Robot Wars seemed a bit on edge, when the show finally got underway 25 minutes late. Chain-smoking and with an excellent five-piece band behind, he came over as an affable figure, opening up to the audience about his feelings about his son, his divorce and his new wife.
I liked his songs because they were about those real issues - and not the mindless pap most singers feed their fans. And Charles has a voice of real power and quality.
Between the numbers, he did his comedy. It was mainstream stuff, but good, solid gags that were easy to laugh at.
The audience loved the performance, appreciating the natural rapport he had with them.
He used the standard heckler put-downs ('I remember my first pint of lager' etc.), but what the hell? They never fail to win a laugh.
And his band, which included a first-rate cellist, was great. Overall, it was thoroughly enjoyable show.
STAR RATING(out of five): ***
Ollie Wilson
September 2000
Paddy Courtney (Ire) vs. Des Bishop (USA) - The Main Event, Gilded Balloon, Edinburgh
THIS was a fairly odd show.
It was split between the whimsical stand-up comedy Paddy Courtney, from Ireland, and the hip hop performer Des Bishop, from New York, now living in Ireland, accompanied by the Irish disc jockey DJ Lee.
Courtney had the better material and a lovely delivery. He was a fun observational stand-up with an eccentric Irish family to joke about.
Bishop was a strange hybrid act. He was not entirely sending up the hip hop / rap world like Ali G and numerous other acts do. He genuinely seemed to want to do hip hop numbers.
Yet he was also a stand-up, albeit one with some fairly ropey material.
It probably was not his best performance of the festival. There seemed some tension between him and DJ Lee and his quips with the audience were hit and miss.
All the same, you couldn't help liking the bloke.
For a brash New Yorker, he had a pleasant way about him and ended with a really funny, quirky routine about immersion heaters.
So who was the victor of this contest? On the night, Paddy Courtney had the upper hand.
STAR RATING(out of five): ***
Ollie Wilson
September 2000
Custard, Gilded Balloon, Edinburgh
THE performers wanted to cancel out of their disappointment at the small size of the audience. But once theyÕd been gently persuaded to do the show, it was a right old laugh.
Alun Cochrane was a natural compere, chatting urbanely to the 10 punters, slipping in some good male-house material and, generally, creating a good atmosphere.
Comedy poet Jason Raper kicked off with some clerihews, although to my ears he seemed to refer to them as ÒcherishoesÓ!
No matter, there were some amusingly sick ones on recently-departed celebrities. But his real strength were his longer poems, which were very funny and inventive.
Next was Shaun Pye, whose act has come on enormously in the last year or two. I really enjoyed his ad-libbing, particularly when he got talking to an oddball French journalist in the audience who was apparently eager to tell the most stupid lies.
Finally came Karl Theobald who was so surreal, he almost shimmered out of view. It was hit and miss stuff, but when he was on a roll, it was very amusing.
It was a good night for them. Despite their initial misgivings, I hope the acts can now see why the show had to go on.
STAR RATING(out of five): ****
Ollie Wilson
September 2000
Arthur Smith Sings Leonard Cohen, Pleasance, Edinburgh
I HAD heard this show was good - but had no idea how good.
Through the music of Leonard Cohen, Smith tackled the hard issues of hard: boredom, addiction, misery, depression, love, betrayal and ducks.
The script was sharp, funny, moving and sad.
And the enjoyment of Cohen's music was enhanced, rather than spoilt, by the fact that Arthur is not exactly God's gift to singing. It was totally in keeping with the loser spirit of the songs.
Ronnie Golden, who accompanied Smith on guitar, was also fabulous.
He used his few lines to great effect and did a hilarious guitar solo, playing the axe with his teeth, apparently spitting out a loose one.
At the end of the show, the applause was deafening.
And the audience was right. It was most probably the best comedy show at Edinburgh this year.
STAR RATING(out of five): *****
Ollie Wilson
September 2000
Dominic Frisby, Komedia @ Southside, Edinburgh
DOMINIC FRISBY has come a long way during the three or four years since he first performed the Upper Class Rapper.
Now he has two other fine characters - Ludwig the Bavarian and The Morris Dancer - and a great stack of excellent impressions.
On the night I saw his show, he was faced with the toughest and most thick of audiences. But he ploughed on like a true trouper, delivering cracking material to minimal laughter.
His hanging on the Prayer Line to Heaven was particularly funny and the Bridegroom's Speech was excellent.
I also liked the 'wet towel' routine - and Frisby's Tony Blair impression was spot-on.
It was a lovely show, strangely under-appreciated on that particular night.
STAR RATING(out of five): ****
Ollie Wilson
September 2000
Big and Daft, Gilded Balloon, Edinburgh
THE BIG AND DAFT boys were back in town - leading their audience into their surreal world once again.
Rob Rouse, Ian Boldsworth and Jon Williams followed up their hit show at last year's Fringe with another blistering performance.
The opening may have been a little ponderous but once they got into their stride the laughs came by the torrent.
The guys have cunningly kept the best bits of last year's show - and added some amusing new material, such as Rob's courtship of, subsequent marriage to and divorce from two potted plants.
A fine performance from three of the brightest young comedy talents in the UK.
STAR RATING(out of five): ****
Ollie Wilson
September 2000
Oram and Meeton, Gilded Balloon, Edinburgh
IT'S unusual for modern double-acts to have warmth and chemistry between them - but Steve Oram and Tom Meeton display oodles of it.
They seem completely at ease with each other as they banter and performed quirky sketches that had the audience in stitches.
The nervous arts administrator and Russian performance artist sketch was a classic, as was the farmer sketch.
And verbal ping-pong sketch was a lovely piece of writing.
Their ad-libbing was also good. They could pull most situations back and still an enormous capacity to make light of themselves.
I am sure they are a double-act who we will be hearing a lot more of in years to come.
STAR RATING(out of five): ****
Ollie Wilson
September 2000
Norman Lovett, Pleasance, Edinburgh
NORMAN LOVETT may be best known for his work as the computer Holly in Red Dwarf, but he is also a very fine comic.
Lovett took the interesting approach of basing his laconic rambliners around objects he had placed on a table: an automatic apple peeler, a book of household tips and various other oddball items.
The fun he derived from these things was extraordinary.
And he also handled hecklers beautifully, getting something positive (and funny), rather than nasty (and sneering), out of their comments.
Lovett left everyone with a lovely warm feeling inside.
STAR RATING(out of five): ****
Ollie Wilson
September 2000
Tears of a Clone, C, Edinburgh
THIS production stank of desperation.
The company had stopped charging for entrance - because they 'were sick of playing to three people' - and had even thrown in a free beer to try to pull a crowd.
Even so, there were only 15 people in the audience of the large venue.
The cast - 16-year-olds Tom Martin and Adam Shindler - were dressed in dinner suits most of the time, and were pretending to be private school headmaster / teacher for much of it.
To be fair, they were quite good, although clearly actors rather than comedians.
The script, by Jenny Wafer and Peter Yates, was a predictable and cliched. But there were enough laughs in it to keep the small audience fairly happy.
Unfortunately, Martin and Shindler spent too much of the show shouting at the punters and their inexperience made it hard for them to handle heckles.
Any half-decent London circuit stand-up could have made verbal mince meat of them.
Still, all credit should go to them for attempting an Edinburgh Fringe show at such a tender age. And they certainly show early promise as actors.
STAR RATING(out of five): **
Ollie Wilson
September 2000
Tone Dead, Gilded Balloon, Edinburgh
IT is not often that you see a comedy performance with no redeeming features.
But with Tone Dead, the company - who immodestly described themselves in the Fringe programme as 'five of Scotland's hottest talents' in a 'hilarious new comedy' - created something that was quintessentially poor.
The show - about the progress of a pop band - was hindered by the low standard of their acting and the weakness of the writing.
Some members of the audience laughed once in a while out of politeness - but, in all honesty, funny lines were few and far between.
In keeping with the youthfulness of the fresh-faced cast, the humour was juvenile and puerile.
Tone Dead was a triumph of self-confidence over ability, enthusiasm over content. One of the cast even seemed to be having trouble remembering his lines.
But they should not feel disheartened.
The performers need now to learn from their mistakes: take some professional acting tuition or go on a comedy course, so they can return to the Fringe with a show more of the standard that one expects at a top venue like the Gilded Balloon.
STAR RATING(out of five): *
Ollie Wilson
September 2000
Jongleurs, Bow, east London
JONGLEURS' clubs on Friday and Saturday nights pretty well guarantee strong bills of entertaining comics who do around 20 minutes each - and Bow proved no exception.
I was pleased to see some acts that were new to me. Strangely, they each compared themselves to more famous people.
Scottish compere Brian Higgins (not a snooker player) was much funnier than the person he likened himself to - Coronation Street's Les Battersby.
As was the first act, Simon Clayton, whose opening line was: '33 years ago Fatima Whitbread and Bob Hoskins had sex!'
Clayton's act revolved around being married, something he said he decided to do because he was getting tired of finishing his own sentences.
The second act was Andrew Pipe who looked like Woody from Toy Story. He said he was surprised to find that, coming out of a rave after all night on E, he is a market researcher's ideal consumer.
Next was Mandy Knight, a Jongleurs regular for many years, who has tweaked and toned her act, adding new lines to her ironic 'girlie act'. She had the audience in stitches.
The closing act was Mark Billingham, another Jongleurs time-server who didn't do his 'cockporridge' joke - for once - and seemed to me to get off early after the audience became rowdy.
Drink, food, a few laughs. A typical night at Jongleurs.
STAR RATING(out of five): ***
Peter Merrett
August, 2000
Pear Shaped In Fitzrovia, London W1
THE LAST time I attended a show compered by Ivan Steward, The Comedy Referee, I was duly shown the red card. So I'd served my suspension and returned to witness him in action again.
Ivan is reminiscent of the old music-hall comedians with his cheeky chappie persona.
But the manner is more manic, employing a megaphone at times to deliver his material, all cracking stuff!
Sabrina George kicked off the acts with her lascivious style which does more to arouse the males then to actually deliver punchlines.
First substitution Spakka Hendrix was a mixed bag.
Clearly, he has a juvenile desire to shock with his Hitler-like appearance and gags about rape, but on the other hand he comes out with gems like 'Imagine a world without hypothetical situations?' and 'The one thing money can't buy is poverty'.
More coherent material and a less contrived appearance would make him easier to stomach.
Baldy bloke John Torrens is an assured stand-up and his quirky observations encompass all manner of topics from anti-perspirants to Sony Playstation habits - all delivered in a laid-back style.
Terry Lynch is another accomplished act and for all those suffering from Des-Lynam-on-Match-of-the-Day withdrawal symptoms I urge you to go and see him!
The second-half saw a group of hecklers enter the room and the match really caught fire.
They gave Sam Miller a tough time but he survived allowing for a late appearance from 'Kevin'.
In his own words, Kevin is a paranoid schizophrenic and when he lets his hair down and reveals his alter-ego , Janet, you'd certainly believe him.
His material can be cruel at times and this divides the audience, but he dealt with the hecklers in a quick witted way and prevented the evening from going too pear-shaped.
STAR RATING(out of five): ***
Ivan De Mello
July, 2000
Comedy Cafe, London EC2
A HOUSE was packed for the naturally-zany comic Daniel Kitson, hosting this try-out night sprinkled with some established acts.
First up, Chris Hawkins ambled on stage dressed in hooded-top and jeans.
You'd have been forgiven for mistaking him for the quiet one out of the Pet Shop Boys - but he speaks - with the slick repartee of a used-car salesmen . . . with gags.
Next, Pam Ford, a feisty Aussie former pub landlady, did a rousing re-make of the Shania Twain Classic ' That Don't Impress' - only inserting an intimate part of the female anatomy neatly into the title.
Enter: Jimmy Carr, a comic who happens to share the same hairdresser as Dawson out of Dawson's Creek.
His act featured musings on life's little paradoxes. A clever twist on the car being an extension of the man's penis (think of women who own people-carriers!) and plenty of one-liners of a high standard.
After the interval, brash comedienne Ninia Benjamin, who won act of the night, performed a hilarious set.
Worth seeing alone for her impression of a fat woman running for a bus.
Excellent magician, Danny Buckler - hardly a new act since he's had a pilot show on Channel 4 - followed, looking like the milk tray man but with a very different box of tricks.
Then came Quincy, not television's favourite pathologist but a bold, black East End comic. A crowd-pleaser who did DJ re-working of a classic Chas & Dave number.
The third interval started with the cheeky, affable Dave Blood with a strong set about the inept opinions of Cosmo magazine, the perils of escalating bank charges and sharp perceptions about the clubbing scene.
Camp comedian Simon Happily carried the comedy baton on, leaving sassy American comic Jevonka Steele to round off a goodish evening.
STAR RATING(out of five): ***
Ivan De Mello
July, 2000
Follies, The Round Table, London WC2
ON the hottest night of the year so far and with Euro 2000 soccer on the telly, this gig was never going to be easy.
But with the aid of a giant sandwich board, promoters Waldo and Roly Moe managed to pull in enough punters to give it a whirl.
Waldo introduced Moe as the compere which seemed to come as a surprise to him. Roly quietly asked the audience where they were from (eight from Essex, one Russia, one South Africa, and London, three) and introduced the first act, Phil Zimmerman.
Zimmerman, whose act includes a pigeon impersonation, did a better job of warming up the audience.
The strength of his act is his peculiar persona and performance. Some of the laughs flow from his honesty ('How am I doing?', 'Does it need tweaking?').
Moe returned with two battling puppets, taking requests for famous movie scenes that audience members wanted recreated.
It was weirdly funny - but nonetheless, three-quarters of the Essex crowd made a get-away.
Finally, Waldo did his new act - W H Hard-on - a send-up of comic poets. The remainder of the punters were fighting to get out by now.
Half an hour - and the gig was over.
Classic humour it was not, but the event in its own right had been strangely amusing.
STAR RATING (out of five): **
John Behrens
June, 2000
Harry Hill and Omil Djalili, The Red Rose, London
OWEN O'NEILL manages to wait a while before reminding us that his hair is of a reddish hue. As if we hadn't noticed.
It's OK, we've already decided he's not just another ginger haired twat.
He wins us over with his genial, on-the-ball observations on drink-driving, the curse of Australians, and the nightmare of suddenly finding yourself in Tescos on a daily basis.
Iranian Omid Djalili has the crowd eating from his hand from the off, with his charming I'm-a fat-boy-kebab-shop-owner-Hezbollah-terrorist routine.
He pulls silly faces, pokes fun at English politeness and gets the crowd participating in a jolly ethinic stereotype routine.
Then Harry Hill bounces through his act without uttering any of his catchphrases.
Never mind, he shows a great interest in the back wall, which inspires the classic: "That's a bit high for a skirting board."
It may not sound funny in print, but the whole room fell about.
And he was right, it was a bit high for a skirting board.
If you've only seen his TV show, it's shite compared to the bizarre whirlwhind of Harry live.
A storming night, expertly compered by Ivor Denbina!
STAR RATING (out of five): ****
Phil Craigie
May 2000
Jimbo, The Oval, London
THE legendary Jimbo is at his best when not speaking. Breathing and wheezing into the microphone is his speciality.
If you're lucky, he might take his jacket off, scratch his back or neck, or, when you least expect it, develop a nervous twitch.
If this sounds less than hilarious, go to see him.
Mind you, he had everyone worried at The Oval. He came out in front in an audience that had dwindled from 11 to eight.
To make matters worse, they had given up huddling together at the front trying to create an atmosphere and were scattered around the large room.
Then Jimbo started talking. What was this? Material? Gags? Surely not! It wasn't funny. Jimbo was dying.
Suddenly, a mad expression came into his eyes. His face went bright red. He seemed to be having trouble breathing. Then he started to splutter.
The room exploded into laughter and Jimbo left the stage in triumph. We had witnessed a moment of comic genius.
STAR RATING (out of five): ****
Phil Craigie
April 2000
Lee Hurst, Leicester Comedy Festival, De Montford Hall, Leicester
A CAPACITY audience greeted Hurst as he appeared with his trademark grin.
The East Londoner quickly got them laughing with a topical gag that Leicester people are friendly 'like Stan Collymore' - the troubled Leicester City star.
Then Hurst went into a hour of fine comedy. The themes were not original - the weather, planes, supermarkets and relationships - but you could not fault his spot-on delivery or the quality of his gags, many of which he laughed at himself.
He physically illustrated his routines, and was marvellously graceful and facially expressive. His improvisation was excellent and his stage persona was a crafty cockney combination of charm, cheek and aggression.
This became apparent in the night's second half, when he invited questions.
After easy ones like "What's your favourite football team?", a foolish punter asked: "What do you think of rich socialists like yourself?"
Hurst did what a comic should never do on stage and lost his temper. He had a stab at justifying his brand of money-spinning socialism and then swore and shouted abuse at the quaking questioner.
Evidently a raw nerve had been touched. With another soft question, Hurst reverted to cheeky chappy mode but looked less relaxed for the rest of the show.
But that bizarre incident aside, it was an excellent performance.
Hurst is a great talent, but, like Stan Collymore, needs to master his temper.
STAR RATING (out of five): ****
February 2000
IVAN STEWARD - the legendary Comedy Referee - was on magnificent form in the wake of his appearance on Channel 4's Big Breakfast.
He had just returned from London where he had been interviewed on the basis that he had Edinburgh's 'worst show'.
In truth, he has one of the best, but the Ref wasn't about to miss the chance to score a publicity goal!
And flushed with his new-found fame, he played a blinder!
The Ref was everywhere - flashing his yellow and red cards at any punters who dared to question his judgment.
The gags came fast and furious - too fast for two Scottish boilers in the front row who couldn't keep up with this express train of a gagster.
The Ref did his window cleaner's bucket trick to tumultuous applause - whirling the full pail above his head without getting the audience wet (much).
His guests were also on top form.
Filthy Australian comic Pam Ford was on top form, really amusing the women in the front row.
Newish comic Eric had a good Orangeman joke, and American comic and horn king Randy Wilson did a first-rate and very distinctive set of gently amusing stuff.
Martin Beaumont - formerly Dave Dave - was also good, in his modest, self-effacing way.
But the real star was the Ref - an act so deliberately manic and shambling that the more stupid critics just don't get it.
Madman or genius? Both, of course.
STAR RATING(out of five): *****
Ollie Wilson
September 2000
Mad Mack and Alfie Joey, Holyrood Tavern, Edinburgh
MAD MACK - a.k.a. former Channel 4 press officer Barrie Hall - and Alfie Joey would not at first glance seem the ideal comedy pairing.
Mack is a nutter - a Sunderland cabbie with a violent temper and a mum who allegedly sucks cocks in Tesco's.
Joey is a crooner, a light entertainer with a disturbing tendency to turn himself into Brucie (Forsyth).
Yet their two-hander at the Edinburgh Fringe worked admirably.
Joey did some of Mack's stand-up lines over a back stage mic as feed lines - while Hall did the best of his London comedy-circuit act.
And somehow the duo worked in some of the best American material from Joey's first idea for an Edinburgh show - a nostalgic Hollywood play that he had wisely strangled at birth.
The Holyrood Tavern is certainly not the finest of venues, but Hall and Joey made the most of what facilities there were.
And the audience thoroughly enjoyed their efforts and were left in no doubt that Hall is a character comedy of real quality and Joey has 'showbiz' running through him like the letters in a bar of rock.
STAR RATING(out of five): ****
Ollie Wilson
September 2000
The Stand Up Show, Holyrood Tavern, Edinburgh
THE venue was packed to the rafters for this show - driving the heat level in the room to stifling levels.
Not that it put off the crowd who greeted compere Brian Damage with great enthusiasm.
Damage is the man who put the dead in deadpan - a marvellously depressive character who can find negativity in everything.
I must have heard his gags a hundred times but still laugh at them.
First act on was Kevin Sherwani who is really getting good.
He is a handsome lad with a lot of self-confidence and an endearing style. His material is solid and his persona very endearing. And the story about his tartan trousers was a corker.
Next came boy and girl sketch team Tara and Guy.
The playlet they'd contrived - about a Wacky Races kind of battle over a Welsh rugby player's missing magic boots - was quirky to say the least.
And Tara was so drop-dead gorgeous, her beauty was distracting.
But they performed it well, and with a certain amount of self-effacing comment that added to the mirth.
The temperature in the room was getting totally unbearable by this stage.
The final act, Robbie Pointer, was one of those stand-up comics who concentrates on taking the rise out of members of audience, which is always a bit cheap.
Unfortunately for me, I buckled under the heat and momentarily fainted during one section of his set.
I came round a couple of seconds later to find I can dropped my pint, which had shattered on the floor, and Pointer was taking the piss out of me.
All is fair in love and comedy. But when it gets crowded and hot in the Holyrood, they could do with some effective air conditioning.
For all that, it was a good show, with no weak links in the chain - and young acts who will surely get better and better.
STAR RATING(out of five): ***
Ollie Wilson
September 2000
Craig Charles and His Band, Pleasance, Edinburgh
CRAIG CHARLES was in emotional mood.
The star of Red Dwarf and Robot Wars seemed a bit on edge, when the show finally got underway 25 minutes late. Chain-smoking and with an excellent five-piece band behind, he came over as an affable figure, opening up to the audience about his feelings about his son, his divorce and his new wife.
I liked his songs because they were about those real issues - and not the mindless pap most singers feed their fans. And Charles has a voice of real power and quality.
Between the numbers, he did his comedy. It was mainstream stuff, but good, solid gags that were easy to laugh at.
The audience loved the performance, appreciating the natural rapport he had with them.
He used the standard heckler put-downs ('I remember my first pint of lager' etc.), but what the hell? They never fail to win a laugh.
And his band, which included a first-rate cellist, was great. Overall, it was thoroughly enjoyable show.
STAR RATING(out of five): ***
Ollie Wilson
September 2000
Paddy Courtney (Ire) vs. Des Bishop (USA) - The Main Event, Gilded Balloon, Edinburgh
THIS was a fairly odd show.
It was split between the whimsical stand-up comedy Paddy Courtney, from Ireland, and the hip hop performer Des Bishop, from New York, now living in Ireland, accompanied by the Irish disc jockey DJ Lee.
Courtney had the better material and a lovely delivery. He was a fun observational stand-up with an eccentric Irish family to joke about.
Bishop was a strange hybrid act. He was not entirely sending up the hip hop / rap world like Ali G and numerous other acts do. He genuinely seemed to want to do hip hop numbers.
Yet he was also a stand-up, albeit one with some fairly ropey material.
It probably was not his best performance of the festival. There seemed some tension between him and DJ Lee and his quips with the audience were hit and miss.
All the same, you couldn't help liking the bloke.
For a brash New Yorker, he had a pleasant way about him and ended with a really funny, quirky routine about immersion heaters.
So who was the victor of this contest? On the night, Paddy Courtney had the upper hand.
STAR RATING(out of five): ***
Ollie Wilson
September 2000
Custard, Gilded Balloon, Edinburgh
THE performers wanted to cancel out of their disappointment at the small size of the audience. But once theyÕd been gently persuaded to do the show, it was a right old laugh.
Alun Cochrane was a natural compere, chatting urbanely to the 10 punters, slipping in some good male-house material and, generally, creating a good atmosphere.
Comedy poet Jason Raper kicked off with some clerihews, although to my ears he seemed to refer to them as ÒcherishoesÓ!
No matter, there were some amusingly sick ones on recently-departed celebrities. But his real strength were his longer poems, which were very funny and inventive.
Next was Shaun Pye, whose act has come on enormously in the last year or two. I really enjoyed his ad-libbing, particularly when he got talking to an oddball French journalist in the audience who was apparently eager to tell the most stupid lies.
Finally came Karl Theobald who was so surreal, he almost shimmered out of view. It was hit and miss stuff, but when he was on a roll, it was very amusing.
It was a good night for them. Despite their initial misgivings, I hope the acts can now see why the show had to go on.
STAR RATING(out of five): ****
Ollie Wilson
September 2000
Arthur Smith Sings Leonard Cohen, Pleasance, Edinburgh
I HAD heard this show was good - but had no idea how good.
Through the music of Leonard Cohen, Smith tackled the hard issues of hard: boredom, addiction, misery, depression, love, betrayal and ducks.
The script was sharp, funny, moving and sad.
And the enjoyment of Cohen's music was enhanced, rather than spoilt, by the fact that Arthur is not exactly God's gift to singing. It was totally in keeping with the loser spirit of the songs.
Ronnie Golden, who accompanied Smith on guitar, was also fabulous.
He used his few lines to great effect and did a hilarious guitar solo, playing the axe with his teeth, apparently spitting out a loose one.
At the end of the show, the applause was deafening.
And the audience was right. It was most probably the best comedy show at Edinburgh this year.
STAR RATING(out of five): *****
Ollie Wilson
September 2000
Dominic Frisby, Komedia @ Southside, Edinburgh
DOMINIC FRISBY has come a long way during the three or four years since he first performed the Upper Class Rapper.
Now he has two other fine characters - Ludwig the Bavarian and The Morris Dancer - and a great stack of excellent impressions.
On the night I saw his show, he was faced with the toughest and most thick of audiences. But he ploughed on like a true trouper, delivering cracking material to minimal laughter.
His hanging on the Prayer Line to Heaven was particularly funny and the Bridegroom's Speech was excellent.
I also liked the 'wet towel' routine - and Frisby's Tony Blair impression was spot-on.
It was a lovely show, strangely under-appreciated on that particular night.
STAR RATING(out of five): ****
Ollie Wilson
September 2000
Big and Daft, Gilded Balloon, Edinburgh
THE BIG AND DAFT boys were back in town - leading their audience into their surreal world once again.
Rob Rouse, Ian Boldsworth and Jon Williams followed up their hit show at last year's Fringe with another blistering performance.
The opening may have been a little ponderous but once they got into their stride the laughs came by the torrent.
The guys have cunningly kept the best bits of last year's show - and added some amusing new material, such as Rob's courtship of, subsequent marriage to and divorce from two potted plants.
A fine performance from three of the brightest young comedy talents in the UK.
STAR RATING(out of five): ****
Ollie Wilson
September 2000
Oram and Meeton, Gilded Balloon, Edinburgh
IT'S unusual for modern double-acts to have warmth and chemistry between them - but Steve Oram and Tom Meeton display oodles of it.
They seem completely at ease with each other as they banter and performed quirky sketches that had the audience in stitches.
The nervous arts administrator and Russian performance artist sketch was a classic, as was the farmer sketch.
And verbal ping-pong sketch was a lovely piece of writing.
Their ad-libbing was also good. They could pull most situations back and still an enormous capacity to make light of themselves.
I am sure they are a double-act who we will be hearing a lot more of in years to come.
STAR RATING(out of five): ****
Ollie Wilson
September 2000
Norman Lovett, Pleasance, Edinburgh
NORMAN LOVETT may be best known for his work as the computer Holly in Red Dwarf, but he is also a very fine comic.
Lovett took the interesting approach of basing his laconic rambliners around objects he had placed on a table: an automatic apple peeler, a book of household tips and various other oddball items.
The fun he derived from these things was extraordinary.
And he also handled hecklers beautifully, getting something positive (and funny), rather than nasty (and sneering), out of their comments.
Lovett left everyone with a lovely warm feeling inside.
STAR RATING(out of five): ****
Ollie Wilson
September 2000
Tears of a Clone, C, Edinburgh
THIS production stank of desperation.
The company had stopped charging for entrance - because they 'were sick of playing to three people' - and had even thrown in a free beer to try to pull a crowd.
Even so, there were only 15 people in the audience of the large venue.
The cast - 16-year-olds Tom Martin and Adam Shindler - were dressed in dinner suits most of the time, and were pretending to be private school headmaster / teacher for much of it.
To be fair, they were quite good, although clearly actors rather than comedians.
The script, by Jenny Wafer and Peter Yates, was a predictable and cliched. But there were enough laughs in it to keep the small audience fairly happy.
Unfortunately, Martin and Shindler spent too much of the show shouting at the punters and their inexperience made it hard for them to handle heckles.
Any half-decent London circuit stand-up could have made verbal mince meat of them.
Still, all credit should go to them for attempting an Edinburgh Fringe show at such a tender age. And they certainly show early promise as actors.
STAR RATING(out of five): **
Ollie Wilson
September 2000
Tone Dead, Gilded Balloon, Edinburgh
IT is not often that you see a comedy performance with no redeeming features.
But with Tone Dead, the company - who immodestly described themselves in the Fringe programme as 'five of Scotland's hottest talents' in a 'hilarious new comedy' - created something that was quintessentially poor.
The show - about the progress of a pop band - was hindered by the low standard of their acting and the weakness of the writing.
Some members of the audience laughed once in a while out of politeness - but, in all honesty, funny lines were few and far between.
In keeping with the youthfulness of the fresh-faced cast, the humour was juvenile and puerile.
Tone Dead was a triumph of self-confidence over ability, enthusiasm over content. One of the cast even seemed to be having trouble remembering his lines.
But they should not feel disheartened.
The performers need now to learn from their mistakes: take some professional acting tuition or go on a comedy course, so they can return to the Fringe with a show more of the standard that one expects at a top venue like the Gilded Balloon.
STAR RATING(out of five): *
Ollie Wilson
September 2000
Jongleurs, Bow, east London
JONGLEURS' clubs on Friday and Saturday nights pretty well guarantee strong bills of entertaining comics who do around 20 minutes each - and Bow proved no exception.
I was pleased to see some acts that were new to me. Strangely, they each compared themselves to more famous people.
Scottish compere Brian Higgins (not a snooker player) was much funnier than the person he likened himself to - Coronation Street's Les Battersby.
As was the first act, Simon Clayton, whose opening line was: '33 years ago Fatima Whitbread and Bob Hoskins had sex!'
Clayton's act revolved around being married, something he said he decided to do because he was getting tired of finishing his own sentences.
The second act was Andrew Pipe who looked like Woody from Toy Story. He said he was surprised to find that, coming out of a rave after all night on E, he is a market researcher's ideal consumer.
Next was Mandy Knight, a Jongleurs regular for many years, who has tweaked and toned her act, adding new lines to her ironic 'girlie act'. She had the audience in stitches.
The closing act was Mark Billingham, another Jongleurs time-server who didn't do his 'cockporridge' joke - for once - and seemed to me to get off early after the audience became rowdy.
Drink, food, a few laughs. A typical night at Jongleurs.
STAR RATING(out of five): ***
Peter Merrett
August, 2000
Pear Shaped In Fitzrovia, London W1
THE LAST time I attended a show compered by Ivan Steward, The Comedy Referee, I was duly shown the red card. So I'd served my suspension and returned to witness him in action again.
Ivan is reminiscent of the old music-hall comedians with his cheeky chappie persona.
But the manner is more manic, employing a megaphone at times to deliver his material, all cracking stuff!
Sabrina George kicked off the acts with her lascivious style which does more to arouse the males then to actually deliver punchlines.
First substitution Spakka Hendrix was a mixed bag.
Clearly, he has a juvenile desire to shock with his Hitler-like appearance and gags about rape, but on the other hand he comes out with gems like 'Imagine a world without hypothetical situations?' and 'The one thing money can't buy is poverty'.
More coherent material and a less contrived appearance would make him easier to stomach.
Baldy bloke John Torrens is an assured stand-up and his quirky observations encompass all manner of topics from anti-perspirants to Sony Playstation habits - all delivered in a laid-back style.
Terry Lynch is another accomplished act and for all those suffering from Des-Lynam-on-Match-of-the-Day withdrawal symptoms I urge you to go and see him!
The second-half saw a group of hecklers enter the room and the match really caught fire.
They gave Sam Miller a tough time but he survived allowing for a late appearance from 'Kevin'.
In his own words, Kevin is a paranoid schizophrenic and when he lets his hair down and reveals his alter-ego , Janet, you'd certainly believe him.
His material can be cruel at times and this divides the audience, but he dealt with the hecklers in a quick witted way and prevented the evening from going too pear-shaped.
STAR RATING(out of five): ***
Ivan De Mello
July, 2000
Comedy Cafe, London EC2
A HOUSE was packed for the naturally-zany comic Daniel Kitson, hosting this try-out night sprinkled with some established acts.
First up, Chris Hawkins ambled on stage dressed in hooded-top and jeans.
You'd have been forgiven for mistaking him for the quiet one out of the Pet Shop Boys - but he speaks - with the slick repartee of a used-car salesmen . . . with gags.
Next, Pam Ford, a feisty Aussie former pub landlady, did a rousing re-make of the Shania Twain Classic ' That Don't Impress' - only inserting an intimate part of the female anatomy neatly into the title.
Enter: Jimmy Carr, a comic who happens to share the same hairdresser as Dawson out of Dawson's Creek.
His act featured musings on life's little paradoxes. A clever twist on the car being an extension of the man's penis (think of women who own people-carriers!) and plenty of one-liners of a high standard.
After the interval, brash comedienne Ninia Benjamin, who won act of the night, performed a hilarious set.
Worth seeing alone for her impression of a fat woman running for a bus.
Excellent magician, Danny Buckler - hardly a new act since he's had a pilot show on Channel 4 - followed, looking like the milk tray man but with a very different box of tricks.
Then came Quincy, not television's favourite pathologist but a bold, black East End comic. A crowd-pleaser who did DJ re-working of a classic Chas & Dave number.
The third interval started with the cheeky, affable Dave Blood with a strong set about the inept opinions of Cosmo magazine, the perils of escalating bank charges and sharp perceptions about the clubbing scene.
Camp comedian Simon Happily carried the comedy baton on, leaving sassy American comic Jevonka Steele to round off a goodish evening.
STAR RATING(out of five): ***
Ivan De Mello
July, 2000
Follies, The Round Table, London WC2
ON the hottest night of the year so far and with Euro 2000 soccer on the telly, this gig was never going to be easy.
But with the aid of a giant sandwich board, promoters Waldo and Roly Moe managed to pull in enough punters to give it a whirl.
Waldo introduced Moe as the compere which seemed to come as a surprise to him. Roly quietly asked the audience where they were from (eight from Essex, one Russia, one South Africa, and London, three) and introduced the first act, Phil Zimmerman.
Zimmerman, whose act includes a pigeon impersonation, did a better job of warming up the audience.
The strength of his act is his peculiar persona and performance. Some of the laughs flow from his honesty ('How am I doing?', 'Does it need tweaking?').
Moe returned with two battling puppets, taking requests for famous movie scenes that audience members wanted recreated.
It was weirdly funny - but nonetheless, three-quarters of the Essex crowd made a get-away.
Finally, Waldo did his new act - W H Hard-on - a send-up of comic poets. The remainder of the punters were fighting to get out by now.
Half an hour - and the gig was over.
Classic humour it was not, but the event in its own right had been strangely amusing.
STAR RATING (out of five): **
John Behrens
June, 2000
Harry Hill and Omil Djalili, The Red Rose, London
OWEN O'NEILL manages to wait a while before reminding us that his hair is of a reddish hue. As if we hadn't noticed.
It's OK, we've already decided he's not just another ginger haired twat.
He wins us over with his genial, on-the-ball observations on drink-driving, the curse of Australians, and the nightmare of suddenly finding yourself in Tescos on a daily basis.
Iranian Omid Djalili has the crowd eating from his hand from the off, with his charming I'm-a fat-boy-kebab-shop-owner-Hezbollah-terrorist routine.
He pulls silly faces, pokes fun at English politeness and gets the crowd participating in a jolly ethinic stereotype routine.
Then Harry Hill bounces through his act without uttering any of his catchphrases.
Never mind, he shows a great interest in the back wall, which inspires the classic: "That's a bit high for a skirting board."
It may not sound funny in print, but the whole room fell about.
And he was right, it was a bit high for a skirting board.
If you've only seen his TV show, it's shite compared to the bizarre whirlwhind of Harry live.
A storming night, expertly compered by Ivor Denbina!
STAR RATING (out of five): ****
Phil Craigie
May 2000
Jimbo, The Oval, London
THE legendary Jimbo is at his best when not speaking. Breathing and wheezing into the microphone is his speciality.
If you're lucky, he might take his jacket off, scratch his back or neck, or, when you least expect it, develop a nervous twitch.
If this sounds less than hilarious, go to see him.
Mind you, he had everyone worried at The Oval. He came out in front in an audience that had dwindled from 11 to eight.
To make matters worse, they had given up huddling together at the front trying to create an atmosphere and were scattered around the large room.
Then Jimbo started talking. What was this? Material? Gags? Surely not! It wasn't funny. Jimbo was dying.
Suddenly, a mad expression came into his eyes. His face went bright red. He seemed to be having trouble breathing. Then he started to splutter.
The room exploded into laughter and Jimbo left the stage in triumph. We had witnessed a moment of comic genius.
STAR RATING (out of five): ****
Phil Craigie
April 2000
Lee Hurst, Leicester Comedy Festival, De Montford Hall, Leicester
A CAPACITY audience greeted Hurst as he appeared with his trademark grin.
The East Londoner quickly got them laughing with a topical gag that Leicester people are friendly 'like Stan Collymore' - the troubled Leicester City star.
Then Hurst went into a hour of fine comedy. The themes were not original - the weather, planes, supermarkets and relationships - but you could not fault his spot-on delivery or the quality of his gags, many of which he laughed at himself.
He physically illustrated his routines, and was marvellously graceful and facially expressive. His improvisation was excellent and his stage persona was a crafty cockney combination of charm, cheek and aggression.
This became apparent in the night's second half, when he invited questions.
After easy ones like "What's your favourite football team?", a foolish punter asked: "What do you think of rich socialists like yourself?"
Hurst did what a comic should never do on stage and lost his temper. He had a stab at justifying his brand of money-spinning socialism and then swore and shouted abuse at the quaking questioner.
Evidently a raw nerve had been touched. With another soft question, Hurst reverted to cheeky chappy mode but looked less relaxed for the rest of the show.
But that bizarre incident aside, it was an excellent performance.
Hurst is a great talent, but, like Stan Collymore, needs to master his temper.
STAR RATING (out of five): ****
February 2000
BATTY Welshman Noel James is a much under-rated comic.
He may look like he has slept in a skip and his life is a total mess. But, comedically, he has really got his act together.
James has tremendous stage charm and always looks like he is enjoying himself. Even on a bad night.
He flits around his mountain of material from the 'surreal IRA' ('they planted a fish under my car') to wine made from tyres ('it was a good year').
And as he says, almost apologetically, he loves gags.
The small Buccaneer audience loved him for it. It was a great performance.
STAR RATING (out of five): *****
John Behrens
December 1999
TONY HINDLE: The Comedy Supermarket, Canons' Gait Cellar Bar, Edinburgh
TONY HINDLE is a man with a mission: to challenge and stimulate audiences used to comedy on a plate.
In a truly outstanding performance, Hindle - a former electronic engineer - showed his verve and spontaneity by winning big laughs on subjects picked from a comedy menu by audience members.
Everything from masturbation to the Euro, the UK royal family to evolution.
The packed house loved it.
It was the cutting edge of comedy and a breath of fresh air in a cliche-ridden Edinburgh.
STAR RATING (out of five): *****
September 1999
Viagra Falls! (Hoo-Ha!), Cafe Royal, Edinburgh
FOR Steven Alan Green, every performance is his last night in show business.
He likes to start by telling his audience that he is on the verge of retirement.
That explained, Green confesses to being "addicted to show business and comedy in particular" - and the laughs can start.
With only five paying punters in a Sunday night audience of seven (including his wife of one year, to whom the show was dedicated), it was never going to be easy.
But with characteristic self-confidence, Green chatted up and charmed his spectators until you felt he was entertaining you in your own living room.
Although he is not one of the world's great gag writers, Green carries his fearless material - including some wonderfully offbeat impressions - with his excellent persona and endearing manner.
Much of his success has been at home in America, but his loser act is ideally suited to a British audience. After all, we love an underdog - particularly when there is such a total lack of bitterness on display.
And Green's other great strength is the high quality of his comic songs, such as his theme tune, entitled "F*** you!", which filled the room with laughter.
As for the Viagra, it was given out by Mrs Green at the end of the show - enough stimulation to keep you busy until Green's showbiz comeback (the following night).
Long may he continue.
STAR RATING (out of five): ****
August 1999
The Daily Telegraph Open Mic Award Grand Final 1999, Pleasance, Edinburgh
AN enthusiastic capacity crowd created the perfect atmosphere for this year's final.
But the billed compere, Boothby Graffoe, was replaced by Chris Addison - a vastly inferior substitute, in my view.
Addison has a lot of mildly-amusing material, but also a most irritating stage manner.
He is one of those pedestrian "Where are you from?" comperes, who swears too much and laughs at his own gags.
The first of the 10 finalists was Billy Lewis, who was about as funny as Dominic Lawson on a bad hair day. Lewis needs to write far stronger material.
But the standard dramatically improved.
Dubliner Johnny Candon was first-rate, with wondrously-original gags about mice, spiders and British Bulldog.
And the charming Belinda Merriman had some lovely material.
Scottish newcomer Danny Bhoy took the roof off with an extraordinarily strong set. He is a star in the making, and it was no surprise that he eventually won the contest and £2,000 prize money.
But the others were also good.
Laury Lewin, a Frank Spencer-voiced rockabilly, had great stage presence and was commended by the judges, as was brazen Karen Taylor, who talked about her "magnificent breasts".
Lara Silverstone had some good gags, and Alex Zane was marvellously off the wall, as was Welshman Richard Morris.
And Adrian Poynton went ingloriously over the top with some truly sick jokes.
Overall, it was a good final.
STAR RATING (out of five): ***
August 1999
Simon Munnery, The League Against Tedium: Dis Am Ubertechnokomedie, The Pleasance, Edinburgh.
SIMON MUNNERY'S weird alter ego, the League Against Tedium is coming of age.
Munnery has moved it on substantially this year, playing down the mad egotism and upping the geekiness of the character. The new League is now a techno-nerd who is more obsessed with his gadgets than his grasp of numerous self-invented languages.
It is a highly innovative show with Munnery switching between visual images and live pictures from a television camera on a giant screen, all controlled by "The Glove of Power".
Every night is set to be different as Munnery points his camera, mounted on a wooden sword, at the audience. You may find your shoes are the basis of 10 minutes of comedy - or your chest may suddenly appear on screen. But as every audience member is required to wear a pair of League Y-fronts on their head during the performance, nothing should come as a shock.
It is ground-breaking comedy which Munnery admits is unpredictable. "If it works, it's funny," he says. "Otherwise, it can seem cruel."
The same could said of one of his assistants, an obscene opera singer who abuses the audience.
This is exactly the sort of risk-taking comedy the Edinburgh Fringe needs more of.
STAR RATING (out of five): ****
August 1999
Rich Hall a.k.a. Otis Lee Crenshaw, The Pleasance, Edinburgh
WITH a cracking band behind him, Otis took to the stage and delivered a succession of sharply-written and hilarious songs, sandwiching lightning-quick banter with the capacity audience.
Then something absolutely extraordinary happened.
After a side-splittingly funny song about eating a girl in the front row (the subject laughed like a drain), a woman at the back stood up and shouted out that she objected to Hall's act for "ethical reasons".
The gig then stopped for 15 minutes as the woman spouted on about how she had saved up to buy a ticket to see Hall but now he was boring and disgusting her.
Eventually, it came out that her name was Sue Wall and, to Hall's amazement, the audience started chanting it at full volume: "SUE WALL, SUE WALL!!"
Hall laughed and admitted: "This is the weirdes f***ing gig I've ever done."
Then he said he would dedicate the next song to Sue Wall and started: "I want you. . . to go away."
Wall walked out of the venue - and it erupted in laughter that went on for minutes.
When the gig resumed, Hall hit new heights as jailbird Otis, with some brilliant ab-libbed lines and wonderful comic songs, tailored to the audience (such as one about mistaking Scottish place names for men's names).
Whatever Sue Wall may be saying, we left knowing we had seen one of the world's great comedians in action.
STAR RATING (out of five): *****
August 1999
Deb Percy: Sex and Sequins, Canon's Gait Cellar Bar, Edinburgh
DEB PERCY talks dirty like no-one else I have ever met.
She may dress like a shrinking violet, but the filth that comes gushing out of her cakehole would fill a reservoir.
Lesbian sex, vibrators, b***ering men with strap-ons, examining her poo - and that's just a taster, so to speak.
There seems no sexual perversity that Deb has not sampled in her short but promiscuous life.
Most of the crowd, including an elderly couple, absolutely loved it.
But a pair of fresh-faced lads walked out when Percy pestered them for their willy dimensions.
Comedy does not get much ruder.
STAR RATING (out of five): ****
August 1999
Big And Daft, Gilded Balloon 2, Edinburgh
ROB ROUSE, Ian Boldsworth and Jon Williams are a formidable comedy force.
Playing three half-brothers who are thrown together in their own perverse and surreal world, the trio take the audience on a march through their crazed minds.
Rob is a simpleton who, at one point in the show, appears to wet himself on the lap of a girl in the front row.
Ian is a bully who sexually abuses Rob, and Jon is the monkey-obsessed, maths freak buffer between them.
The show displayed remarkable pace and intensity, with scenes and Muppetesque puppet work flashing by in a high-speed orgy of mirth.
The climax was a superb medley of Oasis and Beatles songs, merged to show up the oh-so-unsurprising similarities.
Big And Daft was one of the finest shows at the Fringe.
STAR RATING (out of five): *****
August 1999
Al Murray: Pub Landlord. Edinburgh Preview of "And a Glass of White Wine for The Lady!" at the Hen and Chickens Theatre, London N1
AL MURRAY is on blistering form with his funniest show to date. He has achieved so much already with the Pub Landlord but never tires of exploring new avenues.
For Edinburgh this year, he says he has cut back on the "jingoistic material" and concentrated more on audience interaction. A bar set has been built and Murray moves about the stage far more freely than he did last year and displays greater flexibility in his routines.
The results are hilarious. The Landlord's stymied thinking is applied with alacrity to any situation. When a girl says she is called 'Sara', he replies: "You mean Sarah. Pronounce your name properly!" And to a Media Studies student, he says: "Call it by its name, 'Watching The Telly'."
And he has introduced a new set of intelligent themes: philosophy, pure maths, the millennium bug and the relative merits of buying and renting property.
In a glorious finale, Murray graduates a student on stage - years too early - to save public money.
STAR RATING (out of five): ******
August 1999
TREVOR CROOK & DAVE THOMPSON, Chelsea Comedy Cavern, Prague
THE London comedy scene hit Eastern Europe as Dave Thompson and Trevor Crook took the roof off this fabulous bar packed with heartbreakingly beautiful women.
The venue was packed with comedy-hungry ex-pats who loved Thompson's understated rudery and one-liners.
Tony Brennan, a local comic and man from the British Embassy, turned in some good, locally-flavoured material.
But the night belonged to London-based Aussie Trevor Crook's extended set.
The concept of apathy is made flesh and funny in his scrawny frame.
He meanders between material about his life and shockingly crude gags - and had the crowd mesmerized for 50 minutes.
Comedy in Prague is cool. Check it out!
STAR RATING (out of five): ****
July 1999
KEVIN HAYES, Edinburgh preview of Beyond the Pale, Hampstead Comedy Club, London
ONE of the jewels of last year's festival was Kevin Hayes' Beyond The Pale - a history of Ireland in 50 minutes.
It was literate, intelligent and very funny.
And Hayes is sure to score another direct hit with this year's Beyond The Pope, an A to Z of religion, with particular emphasis on Catholicism.
While this performance was obviously a work in progress, he swept across the religious landscape to embrace Rupert Murdoch and the Toronto Blessing in 50 minutes of material as rich, dense and satisfying as a fruitcake.
I'll be back for another slice.
STAR RATING (out of five): ****
Georgina Gush / July 1999
Jason Freeman: Shiny Side Up, Dirty Side Down, Hampstead Comedy Club, London
YOU might think that Jason Freeman is too young in comedy years to be contemplating an Edinburgh show of his own.
Freeman is strangely adolescent but not without charm. He acknowledged that he was not going down well.
His act was self-indulgent. He said not a lot and took a long time about it.
There is some potential there, but he needs more content and less art. And, perhaps, he should pull out of this year's Edinburgh Festival. He is simply not ready.
STAR RATING (out of five): *
Georgina Gush / July 1999
Second Birthday Party, Joe's Comedy Madhouse, Stoke Newington, London N16
WHAT a truly amazing night! This little club rose to new heights as it celebrated its second anniversary in tremendous form.
Genial Geordie compere Alfie Joey warmed up the crowd packed into Ryan's Bar on Stoke Newington Church Street with really strong gags - and a jolly song.
And musical comedian and disc jockey Neil Long performed a lovely little set on white rappers, promising newcomer Steve Morrison showed the stength of his material and Barry Hall proved the Madhouse is brave enough to accommodate the most daring of routines.
Then came the Joe's Comedy Madhouse Awards, as the club's progenitor, Joe Wilson, honoured the maddest, baddest and best acts of the first two years.
His amusing speech was greatly enjoyed by the crowd and the results heartily received.
Ed Hill (the Rev. Hyde) beat off strong competition to be named Best Character Act (non-headline) and the extraordinary Jimbo scooped Maddest Act.
Finally, Ivan Steward scooped Best Act 1997-99 and immediately went into a hilarious half-hour routine. The audience was crying with laughter. It was comedy of the highest order.
In the second half, Amanda Baker, Ed Hill and Jimbo all stormed it - leaving the audience in no doubt that the Madhouse is an unbeatable club that's here to stay.
Happy Birthday, Madhouse! Long may you continue.
STAR RATING (out of five): *****
Peter Guest / June 1999
AZTEC COMEDY, Borderland, London SE19
IT was hot but Anvil Springstien rose to the occasion, talking filth to a table of girls who were too young to be drinking.
One of them, a young girl wearing bunches, was interrogated about kinky sex - and did not even understand the questions.
Anvil's scally manner and winning smile allow him to take breathtaking liberties and have probably saved him from a few good kickings.
Headliner Paul Vallis is more skilled, particularly in voice techniques, than funny.
Some of his impressions are dated. How many under thirties would be au fait with Columbo, Jack Lemmon and Batman actor Adam West?
He needs to update his material.
STAR RATING (out of five): ***
Georgina Gush / June 1999
The Monday Club, London W1
THIS room shouldn't work, being long and narrow with a high, narrow stage, deep pit and audience on several levels, but there's a worn, plush charm and vitality to the place.
Logan Murray's character Ronnie Rigsby made a superb, intelligent and funny MC - not many comics could slip the word 'germane' and a reference to the Battle of Actium into a warm-up.
Australian Bruno Lucio made a storming opening to the show. He's an OK stand-up but put a guitar in his hands and he raises the musical comedy stakes like no-one else can.
Dave Dave did an excellent 10-minute spot; he has a comfortable stage presence and doesn't confuse energy with movement.
Final act, Aussie Matt Hardy, the man in the white suit, had to work hard on the drunk and chatty audience, and complained bitterly about it.
Hell, he was the headliner. What did he expect: a walk in the park? He's a comic who probably couldn't cut it Down Under and so has built a career on his dim blokiness over here.
Frankly, I'd be more charmed by some new material than his uncouth persona.
STAR RATING (out of five): ***
Georgina Gush / May 1999
Brixton Comedy, South London
ROBIN INCE entertained the packed house with his geeky sense of humour. But unfortunately, it's a style that wears very thin - like being trapped by the class swot.
He is a clever guy but the musical references were getting interminable.
Newish act Simon Evans was delightfully acerbic. And Canadian Mike Wilmot was excellent.
Utterly filthy with a compelling oak-smoked voice marinaded in beer, his lascivious ramblings and pride in his own dirty style made him top act of the night.
STAR RATING (out of five): ****
Georgina Gush / April 1999
Buccaneers Comedy, London W1
OPENING act Mark Kelly is a talented and literate comic who employs an even presentation style that makes him seem equanimous - even when he's angry.
He was constantly interrupted by a group of over-excited drunks in the audience but still delivered a smooth performance.
Canadian Terri Stewart made us chuckle with a set on her "porno hair" and small towns.
Goofy-looking Mark Felgate blew us away with his bounce and ventriloquism. Some people write funny; some people simply are funny. He falls into the latter category.
The penultimate act, Simon Heaton, had some good material and went down a storm with the drunks.
And finally, the wonderful Noel James stormed the night with his surreal rambling, word play, music and casual confidence. First class!
STAR RATING (out of five): ****
Georgina Gush / April 1999
Oval Comedy Club, south London
ST. PATRICK'S DAY and a major soccer fixture robbed this club of its audience.
Eleven comics sat in the cavernous back room of the Grosvenor pub - on a grotty council estate - and gamely put on a new-material workshop.
It was not well done. Its virtue was that it was done at all.
The main amusement was watching the acts heckling each other.
STAR RATING (out of five): **
Georgina Gush / March 1999
Up The Creek, Greenwich, London.
EDDIE BANNON was making a flying visit from Ireland and proved a bouncy and friendly compere with good material that headed in unexpected directions.
But he need not have offered the rough-as-whorehouses south London audience the choice between intellectual material and knob gag routines. I think Bannon should have been trying to wean the crowd off knob gags.
However, he was positive and excellent.
Newer comedienne Pilch - a university researcher by day - did her best to disguise her intellectual background and did surprisingly well, even slipping in a poem.
And Canadian Greg Wool - a knob gag merchant like Bannon - was very self-assured and commanded the audience's attention with his relaxed manner and chatty style.
STAR RATING (out of five): ***
Georgina Gush / March 1999
Jongleurs, Battersea, South London
JEFF INNOCENT'S compering is a triumph of assertion over content.
His gags aren't spectacular - but there's a certain Carry On film charm to him that persuades you that he knows what he's doing.
Of the night's acts, most tribute must be made to Steve McGrew. This American comic sweeps all before him.
His drinking and marital strife stories have the vivid imagery of cartoon characterisations, amplified by a small gesture or facial expression here and there.
McGrew's not a visual comic in the usual sense; his skill is to create word pictures making you think you've seen what you haven't.
Comedy magic!
STAR RATING (out of five): ****
Georgina Gush / March 1999
Ian Cognito, Brixton Comedy Club
WHAT a relief! At last I can join the Ian Cognito Fan Club.
Possibly by Mrs Cognito's definition, Ian is 'devilishly handsome but impossible to live with' - an explosive mixture of fin-de-siecle dandy and old testament prophet with Tourette's Syndrome!
The prospect of an extended set by Cognito held the combined pleasure and terror of awaiting a volcanic eruption.
It might look spectacular - but you wouldn't like to be caught in the molten lava.
His tone of moral outrage and disgust had focus, without an annihilation of any member of the audience.
Cognito started loud and moved up a note or three, punctuating the barking with fine singing and guitar playing ("Let's see Eddie Izzard do that - any fool can put on a dress!")
And it was the songs that made the most blistering points, especially when it came to Lord Archer.
It was an excellent number and should be adopted by Ken Livingstone as his mayoral campaign song.
What a great night! Rarely has a barn been so utterly stormed.
STAR RATING (out of five): *****
Georgina Gush / March 1999
She may dress like a shrinking violet, but the filth that comes gushing out of her cakehole would fill a reservoir.
Lesbian sex, vibrators, b***ering men with strap-ons, examining her poo - and that's just a taster, so to speak.
There seems no sexual perversity that Deb has not sampled in her short but promiscuous life.
Most of the crowd, including an elderly couple, absolutely loved it.
But a pair of fresh-faced lads walked out when Percy pestered them for their willy dimensions.
Comedy does not get much ruder.
STAR RATING (out of five): ****
August 1999
Big And Daft, Gilded Balloon 2, Edinburgh
ROB ROUSE, Ian Boldsworth and Jon Williams are a formidable comedy force.
Playing three half-brothers who are thrown together in their own perverse and surreal world, the trio take the audience on a march through their crazed minds.
Rob is a simpleton who, at one point in the show, appears to wet himself on the lap of a girl in the front row.
Ian is a bully who sexually abuses Rob, and Jon is the monkey-obsessed, maths freak buffer between them.
The show displayed remarkable pace and intensity, with scenes and Muppetesque puppet work flashing by in a high-speed orgy of mirth.
The climax was a superb medley of Oasis and Beatles songs, merged to show up the oh-so-unsurprising similarities.
Big And Daft was one of the finest shows at the Fringe.
STAR RATING (out of five): *****
August 1999
Al Murray: Pub Landlord. Edinburgh Preview of "And a Glass of White Wine for The Lady!" at the Hen and Chickens Theatre, London N1
AL MURRAY is on blistering form with his funniest show to date. He has achieved so much already with the Pub Landlord but never tires of exploring new avenues.
For Edinburgh this year, he says he has cut back on the "jingoistic material" and concentrated more on audience interaction. A bar set has been built and Murray moves about the stage far more freely than he did last year and displays greater flexibility in his routines.
The results are hilarious. The Landlord's stymied thinking is applied with alacrity to any situation. When a girl says she is called 'Sara', he replies: "You mean Sarah. Pronounce your name properly!" And to a Media Studies student, he says: "Call it by its name, 'Watching The Telly'."
And he has introduced a new set of intelligent themes: philosophy, pure maths, the millennium bug and the relative merits of buying and renting property.
In a glorious finale, Murray graduates a student on stage - years too early - to save public money.
STAR RATING (out of five): ******
August 1999
TREVOR CROOK & DAVE THOMPSON, Chelsea Comedy Cavern, Prague
THE London comedy scene hit Eastern Europe as Dave Thompson and Trevor Crook took the roof off this fabulous bar packed with heartbreakingly beautiful women.
The venue was packed with comedy-hungry ex-pats who loved Thompson's understated rudery and one-liners.
Tony Brennan, a local comic and man from the British Embassy, turned in some good, locally-flavoured material.
But the night belonged to London-based Aussie Trevor Crook's extended set.
The concept of apathy is made flesh and funny in his scrawny frame.
He meanders between material about his life and shockingly crude gags - and had the crowd mesmerized for 50 minutes.
Comedy in Prague is cool. Check it out!
STAR RATING (out of five): ****
July 1999
KEVIN HAYES, Edinburgh preview of Beyond the Pale, Hampstead Comedy Club, London
ONE of the jewels of last year's festival was Kevin Hayes' Beyond The Pale - a history of Ireland in 50 minutes.
It was literate, intelligent and very funny.
And Hayes is sure to score another direct hit with this year's Beyond The Pope, an A to Z of religion, with particular emphasis on Catholicism.
While this performance was obviously a work in progress, he swept across the religious landscape to embrace Rupert Murdoch and the Toronto Blessing in 50 minutes of material as rich, dense and satisfying as a fruitcake.
I'll be back for another slice.
STAR RATING (out of five): ****
Georgina Gush / July 1999
Jason Freeman: Shiny Side Up, Dirty Side Down, Hampstead Comedy Club, London
YOU might think that Jason Freeman is too young in comedy years to be contemplating an Edinburgh show of his own.
Freeman is strangely adolescent but not without charm. He acknowledged that he was not going down well.
His act was self-indulgent. He said not a lot and took a long time about it.
There is some potential there, but he needs more content and less art. And, perhaps, he should pull out of this year's Edinburgh Festival. He is simply not ready.
STAR RATING (out of five): *
Georgina Gush / July 1999
Second Birthday Party, Joe's Comedy Madhouse, Stoke Newington, London N16
WHAT a truly amazing night! This little club rose to new heights as it celebrated its second anniversary in tremendous form.
Genial Geordie compere Alfie Joey warmed up the crowd packed into Ryan's Bar on Stoke Newington Church Street with really strong gags - and a jolly song.
And musical comedian and disc jockey Neil Long performed a lovely little set on white rappers, promising newcomer Steve Morrison showed the stength of his material and Barry Hall proved the Madhouse is brave enough to accommodate the most daring of routines.
Then came the Joe's Comedy Madhouse Awards, as the club's progenitor, Joe Wilson, honoured the maddest, baddest and best acts of the first two years.
His amusing speech was greatly enjoyed by the crowd and the results heartily received.
Ed Hill (the Rev. Hyde) beat off strong competition to be named Best Character Act (non-headline) and the extraordinary Jimbo scooped Maddest Act.
Finally, Ivan Steward scooped Best Act 1997-99 and immediately went into a hilarious half-hour routine. The audience was crying with laughter. It was comedy of the highest order.
In the second half, Amanda Baker, Ed Hill and Jimbo all stormed it - leaving the audience in no doubt that the Madhouse is an unbeatable club that's here to stay.
Happy Birthday, Madhouse! Long may you continue.
STAR RATING (out of five): *****
Peter Guest / June 1999
AZTEC COMEDY, Borderland, London SE19
IT was hot but Anvil Springstien rose to the occasion, talking filth to a table of girls who were too young to be drinking.
One of them, a young girl wearing bunches, was interrogated about kinky sex - and did not even understand the questions.
Anvil's scally manner and winning smile allow him to take breathtaking liberties and have probably saved him from a few good kickings.
Headliner Paul Vallis is more skilled, particularly in voice techniques, than funny.
Some of his impressions are dated. How many under thirties would be au fait with Columbo, Jack Lemmon and Batman actor Adam West?
He needs to update his material.
STAR RATING (out of five): ***
Georgina Gush / June 1999
The Monday Club, London W1
THIS room shouldn't work, being long and narrow with a high, narrow stage, deep pit and audience on several levels, but there's a worn, plush charm and vitality to the place.
Logan Murray's character Ronnie Rigsby made a superb, intelligent and funny MC - not many comics could slip the word 'germane' and a reference to the Battle of Actium into a warm-up.
Australian Bruno Lucio made a storming opening to the show. He's an OK stand-up but put a guitar in his hands and he raises the musical comedy stakes like no-one else can.
Dave Dave did an excellent 10-minute spot; he has a comfortable stage presence and doesn't confuse energy with movement.
Final act, Aussie Matt Hardy, the man in the white suit, had to work hard on the drunk and chatty audience, and complained bitterly about it.
Hell, he was the headliner. What did he expect: a walk in the park? He's a comic who probably couldn't cut it Down Under and so has built a career on his dim blokiness over here.
Frankly, I'd be more charmed by some new material than his uncouth persona.
STAR RATING (out of five): ***
Georgina Gush / May 1999
Brixton Comedy, South London
ROBIN INCE entertained the packed house with his geeky sense of humour. But unfortunately, it's a style that wears very thin - like being trapped by the class swot.
He is a clever guy but the musical references were getting interminable.
Newish act Simon Evans was delightfully acerbic. And Canadian Mike Wilmot was excellent.
Utterly filthy with a compelling oak-smoked voice marinaded in beer, his lascivious ramblings and pride in his own dirty style made him top act of the night.
STAR RATING (out of five): ****
Georgina Gush / April 1999
Buccaneers Comedy, London W1
OPENING act Mark Kelly is a talented and literate comic who employs an even presentation style that makes him seem equanimous - even when he's angry.
He was constantly interrupted by a group of over-excited drunks in the audience but still delivered a smooth performance.
Canadian Terri Stewart made us chuckle with a set on her "porno hair" and small towns.
Goofy-looking Mark Felgate blew us away with his bounce and ventriloquism. Some people write funny; some people simply are funny. He falls into the latter category.
The penultimate act, Simon Heaton, had some good material and went down a storm with the drunks.
And finally, the wonderful Noel James stormed the night with his surreal rambling, word play, music and casual confidence. First class!
STAR RATING (out of five): ****
Georgina Gush / April 1999
Oval Comedy Club, south London
ST. PATRICK'S DAY and a major soccer fixture robbed this club of its audience.
Eleven comics sat in the cavernous back room of the Grosvenor pub - on a grotty council estate - and gamely put on a new-material workshop.
It was not well done. Its virtue was that it was done at all.
The main amusement was watching the acts heckling each other.
STAR RATING (out of five): **
Georgina Gush / March 1999
Up The Creek, Greenwich, London.
EDDIE BANNON was making a flying visit from Ireland and proved a bouncy and friendly compere with good material that headed in unexpected directions.
But he need not have offered the rough-as-whorehouses south London audience the choice between intellectual material and knob gag routines. I think Bannon should have been trying to wean the crowd off knob gags.
However, he was positive and excellent.
Newer comedienne Pilch - a university researcher by day - did her best to disguise her intellectual background and did surprisingly well, even slipping in a poem.
And Canadian Greg Wool - a knob gag merchant like Bannon - was very self-assured and commanded the audience's attention with his relaxed manner and chatty style.
STAR RATING (out of five): ***
Georgina Gush / March 1999
Jongleurs, Battersea, South London
JEFF INNOCENT'S compering is a triumph of assertion over content.
His gags aren't spectacular - but there's a certain Carry On film charm to him that persuades you that he knows what he's doing.
Of the night's acts, most tribute must be made to Steve McGrew. This American comic sweeps all before him.
His drinking and marital strife stories have the vivid imagery of cartoon characterisations, amplified by a small gesture or facial expression here and there.
McGrew's not a visual comic in the usual sense; his skill is to create word pictures making you think you've seen what you haven't.
Comedy magic!
STAR RATING (out of five): ****
Georgina Gush / March 1999
Ian Cognito, Brixton Comedy Club
WHAT a relief! At last I can join the Ian Cognito Fan Club.
Possibly by Mrs Cognito's definition, Ian is 'devilishly handsome but impossible to live with' - an explosive mixture of fin-de-siecle dandy and old testament prophet with Tourette's Syndrome!
The prospect of an extended set by Cognito held the combined pleasure and terror of awaiting a volcanic eruption.
It might look spectacular - but you wouldn't like to be caught in the molten lava.
His tone of moral outrage and disgust had focus, without an annihilation of any member of the audience.
Cognito started loud and moved up a note or three, punctuating the barking with fine singing and guitar playing ("Let's see Eddie Izzard do that - any fool can put on a dress!")
And it was the songs that made the most blistering points, especially when it came to Lord Archer.
It was an excellent number and should be adopted by Ken Livingstone as his mayoral campaign song.
What a great night! Rarely has a barn been so utterly stormed.
STAR RATING (out of five): *****
Georgina Gush / March 1999
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