Category Archives: Comedy

Review – The Comedy Crate Weekender at the Charles Bradlaugh, The Black Prince and The Lamplighter, Northampton, 12th and 13th July 2025

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It’s July again, which means another annual Comedy Crate Weekender with two days of comedic mayhem, split over three venues in Northampton town centre. Only £40 for two days which means you can see ten class acts for a mere £4 a session; so cheap it ought to be illegal. A very hot weekend was both a help and a hindrance, in that it makes for a generally happy bunch of people all enjoying interval drinkies in the sunshine, and fortunately the aircon in the Bradlaugh is super effective. But even being reduced to a sweaty mess in the other venues (multiple electric fans notwithstanding) was not enough to reduce the spirits of a fully sold out event, which took place without a hitch. Or if there were any hitches, the Comedy Craters kept them a secret, so well done to them.

The idea of the Weekender is that there are 25 acts, out of whom you can see a maximum of 10, all sharpening up their Works in Progress in preparation for either the Edinburgh Fringe, or a national tour, or just generally working up new material. As such you might see a show that’s already pretty darn perfect, or you could see something where the audience are guineapigs for the comics to find out what’s funny and what’s not. Mind you, they’re all ace at their game, so even material that only just fails to meet their exacting standards can still be pretty funny to the rest of us.

Everyone will have had a different experience at the Weekender, depending on which shows they chose to see, so I can only tell you about what we saw. And of course, dealing with 25 acts is potentially a nightmare of its own. If you went to see a show with a cast of 25 you wouldn’t be remotely surprised to have one or two understudies if someone is not feeling well.

And that’s exactly how our Weekender started, with the unexpected attendance of President Obonjo standing in at very last minute for Helen Bauer for the first show at the Lamplighter. Only three or so hours before he was on stage, he was enjoying tea and toast over a leisurely breakfast in his Presidential Palace; but fortunately His Excellency was able to step in and save the day. He’s not taking a show to Edinburgh but just fleshing out some new material, so of all the acts over the weekend his was perhaps the one most in flying by the seat of his pants mode.

Nevertheless, the President is such a joyously inventive comic creation, that it’s always a pleasure to have an audience with him. And his new material comes from a fascinating place; at the risk of sounding like a pensioner so much is wrong with the world today, and so much of that is because you can’t tell fact from fiction – the lies spouted by politicians and influencers, and social media claptrap and all that. Thousands of Tiktokers believe Obonjo is a real president of a real republic somewhere in Africa. And he’s moulding that fact into a rather surreal show that balances the rubbish people are led to believe against what is genuinely the truth. It’s an idea with legs, and I’m sure the President will turn it into a great show.

From one level of preparation to the extreme opposite; our next show was Thor Stenhaug with a preview of his Edinburgh show One Night Stand Baby, and this one is all packaged up and ready to rock. Thor Stenhaug is a new name to us, and, on the strength of this performance, it’s one of those delightful occasions when you can happily announce, a star is born. A hugely affable and friendly presence on stage, Thor explains how he moved to London from Norway, how he got into comedy, and all about his big relationship with Daisy. But it was when Daisy’s parents asked about Thor’s parents, that he had to confess he is the product of a one-night stand; and he’s not the only one in his family who is! Honestly, those Norwegians! His routine is packed with original material, fluidly and confidently delivered, with some wonderful appreciation for English turn of phrase, effortless callbacks, and some surprising use of accents – his Scouse is incredible! I can only predict great things for this young man. One Night Stand Baby is on at the Pleasance Courtyard in Edinburgh from 30 July to 24 August and will be a must-see this Fringe.

Next up for us was Toussaint Douglass, with a preview of his Edinburgh show, Accessible Pigeon Material. We’ve seen Mr Douglass a couple of times now and he is very personable and warm character on stage who builds a great rapport with the audience. His new show is very work in progress and has more surreal material than I’ve seen him use before. I must confess, I didn’t really get the pigeon-based stuff; but he has an excellent routine – that still needs work but will get there – where he uses a member of the audience and a boxing glove puppet to express how difficult it can be to get your father to tell you he loves you. Hoping it all shapes up in time for the Fringe, but he’s a great comic so I’m sure it will. Accessible Pigeon Material will be on at the Pleasance Courtyard from 30 July to 24 August.

Next was someone I’ve wanted to see for a long time, and he didn’t let me down. Charlie Baker, an irrepressibly cheeky chappie, is working up material for a new show next year. He’s one of these innately funny people who could make you laugh just by reading a shopping list. And the basis of his new show is very simple; people he hates. Not named individuals, that would be ridiculous; but categories like Retired People at the Supermarket at Weekends, or People from Surrey. You instantly get it. He fills out each of his categories with wickedly funny material, not only verbal but often physical – he’s terrific at physical comedy, even incorporating a bit of dance and singing into the routines. He has some brilliant ideas – the Devon Rat Pack for example, or my favourite, the Millwall Magician, where he basically intimidates you into agreeing that, yes, that was your card, otherwise you’d get A Visit from the Boys. Not a huge amount of material yet, but what there is, he spins into comedy gold. Fantastically funny.

Our last show of the first day was Tom Rosenthal, with a preview of his Edinburgh show, Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I Am. I’ve only seen Mr Rosenthal once before, and that was earlier this year in Chichester’s production of The Government Inspector. I confess I haven’t seen him in Friday Night Dinner or Plebs, because I’m more of a live entertainment kinda guy than a TV watcher. However, unfortunately, quite a lot of the material in his show is based on references to those TV shows, and because I didn’t get the references, I missed out on the laughs. He’s obviously a very quick witted and intelligent fellow, and his delivery is slick and sure-footed. The set was curiously all about him, and I don’t mean that unkindly. Where many comedians take their own experiences and make them relatable so that we can all recognise our own experiences within them, Mr R’s experiences are purely about himself, without inviting us to see how we might be able to share in them. It’s as though he sets up a barrier and all we can do is observe him without feeling what he feels. I’m sure that if I had seen his shows I would have enjoyed it more, and I sense that if you are a Friday Night Dinner fan you’ll love it. Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I Am is on at the Assembly Roxy in Edinburgh from 30 July to 24 August.

Sunday started with a preview of Glenn Moore’s new Edinburgh show, Please Sir, Glenn I Have Some Moore? and is another work in progress where pretty much all the progress has already been made. Glenn Moore has one of the fastest brains in comedy and this is another of his intricately plotted, extraordinarily creative and extremely funny hours of stand-up. His premise here is to explore why he’s not the most assertive or people, illustrated by comparing himself to his go-getting cousins, Benji the stripper and silent Ursula. The centrepiece of the show is a car journey driving to Death Valley which gets more and more panicky as it progresses, but en route Mr Moore brings in so many side jokes, some of which have a delicate subtlety that fill you with pleasure when they finally make sense. A total master of the art of callback, neither a word nor a gesture is wasted in this show and it’s a joy from start to finish. Please Sir, Glenn I Have Some Moore? is on at the Pleasance Courtyard from 30 July to 24 August.

Next up, and someone we haven’t seen in ten years, was Tiff Stevenson, with a preview of her new Edinburgh show Post-Coital. This was another work in progress performance and consisted of a sequence of only lightly connected observations, some of which were very funny, and some of which weren’t – no criticism, that’s what a WIP is all about, after all. The basis of this show is the relationship between sexism and class and where feminism falls in the balance. She has some excellent material about umarells – a term I hadn’t come across before – which describes old retired Italian men lurking at building sites and offering unwanted advice to the workers. Niche, do you think? Maybe, but also very recognisable and funny. Of all the Edinburgh previews we saw, I think this needs the most work to be done, but Tiff Stevenson is a very safe pair of hands and I’m sure it will all come together in time. Post-Coital is on at Monkey Barrel Comedy (The Hive) from 30 July to 24 August.

Our next act was Hal Cruttenden, with a preview of his new Edinburgh show, Hal Cruttenden: Can Dish It Out But Can’t Take It, and is, as he freely admits, the second show he’s created out of the ashes of his divorce. But whereas his previous show It’s Best You Hear It From Me was clearly a mix of comedy and therapy, you sense now he’s truly moved on and is mining genuine comedy nuggets from how he’s been coping as a singleton. He has such an engaging and natural style on stage that you cling onto his every word – which is fortunate, because every word is hilarious. He assesses the audience for possible future divorces, and honed in on me as being the token old man in the audience having fun because you might as well because you haven’t got long. He does offer some serious observations about the way the world is going in this Trumpian era, and he’s darn right with them all. Exceptionally funny and quick to react to everything the audience might choose to throw at him, the show ends with a lovely speech by the Prime Minister that so cleverly assembles a plethora of callbacks. The only thing left for him to “get right” before Edinburgh is choosing which bits to omit, but it’s all tip-top quality. Hal Cruttenden: Can Dish It Out But Can’t Take It is on at the Pleasance Courtyard from 30 July to 24 August.

We chose to stay in the same location for the rest of the day, so our next act was Matt Richardson, with a work in progress of a new show, Brash, that will tour the UK this autumn. We’d seen Mr Richardson quite recently, so that much of his material was not new to us but it is still incredibly funny. It’s an informal and relaxed hour of observations of village and domestic life, gang activity in an Oxfordshire village, how growing up doesn’t necessarily mean you can decide on your own bedtime and a frantically funny routine about massage that turns into what I can only describe as a wankfest. Mr R sets up a terrific rapport with the audience, tells his stories with an engaging cheekiness, and the show is filled with loads of laugh out loud sequences. A very funny chap. Brash continues with a few more WIP performances around the country and the tour starts in earnest in Glasgow on 22nd September through to Milton Keynes on 26th November.

Last show of the day, but certainly not the least, was Rosie Jones, with a preview of her work in progress Edinburgh show, I Can’t Tell What She’s Saying. As she says at the beginning of her show, if you don’t know who she is, she feels sorry for you, because you obviously can’t afford a television. Rosie gives us the lowdown on her life so far, starting off as a seven-year-old pervert – her words, not mine – and taking us through all the benefits of being both gay and disabled. She knows the importance of a perfectly constructed and worded sentence and uses her unique delivery style to accentuate the well-placed pause for maximum comic effect, and it works very well. Supremely confident and effortlessly cheeky, it’s a fun hour that will only improve with more preparation, and that is, of course, what it’s all about. I Can’t Tell What She’s Saying enjoys a week’s worth of WIPs at the Pleasance Courtyard from 11th to 17th August.

A great Weekender completed, thanks to all the comedians and the Comedy Crate maestros who keep the thing moving so well. Recommendations for Edinburgh must be for Thor Stenhaug, Glenn Moore and Hal Cruttenden, and both Charlie Baker and Matt Richardson will be must-sees on tour. In the meantime, there are still a few more Comedy Crate preview shows on sale before Edinburgh starts in a couple of weeks’ time. Snap them up before they sell out!

Review – The Comedy Crate Edinburgh Previews – Josh Pugh and Jessica Fostekew, The Lamplighter, Northampton, 7th July 2025

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It’s exciting that July has come around again so we enter the world of Edinburgh Previews at the Comedy Crate! Monday night saw a terrific full house welcome two comedians getting their comedic ducks in a row so that they can quack with confidence when the time comes.

First up was Jessica Fostekew, whom we haven’t seen for a criminally long time, with a work-in-progress set in preparation for her Edinburgh show, Iconic Breath; an unusual title that stems from the fact that her son hasn’t quite mastered the niceties of the English language yet. Jessica Fostekew cuts an engaging, confiding persona on stage; she starts off trying to work out whether we’re her kind of people – a few subtle assessments confirms we are, to much relief on all sides.

Ms F takes us on an enjoyable amble through her family experiences. Her son is growing up to be King of the Lads, despite her best efforts to encourage his sensitive side; fortunately, he has yet to learn the finer art of swearing and exactly what makes a hand gesture offensive. She gives us some brilliant general observations about family life, such as how marriage is managing always to stand exactly where your other half wants to stand (so true!) And who appreciated the power of a bum to efficiently regulate the administration of a WhatsApp group? There’s also a hilarious impersonation of a ghastly nasal American podcast woman, and an extraordinary account of a security incident at Zurich Airport that very nearly had an untoward consequence.

All the way through, she keeps up a wonderfully wry performance, constantly shifting the pace and tone of her delivery which keeps it very lively and unpredictable. Extremely funny, and almost the finished product which will be great by the time the Edinburgh Fringe starts. Jessica Fostekew’s Iconic Breath will be on at Monkey Barrel Comedy (3) in Blair Street every day from 11th to 24th August.

Headlining the evening was the irrepressible Josh Pugh, who doesn’t have an Edinburgh show this year but is nevertheless honing new material into shape for future use. Josh Pugh loves to take recognisable, simple ideas and twist them so that you look at them from a new direction. As he says, stand-up is an odd profession. You think you’ve got something funny to say but instead of sharing it with your nearest and dearest, or joking with the lads down the pub, you hire a mic and a room and invite a ton of strangers; what could possibly go wrong?

Josh’s new material is rooted in his experience of marriage and having young kids, and the ridiculousness of modern life. He has terrific material about what happens when you have two completely separate friendship groups of people from very different backgrounds and interests, and what happens when they collide; and the usefulness or otherwise of using an airfryer as part of a suicide attempt. But it’s family life that most concerns him at the moment, including how spending the day with a three year old isn’t bonding but boring; how the childbirth was so relaxed that they were able to take in an Amazon delivery at the same time – cue a fantastic wordplay callback moment – and what happened when he couldn’t find the squeezable comb designed to distract his wife’s attention from the pain of childbirth.

An hour in Mr P’s company is a guarantee of constantly new and refreshing material, delivered at a fast and intense pace, extremely funny and, you sense, also extremely honest. And whatever you do, don’t mention Twycross Zoo to him. A great night of comedy, much appreciated by all. And now it’s only a day or two before the Big Comedy Crate Weekender, which will be a hoot – or in fact, ten hoots, as that’s the number of shows we intend to see!

Review – Screaming Blue Murder, Underground at the Royal and Derngate, Northampton, 7th June 2025

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It’s been two years since we last saw a Screaming Blue Murder in its natural home – Underground at the Derngate – as that blessed RAAC issue meant the theatre had to close and then slowly reopen bit by bit; the Underground being the last to emerge into the post-apocalyptic daylight. Since then, Screaming Blue has been in the Royal (where it worked pretty well), Lola’s Bar (which was small but not bad) and the deathly hallows of Filmhouse Screen 2 which just kills live comedy stone dead. However, last night’s show was the second to be held in the newly refreshed Underground (and they’ve done a good job of that) and with a very full audience! I can officially confirm that Northampton’s Screaming Blue Murder is back back back and it’s great news.

Of course, it wouldn’t be Screaming Blue without the cheeky delivery and shiny head of our genial host, Dan Evans, finding out all about the more prominent audience members. There was the Trade Union official from the GMB, which sadly has few boilermakers amongst its membership anymore, taciturn David from Glasgow, Alex the Ping Pong king who supplies both Bangkok and the Olympics – all aspects of its usage covered – and the party who met through the Simon de Senlis school. What a knight. Great work from Dan, and I trust he had a sound sleep at the Dunstable Travelodge.

First up, and in a change from the advertised programme, was the manic unpredictability of Paul Pirie, someone who’s graced the Screaming Blue stage many times before. In a comparison that’s both complimentary and alarming, he does remind me of the late Robin Williams, not only in appearance, but also in his tendency to go off on weird tangents peppered with sound effects. He also has Williams’ ability to be both ecstatically funny and perilously teetering on the edge of a mental crisis. He didn’t limit himself to the stage either, at one point wandering all around the audience. His material does occasionally veer close to where angels fear to tread, but for the most part it worked well!

Our next act was the excellent Wendy Wason, who delivers recognisable Mum material straight from the heart, with some hilarious domestic observations resulting from having three kids. There were painful memories of home schooling during the pandemic, and reflections on how sobriety wasn’t big in those days; I loved the idea that rosé is a “driving wine”. She also has some excellent material about her rather caring son finding out about periods. Always terrifically entertaining.

Our headliner was Matt Green, who always comes across as someone inherently polite, charming and thoughtful but with a naughty sting to his tail. He regaled us with stories of family life, including the dangers of subscribing to TikTok; but he was particularly good with his assessment of Trump as a toddler, and how brilliantly Keir Starmer played him in that terrifying Oval Office scenario. After the high energy of the two previous acts, Mr Green has a much more measured and conversational approach, but it fits well with his material and appearance, and he ended the evening on a high for everyone.

That was the last Screaming Blue of the Spring season – hopefully now it’s back in the Underground it will go from strength to strength when it returns in the autumn!

Review – Viggo Venn: British Comedian, Royal and Derngate, Northampton, 4th June 2025

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Delayed by a few months due to his broken foot – and with all that malarkey scampering around the theatre no wonder he broke it – Viggo Venn finally hits the stage running at the Royal and Derngate with his touring show British Comedian – a beautifully apt title as he’s neither British nor – if truth be told – a comedian. Unlike most of the other Viggistas in the audience, I didn’t see his Britain’s Got Talent appearances, but I have happy memories of being assaulted by him on a couple of Edinburgh Fringe stages over the past ten years and was excited to discover what perilously anarchical fun he had in store for us.

In many respects this was a theatre experience unlike others. First and foremost, the audience all seemed to be in on all the gags throughout the entire show – I felt like I was one of a handful of people who hadn’t read the script. Audience members of all ages constantly called out from the stalls (yes, no, shut up, go away, do it, don’t do it, and of course One More Time, etc). And it wasn’t like panto or stand-up, where there’s always a certain embarrassment at being picked on; here, if Viggo approached you, you leapt up and down and joined in as if you were being saved by Billy Graham. Very amusing indeed – but also fairly peculiar!

Viggo Venn is a master clown; of that there is no question. This is a totally anarchic, high energy performance of outrageous inventiveness and brilliant interaction with the audience. And Mr Venn cuts a truly engaging persona, with a most mischievous and expressive face topped off with hair that looks like he’s pushed his finger in the electric socket. A true Scandinavian, he only uses language when it is absolutely necessary; most of his comedy comes simply from his physical presence. Running around the stage whirling off Hi-Vis jackets to the tune of Daft Punk’s One More Time like there’s no tomorrow, tumbling off into the audience and insisting people at the front catch him next time (his pratfalls are extraordinary); constantly getting poor front row Paul to help him back onto the stage, which didn’t do Paul’s personal dignity any good. There really is no limit to what he might do.

During the course of the show – a little under an hour and a half without a break – Viggo becomes part of a wedding ceremony for two members of the audience, he helps save a drowning audience member on stage, he imitates audience members’ cars and his finale act is to blow up an enormous balloon and then get inside it. Nor is he alone; he is irregularly joined by a Vampire who revels in all things spooky (Steffen Hånes on deliciously stupid form) including becoming the least convincing bat in the history of stage puppetry (don’t look at me, look at the bat), because, well, why not?

For me the most enjoyable sequence was his homage to Eminem’s My Name Is… where members of the crowd speak their name into a microphone and Viggo gives a running commentary on that person’s character and behaviour. Doesn’t sound like much, but it works incredibly well.

If you don’t get this kind of humour, you simply don’t get it – and that’s that. I saw a few stony faced people in the audience, and I get where they’re coming from. The nature of the show means it’s very – and I mean very – repetitive, and my personal view is that I probably admire his act more than I enjoy it. But the vast majority of the audience were ecstatic, and my guess is that, from the length of the queue at the end to buy a Hi-Vis jacket and have him sign it, he’s doing exactly what his fan base want (and hopefully making a fortune from the merch.) There are just a few more dates in this delayed part of his UK tour, but I very much doubt Viggo Venn is going away any time soon!

4-starsFour They’re Jolly Good Fellows!

Review – Comedy Crate at the Charles Bradlaugh, Northampton, 8th May 2025

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Thursday saw another bumper package of comedy at the Charles Bradlaugh, Northampton, courtesy of the Comedy Crate, including a last minute change of cast which propelled natural headliner Matt Richardson into the role of MC, and what a brilliant host he was. Perfectly mixing the usual duties of getting to know the crowd with delivering excellent original material, he kept the comedic bar very high throughout the evening.

So not only did we get to meet investment fraud investigator Samantha – who turned Matt’s tax bill material back on him to blistering effect – we also discovered eighteen year old twins Tighe (?) and Felix, who accepted all the teasing that deserved like the well brought-up good sports they clearly are. Matt also told us stories of life in his rural Oxfordshire village, with his pushy GP friend and the posh geezers who hang around the Sainsburys Local. Brilliant and very believable observations of wannabe tough lads who can’t help the fact that they’re called Julian and go skiing twice a year. Fantastic stuff!

Either by gifted booking or hilarious chance, to celebrate VE night we had comics from all over the world. All three acts were new to us, which always makes for an exciting line up. First off was Hubert Mayr, a 39 year old Austrian stuck in a London which he can’t afford – he should come to Northampton, things are much cheaper here. Much of his material is based on how he came to the UK in the first place, and how he is planning to return to Austria soon. He has an engagingly nervous energy which belies his Schwarzeneggar style voice but works very well with his observations as an outsider on life in the UK. Extremely funny material that gently harks back to the war, but with some modern gems too, such as how to deal with noisy neighbours. Very entertaining!

Next up was Blank Peng, from a quiet, rural area of China that only has about 40 million inhabitants. Great attacking delivery with excellent material that compares life in the UK with China and particularly grapples with those elements of her homeland that make the Brits uncomfortable – child labour, TikTok data-harvesting, and nuclear war for starters. Despite a strong accent which I must confess meant I didn’t catch everything she said at first, she has adopted beautiful idiomatic use of the English language which makes her material even more hard-hitting and relatable. Some surprising engagement with the audience too!

Our headliner was Mike Rice from Ireland, who creates an instant rapport with his very matey persona – he’s definitely the kind of performer you can imagine sharing a pint with. On the day that a new (American) Pope was proclaimed, he had some terrific material about what that means for the Catholic Church. Leading his funny stories on to  where angels fear to tread, he had me in hysterics with his vision of Donald Trump being taken from behind in jail by a tiny Mexican, and he has atruly hilarious sequence about a threesome and the special support that his pal was able to lend during the process. Effortlessly funny, and absolutely first class!

As we head into the summer, the Comedy Crate goes into Edinburgh Preparation mode, with many Fringe Previews lined up all over town (and indeed the county), with the highlight being the Comedy Crate Weekender on 12th – 13th July. Not to be missed!

Review – Dara Ó Briain, Re: Creation, Bedford Corn Exchange, 9th April 2025

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A Dara Ó Briain gig is never just a mere show – it’s an event. He’s a giant in more than one way; the most expert storyteller and comic presence, even when he’s in a room with over a thousand people, you still feel that he’s confiding just in you – all these other people around us are a mirage, apart from those brave enough to sit in the front row, from whom Mr Ó B attempts to winkle out comedy nuggets that he will return to again and again throughout the evening.

We were introduced to recently redundant gas pipe replacement fitter James and his wife Kate the cyberfraud expert; Jay the secretive Luton Airport security officer who’s going to make a fortune from letting out rooms near the new Bedford Theme Park, Cambridge Micky and her Californian friend who was enticed into seeing the show in a strange mystic vision, and test driver Josh who admitted to be the youngest in the front couple of rows, at the age of 29. Once Mr Ó Briain gets his teeth into your personal details he doesn’t let go of them over the next two and a half hours, like a benevolent comedy Rottweiler.

During those two and half hours, he has plenty of opportunity to explore some delightful comic avenues, such as younger peoples’ predilection for no pubic hair, memories of Now That’s What I Call Music compilations, Irish school poo (don’t ask), and, my favourite, his experience of attending an online Speed Awareness Course. Having done one myself, Mr Ó Briain absolutely nails every single aspect of that humiliating, almost religiously contrite, couple of hours.

For his previous tour, So Where Were We, he concentrated on the story of searching for his birth parents, as he was adopted. He found his mother, but not his father. In Re: Creation, he continues the search for his father, and that gripping, gasp-inducing, but fortunately also hilarious account takes up the majority of the second half of the evening. No spoilers from me, but, apparently, the Bedford audience gave the most astonishing reaction in his tour so far to one of the revelations in the story; all I can say is, I for one was genuinely astonished, and it must have taken a good half a minute for my jaw dropping to end.

As always, Dara was on unflappable form; his quick-witted memory going into overdrive, and exuding super confidence from every pore whilst always keeping it real and taking all opportunities for a spot of self-deprecation. A great blend of both style and substance. Re: Creation is still in its early days and continues to tour the UK and Ireland over the next twelve months. Highly recommended!

Review – Screaming Blue Murder, Royal and Derngate, Northampton, 27th February 2025

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Constant as the Northern Star, it was time for another Screaming Blue Murder at the Royal and Derngate – scheduled to be the last in the old Royal theatre before moving back to its proper home in the freshly de-RAAC’d Underground in April. Also, as firmly identified with Screaming Blue as Heinz with Baked Beans, was our regular host and MC Dan Evans, suffering from the sniffles, but there’s a lot of it about. Fortunately a kind lady to my left was able to offer him the occasional tissue. I could have given him a whole packet, but didn’t want to draw attention to myself.

Dan set about mingling his way through the crowd, which seemed largely made up of escapees from tough and dangerous East Side Northampton – NN3 to the cognoscenti. We also met Ginny, the English student who doesn’t attend uni – a somewhat complicated arrangement – and Ryan, the crime lecturer who didn’t return for the final act and, thereby, as is always a risk if you do that, missed the best bit. We also met Roger from Northern Ireland, whose unexpected mime for the reason he’s now in Northampton left Dan appropriately speechless.

Showing how our cup ranneth over with talent in this line up, our first act, normally a headliner, was Roger Monkhouse, someone we’ve admired and enjoyed many times over the years. Celebrating his 60th birthday apparently, his young fogey persona is now distinctly becoming at least middle-aged; I can’t say he’s now an old fogey, because he’s still younger than me. He delivers his material as almost a stream of consciousness, that fools you into thinking he’s making it up on the spur of the moment; but in fact it’s meticulously crafted to give that effect. His material centres on that recognisable confusion of living in the modern world as a no-longer modern bloke, with some lovely relatable observations on how we all just manage to plod on despite our brains and bodies letting us down. Always a delight.

Our next act, and new to us, was Dee Allum, who introduces herself from the start as a trans woman, and whose material centres on her life and the problems she faces, but also you can see the joy her new identity brings her. She has a relatively quiet style, occasionally feeling a little tentative until she gets the vibe of the audience but then grows in confidence as her set progresses. There’s a lot of refreshingly new and innovative material here; I loved her deliberately long and immaculately phrased story involving Kurdish and Yorkshire, and there are some terrific insights into managing a relationship when you come out as trans during the relationship. She ends her routine with a brilliant tale of sperm donation. I’m tempted to say we’ve all been there, but of course we haven’t; but if you have, you really get it. Definitely One To Watch.

After two gently delivering wordsmiths, our headliner was Phil Nichol who gave the evening a hugely energetic kick up the backside. Buzzing with excitement, he exploded around the stage with his uniquely unrestrained hilarity; a bit like the most endearing spoilt kid you ever met. He radiates a strange blend of danger and affability, mixed with oodles of cool, and a quick comedy brain that seizes any opportunity. Armed with his guitar, he gave us some excellent rock parodies, and fixated on poor second row Luke, upon whom he (literally) thrust his faux-sexual advances. Luke proved his worth later when he joined Phil on stage and showed what a good sport he was. Extremely funny throughout and a great way to end the night.

Review – Eshaan Akbar, I Can’t Get No Satisfakshaan, Royal and Derngate, Northampton, 21st February 2025

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It’s been a surprisingly long time – six years – since we last saw Eshaan Akbar live, but he’s still very much the same, urbane, civilised chap as before. He cuts a very relaxed figure on the stage. Unhurried, unfazed, taking everything in his stride; you know you’re in very safe hands with his intelligent content and friendly delivery, even though there’s a sting in the tail to many of his stories.

But I’m getting ahead of myself, as, after a brief getting-to-know-you session at the beginning of the show, including talking to an audience member whose sister insisted she came and thus made the ultimate sacrifice by giving up watching EastEnders, Eshaan introduced us to his support act, the excellent Alexandra Haddow, whom we’ve seen many times before and is always very entertaining. This was the perfect gig for her to recollect her Corby upbringing, and the exciting occasion on when a railway line finally reached the town; she also told us about her boyfriend-geezer and his simple North London ways. I loved her material about relationship “launches” on Instagram, and the pitfalls of being too honest about other people’s ex’s. Confident, smart, and very funny, it was an excellent start to the evening.

After the interval, we welcomed Mr Akbar back, for an hour’s worth of material reflecting his own national identity, as a brown man, born to Pakistani/Bangladeshi parents in Whitechapel, who completely identifies as English – although he doesn’t pass the old Norman Tebbit cricket test. A private education introduced him to the Best of British Banter, as evidenced by his so-called friend Ben, who gave him a deceptive nickname that took years for the penny to drop. Now aged 40, he’s unexpectedly back on the dating scene – including the Muslim version of Tinder – and he sees the world, or at least the country, through the eyes of experience of travelling up and down the land and meeting all kinds of people.

It takes a bold comedian to mine humour from racism (not his own, I should add) and he frequently doesn’t play safe with his material, much to his credit. Thoughtful and intelligent comedy that points out the differences and the similarities between races; and whilst it never truly soars to the heights of hysterically funny, is always entertaining, thought-provoking and full of relatable experiences and observations. Very enjoyable! His tour continues throughout the UK and Ireland into April.

Review – Comedy Crate at the Charles Bradlaugh, Northampton, 13th February 2025

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It was with a buzz of expectation that a merry band of a hundred or more souls settled down for another excellent line up of comedians at the Charles Bradlaugh, all arranged by those nice people at the Comedy Crate. Some new names to us, and some familiar; it was always going to be a great night.

Our host for the evening was the jovial Ross McGrane, whom we’d seen once before as the opening act at a Screaming Blue Murder, almost ten years ago. A naturally funny guy, he’s full of electric enthusiasm and is the perfect MC to get us all in the mood. As well as working his way around the crowd, he also shared some excellent comedy nuggets, such as an exploration of the cost of toys, and the childcare advice of his East Ham granny; I too had an East Ham granny, so can appreciate the veracity of her wisdom. He kept the whole thing going at a tremendous pace and was a classy conduit indeed.

First up, and someone we’ve seen many times before, was the fantastic Steve Day, still coming to terms with the potential for offence at the difference between deaf and Deaf; as a deaf comedian, no one can express that better than him. A terrific communicator, he has great material about having a household with grown up kids, his experience co-hosting a Paralympics event with Boris Johnson (shudder) and I still love his line about moving to beautiful Sutton Coldfield for the views. Bold and inventive, he takes comedy where angels fear to tread, and the audience loved him.

Two comedians shared the second spot, and we started with Harry Pettitt, introduced by Ross as Harry Kane for no discernible reason. A fresh-faced Essex lad who looks like butter wouldn’t melt, he has a confident stage presence and an instant connection with the audience. He gave us some very funny routines about the benefits of spending time with posh people and the joys of travelling. I reckon this young chap is going places. After him, came Matt Adlington, another naturally funny guy, who kept the energy up; continuing the Essex theme of the night, he has a smart delivery and a rather kindly presence. He was surprised to know how well we knew our Magpie material, and has a uniquely splendid reason for sporting a beard.

Our headliner was Jordan Gray, someone whom I’ve been fascinated to see ever since her devilish live TV appearance with Ben Elton. Her delivery style verges on the manic, leaping all over the stage, contorting her legs into unusual positions like a wannabe ballerina on speed. Most of her material stems from her life as a transgender woman, and it’s both incredibly emotional and unabashedly hilarious. What primarily comes through is her honesty; she’s outrageous but she’s truthful, unpredictable but, above all, very, very funny. We loved her witty song about being coeliac – as is Mrs Chrisparkle, so we both felt her pain – and she provided the perfect conclusion to a brilliant night of comedy.

Next Comedy Crate at the Bradlaugh is on 13th March – sadly, we can’t make it, but you should!

Review – Screaming Blue Murder, Royal and Derngate, Northampton, 25th January 2025

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Having been banished from the stages of the Royal and Derngate more effectively than a bunch of Faithfuls picking on themselves, how rewarding it is to see Screaming Blue Murder back in the hallowed portals of the Royal Theatre after such a long time, with a fittingly large and buzzing audience to welcome it. When regular host Dan Evans bounded on stage to galvanise us all into attention, a little voice in the back of my head sang Hello Danny, well hello Danny, it’s so nice to have you back where you belong. Please don’t ever send Screaming Blue Murder back to the dreaded Screen 2. It makes no sense!

Dan was on unsurprisingly blistering form as he (and we) got to know Tommy, the unenthusiastic Royal Mail recruiter, a triumvirate of front row Petes, an uninhibited Nana celebrating her 50th birthday, and sensible Kelsey with her hench Physical Trainer boyfriend. If the Royal has one fault, on a cold winter night the wind can whip off that stage into the audience, but Dan was able to keep us warmer than our massed ranks of gilets and duffel coats.

First up, and someone we’ve seen many times before, was the pride of Wolverhampton, Susan Murray. With oodles of attack, she regaled us with tales of her Glaswegian parents, the secrets of the menopause, and fully justified disdain of President Trump (2.0). Northampton audiences rarely go for political comedy in a big way, and Saturday’s crowd was no different. Nevertheless, she has a remarkable ability to generate big energy, and all her observations are on point and hilarious. An excellent start to the evening.

Next, and new to us, came Bennett Kavanagh, a self-confessed middle-class single gentleman, with an electronic keyboard slung over his shoulder like an outsized manbag. Beautifully self-deprecating, he uses the instrument not only for some comedy songs, but also for its jingle potential. I loved his routine about lift music, the perils of not having Spotify Premium, and how you can use the Windows chords in awkward moments. Terrific timing, an intriguingly funny stage persona, and with some brilliant material, he had us howling throughout.

Our headliner was Joey Page, who has a mischievous way of making sure we know his socials are JoeyPageComedy, and who trades on his slightly unusual physical presence for maximum comic effect. He has great insight into the laughter potential of the British class system, and his idea of being Upper Working Class is an eye-opener. He has the measure of a Northampton audience, teasing us with our Cultural Quarter, and guessing that no one comes here unless you’re born here; it’s true, the game’s up. Admirably verbally dextrous, he delivers his very clever and inventive material that makes you think as well as makes you laugh, and he went down a storm.

Best Screaming Blue Murder for a very long time. The show returns to the Royal (hurrah!) on 27th February. Book now for a great night out!