Review – The Final Sunday Online Comedy Zoom Gig by The Comedy Crate and the Atic – 28th March 2021

Posted on March 30, 2021 by therealchrisparkle

All good things have to come to an end. And even though it’s not a good thing, let’s hope the pandemic is one of them. But before that, Sunday night saw the last (allegedly) of the excellent online comedy gigs hosted by The Atic and The Comedy Crate through the unbelievably helpful Zoom. Once again our host was Ryan Mold, getting to know some of the online attendees, including part-time actor and recycling expert David, who may have to instruct our new local council in all things Green Bin – important work! Ryan also shared some of his new material relating to the pleasures of Facebook Marketplace, which is funnier than it sounds!

Five acts for our entertainment again, and first up was Laura Lexx, with a very sparky and confident approach to the world of zoom comedy, looking back on all the most dreadful moments of the lockdowns, including home haircuts and the unashamed purchase of a pricey dog. She also had some great material contrasting natural feminism with the need to be in comfy clothes. Very engaging and funny!

Next up, and new to us, was Philip Simon, who used a very showbiz backdrop to make us feel we really were at a comedy club. By contrast he has a rather gentle delivery, and enjoys clever wordplay in his material, giving rise to excellent observations about Geordie sheep-shaggers, withdrawal agreements, and how to make a man happy. He also had some entertaining material about home-schooling, which is something a lot of people can relate to!

After Ryan was concerned about one of the audience members who had gone off – only to discover he was doing the washing-up (such is the dynamic of a zoom gig), our third act was Nick Page, also new to us, who has a very wry and dour persona; the kind of comic that makes you laugh even though he himself never breaks into a smile once. I really enjoyed his material about posh relatives, and the joys of becoming a father at the age of 50. He communicated a lot with individual audience members which integrated really well into his act – that can be a risky strategy online, but his natural authority meant no one wouldn’t dare co-operate! Very entertaining, and someone we would like to see again when the world gets back to normal.

Then came Eshaan Akbar, whom we’ve seen a few times now and always mixes great observational comedy with food for thought. I really enjoyed his sequence about getting annoyed that people don’t pronounce his name properly – which has a nice sting in the tail, his struggle to get the attention and affection of his father, and why the Covid vaccine is the perfect Empire product. He always delivers his material with great fluidity and pinpoint accuracy, and I look forward to seeing him again sometime soon too.

Our headline act was Paul McCaffrey, who had appeared on one of the other gigs earlier this spring. He also has great style and attack, and I loved all his stuff about marketing clothes through what celebrities wear, and also his observations about Twitter. He did repeat some of his material from his previous gig – but, if you hadn’t heard it before, it was very funny!

So this has been described as the last of these zoom gigs as we start to emerge from the blur of lockdown – but I wouldn’t be remotely surprised to see more online comedy from this team in the future!

Review – The Penultimate Sunday Night Comedy Zoom Gig with the Comedy Crate and the Atic – 21st March 2021

Posted on March 22, 2021 by therealchrisparkle

If it’s Sunday at 6pm then it’s time for the next comedy zoom gig courtesy of those nice people at the Comedy Crate and the Atic. For this show, usual host Ryan Mold handed the reins over to the excellent Rich Wilson, whom we saw MC’ing one of their shows in the garden of Northampton’s Black Prince last year. He treated the show very much as he would have a real live show, starting off by chatting individually with a lot of the audience to warm us up for what was to come. This isn’t always easy on a zoom gig but he committed to it perfectly! Amongst his introductory gems were the pros and cons of TikTok and why you never see ghosts in the nude. He’s truly a dab hand at this game, and he kept the pace going nicely throughout the entire show.

Apart from Mr W, all the comics in the line up were new to us, and it’s been many a year since I’ve been able to say that! First up was President Obonjo, the alter ego of comedian Benjamin Bello, who seized control of the Lafta Republic by means of an “election”. It’s a wonderful comic creation, with so much scope for the boot’s on the other foot comparisons between first and third world countries – especially post-Brexit. I loved the idea of a new Live-Aid; and the Good President’s address turned into an advert for tourism to his unfortunate nation. Very funny, and I’d love to see him in more natural surroundings sometime soon.

Next we had Gareth Berliner, clearly a naturally funny guy, whose cam angle made it look as though he was begging us for mercy from somewhere down below. No need to beg, as he had some lovely observations about life in lockdown. He conjured up a nice image – whilst missing real gigs, his wife MC’s him into the lounge to make him feel at home. I loved his alternative idea to being clinically vulnerable, and how he befriends burglars, just for company. There’s also a very funny visual punchline with his tattoo of Sweden – don’t ask. Very enjoyable.

Third up was Rachel Jackson – definitely not the Prime Minister’s sister as I originally feared – who risked her ten minutes on their being horror fans in the audience – which elicited just one voice of support! Nevertheless she strode courageously on with some material about the film Saw, (which we never did) – but a lot of people had, so at least they got the jokes! Despite our not getting some of the references, she’s a gifted deliverer of material, with a lively madcap persona and bundles of enthusiasm; and we also really enjoyed the idea of her sexting the government. Oh, and if you’re a fat guy – you’re in. Cue all the fat guys preening to cam.

Our fourth act came to us all the way from New York City – Gianmarco Soresi. What a brilliant comic he is! A breath of fresh air from the start, he had us in hysterics from the word go, with hilarious and effortless observations, all delivered with a truly adroit turn of phrase. Among his superb nuggets was the wonderful insight into why Catholic jokes never get old, his dating experiences with masks, and how you can date en famille. His humour has an element of self-deprecation (actually more of self-creepery if such a thing exists) and works incredibly well. I do hope we get to see him perform live in the UK, as he could be The Next Best Thing.

Our headline act was Brennan Reece, a very engaging chap who tells wayward and meandering tales, where the fun is more in the getting there than in reaching the final destination. There were some excellent sequences including the door to door vaccine salesman and the depressed dog, but the joy of his performance was more in the throwaway side observations and turns of phrase. He’s another naturally very funny guy, and a great way to end the show.

Only one more of these Sunday night gigs to come. Will you be there? We will!

Review – Yet another online zoom comedy gig with the Comedy Crate and Atic – 14th March 2021

Posted on March 15, 2021 by therealchrisparkle

The online comedy gigs courtesy of Zoom, the Comedy Crate and the Atic keep coming on Sunday nights, and last night we enjoyed another great show with top class comics. Our host Ryan Mold kept things fast and punchy – including a quick hello to us at the beginning, where I confused him over the details of my ex-career – it’s not an easy thing to explain in a sentence or two! A lovely introduction to the show included Ryan’s speculation on how Aldi staff get recruited, and what connects Abraham Lincoln to VE Day.

Our first act was the wonderful Darren Walsh, punster supreme, who made terrific use of the technical possibilities offered by Zoom – having seen him before I’d forgotten how much he likes to frame his material with a dash of multi-media. He has such an inventive approach to punning, that sometimes you have to play back his words over in your head to quite work out which bit was the pun! I particularly enjoyed the Whitney Houston moment, the dentist material, the Brady Bunch and the CAPS ON gags. Always a joy, can’t wait to see him live and properly again soon!

Next was Nick Doody, a favourite from many Screaming Blue Murder shows, with some great new and highly topical material. Zoom can make it difficult for a comic who naturally relies on all the things happening around them during the gig, but Mr D didn’t let his enforced isolation get in the way. I really enjoyed all his stuff about leaving a zoom meeting (first time I’ve seen an online call-back work!) and the fact that he can see himself performing. He’s always great value and was excellent as usual.

Our middle act was Dinesh Nathan, new to us; a friendly chap with some clever lockdown material about having to confess you’ve been walking with someone else, and preparing for a zoom call just as you would for meeting in person. I liked his comparisons between his Sri Lankan heritage and his Britishness. He’s a naturally funny guy and I’d like to see him again IRL when we can!

Next came Lindsey Santoro, whom we saw at the Black Prince only last autumn in a Comedy Crate garden gig. She has a wonderfully bubbly and madcap persona, and a no-holds-barred attitude to jokes about sex from all angles (literally). I thoroughly enjoyed her material about the Rock Climbing Wall and the profiteroles line is a great send-off on which to end the act. Her enthusiasm and enjoyment for what she’s doing really comes across to the audience and she encourages us to share in her fun. Hugely entertaining.

Our headline act, and also new to us, was American Dave Fulton, live from his garage as he introduced us to his collectable motorbikes. A lot of his material was pretty near the mental health knuckle, but he always got away with it very nicely – I particularly enjoyed his fantasising about Trump’s death, as well as his observations about life in Newcastle and Blackpool. He also talked about the unexpected aspects of adopting a child of a different race than your own; some incredibly funny observations there. But in the end, it was all about the motorbikes, as one of the audience members couldn’t contain his excitement at Dave’s collection!

It looks like there will be two more Sunday gigs before – heavens forfend! – we might be able to start enjoying proper live comedy nights come April! Here’s the details for the next one!

Review – Another Comedy Crate/Rock the Atic Sunday Night Online – 7th March 2021

Posted on March 8, 2021 by therealchrisparkle

These online comedy gigs courtesy of the Comedy Crate and the Atic have proved very successful so the initial plan for four Sundays throughout February has extended into March, and I for one am delighted about that! It’s a great way to relax into your Sunday evening before preparing for another Monday of Big Business and Commercial Challenges… sorry, I mean, staying at home and not knowing what day it is from one day to the next.

Our regular host Ryan Mold welcomed us all on board with his bright, cheery presence and some great new material including an embarrassing remote conversation with people on a bus, and the joys of being colour-blind. It’s much more difficult to engage with a zoom audience than a conventional audience because there’s no hiding place in a regular club or theatre, whereas online you can pretend not to hear or indeed just switch your cam off whilst you go and cook the evening meal! But he does a great job at keeping us all involved.

It was a five-act show last night – virtually Shakespearean in construct. First off the block was Scott Bennett, whom we saw a few years ago supporting Rob Brydon at the Royal and Derngate and he was brilliant. Again yesterday he has a fantastic, lively presence with great, surefooted delivery and heaps of material to share. I loved all his observations about taking kids on an aeroplane, his printer being his mortal enemy and, most of all, those unromantic evenings when you’re “trying for a baby”. The jokes were overflowing as was the laughter. A really great start.

Next up was Paul F Taylor, whom we’d also seen at a Screaming Blue Murder seven years ago. He has a terrific zany approach to his comedy with a nice balance of the surreal and the stupid. Last night he did a great routine about how one of your hands is a reliable tool all your life but the other is a hanger-on – very funny. I also liked his exploration of which professions are suffering most during lockdown. I’m not sure the zoom medium works that well for his particular comedic style; you can tell he yearns for interpersonal stage connections to make things flow for the best. But he has great material and has a very likeable stage persona.

Middle act, and a last minute change to our schedule, was Jenny Collier. New to us, I liked how she uses her Queen’s English accent to shock with the use of the C word! In fact she didn’t hold back from discussing some of the seamier sides of life, but it was all done with great timing and a very engaging personality. She had some great material about doing the NHS clap in a Welsh village, and also the very recognisable observations about life as a GP receptionist. Very enjoyable!

Next came Jack Gleadow, also new to us, and clearly a naturally funny guy, with a great feel for language (I loved his malapropism for Covid) and silliness (as in his impression of David Attenborough). He was also responsible for my favourite joke of the night, concerning comments made on porn videos, and we were his brief, but very funny, participants in his Meet The Audience section. He’s definitely someone we’d like to see IRL (as the young people say) when this is all over.

And our headline act was the marvellous Troy Hawke, Milo McCabe’s brilliant Clark Gable lookalike comic creation, and probably the only person on a zoom call who’d naturally don a smoking jacket. Again, he’s another comic who thrives on the interaction with the audience – we’ve seen him do Spank! in Edinburgh a few times – which is a challenge on zoom but he rises to it superbly, remarking on people’s living rooms, camera angles, lighting and so on – a perfect alternative to teasing them in person. His unexpected accents – such as that of the Glaswegian audience member – are terrifically funny as they’re so at odds with Troy’s own voice and demeanour. I really enjoyed his material about impostor syndrome and nurses versus influencers. An excellent way to end the evening.

I’m already booked for next week’s show which has the promise of some terrific acts – are you?

Review – Comedy Crate and Rock The Atic Together on a Zoom Comedy Gig – 28th February 2021

Posted on March 1, 2021 by therealchrisparkle

It was the fourth of the February Sunday gigs last night – which was to be the last of the series, but they’re continuing into March, so hurrah for that! Back in the driving seat was Ryan Mold, making us all welcome with some fun material about car boot sales and selling on Facebook Marketplace – I’d already concluded I’d never do that and he proved me right.

Our first act was James Cook, who admits he suffers from having a common name so that you can’t find him on social media! He was new to us and I really loved his throwaway style of delivering a punchline, which can make a joke last twice as long as you expect. Some great material about the least appropriate site for a Sea Life Centre, what a communal teddy bear can get up to at the weekends, and a wonderfully funny take on the Shamima Begum situation, which could have been iffy but was actually brilliant. Would really like to see him again “when everything gets back to normal”.

Next up was Esther Manito, whom we’ve also never seen before, and, of all the comics that we’ve seen plying their trade through the medium of zoom, she’s the one who’s absolutely nailed the technique, using the camera to great effect – most notably during her material about having sex with Matt Hancock (no, really). Some excellent comic observations, including how you can misunderstand the word Lebanese, and a terrific presence – she’s someone else we need to see again before too long.

Five acts this week (you spoil us, Mr Ambassador) and in the middle slot was Mike Cox, whom we saw in another Comedy Crate/Atic gig a couple of weeks ago. Some of his new material didn’t quite hit the mark (but that’s always the case when you try new things out, otherwise how can you find out!) but I really enjoyed his shopping at Aldi material, and how cruel a trip to Chessington World of Adventures can really be. He’s a naturally funny guy with great delivery and a strong presence – and he has great interaction skills with the audience.

Another new name to us was next, Yuriko Kotani, Japanese but based in Britain – which must be a source of great culture clash comedy. I particularly liked her observations about the differences between the nature of the Japanese and English languages, and she has a very warm and winning personality that shone through. There’s also a rather delicate use of the surreal, evidenced by her slightly bizarre material about creating dried flowers. Very enjoyable!

Our headline act was Larry Dean, whose star has been in the ascendant for some time but we haven’t seen for about seven years, and I confess when I first saw him I wasn’t certain how much I liked his material. But seven years is a long time in comedy and last night he was bright, self-deprecating, insightful and hilarious. He uses his range of accents to terrific comic effect and has such fluidity in his delivery that it just washes over you, so you bask in pure comic refreshment. Very nice material contrasting British and American elections, and also some very funny asides about his new chap. Really enjoyed his set and will look forward to seeing him again.

So, more Sunday night zoom gigs in March? I think so!

Review – Rock the Atic and Comedy Crate Online Again, 21st February 2021

Posted on February 22, 2021 by therealchrisparkle

Having enjoyed the first two of these free online Sunday night gigs there didn’t seem much point not booking for the third one! And it was a very wise choice, as this was *possibly* the funniest of the three. This time Sally-Anne Hayward was in the MC Hot Seat – we’ve seen her many times before and she’s always incredibly funny. She kept last night’s show going at a terrific pace, and also chipped in with loads of great material; we particularly enjoyed her observations on Morris Dancing!

The running list featured five comics, although that’s slightly misleading, more of which later. But first up was Alexis Dubus, new to me, a delightfully dour presence with a hangdog expression that belies some ace observations and a penchant for extremely funny comic poems. He offers a great line in comically mixing up two totally different but similarly sounding words – sometimes it elicits a groan from the audience but it’s always very funny. I particularly liked the punchline of his Wookey Hole poem. We’d definitely like to see him for real sometime when we’re all allowed! This wouldn’t be last we’d see of Mr Dubus that evening.

Next up was Josh Pugh, whom we saw only last October at a Comedy Crate gig – how long ago that feels now! And once again, he’s full of brilliant and quirky observations about lockdown life, relationships and everything else. I particularly enjoyed his ideas of why he wouldn’t want to be Prime Minister and why he’s useless at bedroom role play. He uses his quiet, unassuming persona to great surprise effect, and his time went very quickly.

Then we welcomed James Dowdeswell, a Frequent Flyer at Screaming Blue Murder gigs of old, a master of the self-deprecation gag, and with great recognisable observations about subtle class distinctions – I loved the “two pints of lager” gag revisited in a craft beer environment. His relaxed style works very well for the intimacy of a zoom gig and he was fantastic as usual.

Our fourth act was, also new to us, the fabulously French and superbly sarcastic Marcel Lucont; also known as the alter-ego of Mr Dubus, whom we met earlier. As laconic as his name would suggest, he derides everything that isn’t French or has French aspirations. He also has a fantastically French sex life, for which social distancing doesn’t prove too much of a problem, has a wonderful sequence about discovering that your partner is a Covid denier, gave us a fine poem about stupid people, and ended with some of his Imbible material – discussing the problems that arise from Jesus turning water into wine. I was laughing pretty much hysterically all the way through.

Finally we welcomed Mark Simmons, whom we saw on this very online gig only two weeks ago, and I wondered if we would get a repeat of some of the material. I should have known better from Mr Simmons – he told us he had thirty new jokes to crack through and work out which ones worked and which didn’t. With a couple of notable exceptions, they were all up to the usual Simmons Standard! Our favourites included the diabetic ginger cake and his girlfriend’s request for how he could improve his sexual performance. It was a totally top notch way to end the show.

Same again next week? Oh go on then. Book here – it’s still free!

Review – Comedy Crate & Atic Zoom Online Comedy Gig – 14th February 2021

Posted on February 15, 2021 by therealchrisparkle

What better way to spend a lockdown Valentine’s night than with an online comedy gig – well, no one’s going out, are they? The second of this month’s four free gigs courtesy of Northampton’s Comedy Crate and Banbury’s Rock the Atic was hosted once again by Ryan Mold, a chirpy presence who keeps everything going at a cracking pace; he did some great nostalgic material about the village video rental guy – pure VHS, nothing more up to date – who operated out of the boot of his car. I appreciated it – even if I seemed to be the only audience member to recall that unique trade model. It’s true – he never worried about the film censor’s classification when raking in the pound coins from the back of his car.

Anyway, our first act of the night was Mike Cox, new to me; a strong, confident personality and delivery, backed up with some fun material about how your priorities change during lockdown, especially regarding looking after the kids. I liked his attack, and there was a lot there for everyone to identify with – a very good start.

Next came Prince Abdi – his is a name that I’ve seen many times but never actually seen him! You can tell straight away that he is a naturally funny guy with a larger than life presence and warm personality. He had some nice material about the difficulties with performing zoom gigs – and he revealed them too, as he had a tendency to be distracted by odd sounds and movements! He touched on issues involving his Brexit-voting dad, and it was a shame that there wasn’t more time to develop his thoughts. I’d definitely like to see him again.

Our third act was Jack Barry, whom we’d seen before doing an Edinburgh try-out at the Comedy Crate in 2017. He instantly sets up a terrific rapport which is a very difficult thing to do online! And he had some great material about working with a masked audience, how FOMO has no place in lockdown, the trials of learning Spanish and the wisdom of responsible drug dealers. He packed a lot into his short set and it worked really well – a very funny ten minutes!

Next was Kelly Convey, whom we saw last year at one of the Comedy Crate’s gigs in the garden of the Black Prince in Northampton. Another comic who connects surprisingly easily via a zoom thumbnail, she lost no time in giving us some great material about how not to treat the military presence at your local Covid test centre, the trials and tribulations of a zoom hen do and how Conspiracy Theories in the Plague Year are nothing new. Her winning personality enables her to breeze through her set as if she were live on a stage. Extremely funny and very enjoyable!

Our headline act – can you have Headline Acts on a zoom call? Can’t see why not – was Paul McCaffrey, whom we last saw in one of those Johnny Vegas comedy extravaganzas during the 2017 Leicester Comedy Festival. This time, as then, he was on ace form, with fantastic comedy observations ranging from lockdown overdrinking, through TV repeats, to a wonderful exploration of how you can read a script wrong (he was miscast as the Witchfinder General in a production of Vinegar Tom.) Very likeable, a great presence and a terrific way to end the show.

I’ve already booked for next week – so should you! Free tickets available here.

Review – The Comedy Crate and Rock The Atic Online Comedy Gig – 7th February 2021

Posted on February 8, 2021 by therealchrisparkle

It’s been almost five months since I’ve started a piece of writing with the word “Review”… times have changed! But to survive changing times you have to bend like a palm tree in the wind rather than be a solid old oak that falls over in a big gust. And that’s what those nice people at The Comedy Crate have done, teaming up with The Atic, bringing their special brand of stand-up comedians into an online zoom gig, and the first of those was yesterday evening.

Watching a comedy gig through Zoom is a very different experience from its real life equivalent, but you quickly pick up the etiquette. Cam on means you’re sitting in the front row and are happy for the comedians or MC to chat to you – cam off means you’re happy to enjoy it privately. Mic on means you want your laughter heard, mic off means you don’t. I quickly picked up that it’s best to treat it as though it were a proper live gig – laugh unrestrainedly, but don’t chat. We opted for cam off, mic on, but that may change in time. The more faces you see, the more laughs you hear, the more it feels like a real gig, which has got to be the ideal end result. However, watching from home does inevitably mean you might be interrupted by children screaming, dogs barking, family members chatting – so if that might apply to you, best keep that mic off.

It was a great selection of comedians last night, some of which were new to us, some of which feel like old pals. Our host was Ryan Mold, who runs The Atic Banbury/Bicester (of which I confess, I had never heard) and was a bright and lively influence on the evening, keeping everything going at a good pace, even occasionally daring to engage some of the punters in conversation, with varying degrees of success, depending on the punter. We were told that our comedians would be trying out some new material that evening, because over a period of several lockdowns, there’s been precious little for any of them to do other than write some new stuff. So we gave it our best shot, and so, for the most part, did they!

Our first act was Nathan Caton, whom we’ve seen many times now and I always enjoy his style and material. The thing I really like about Mr C is that, no matter what subject he takes to discuss, he never forgets, first and foremost, to make it funny. Lockdown issues, being stuck inside with his girlfriend, listening to his friends’ conspiracy theories, they’re all there, they’re all recognisable and they’re all very entertaining.

Next up was Steve N Allen, new to us, but he cuts a smart and authoritative figure on the thumbnail, so I bet he’s very imposing in real life. Classy confident delivery, warmly engaging, and with some nice material including recollections of hen night gigs, and you bask in the fact that it’s always a joy to listen to intelligent comedy.

Then we had Ed Aczel, also new to us, but thankfully I’d done my homework before the gig so I kind of knew what to expect. Mr A is a kind of anti-comic, who will spend his allotted time talking aimlessly about house insurance or complaining to Amazon, without any ostensible joke written into this script. The humour comes from the ridiculousness of what he’s doing, an innocent in a knowing world, and his completely unshowbiz appearance. At least, I think that’s where the humour comes from, because, personally, his style didn’t appeal to me. There were, however, plenty of audience members cackling away happily, so, I accept that’s my bad.

Next was Robyn Perkins; I knew I’d seen her before, but I was surprised that it was as long ago as the Austerity Measures show at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2014, where she gave some great political stand-up. This time round she was concentrating on the thrills of mating and dating (probably in the other order) and her delight in science. Very funny, and now I know a bit more about the amygdala I can go out into the world with greater confidence.

Our last act was the terrific Mark Simmons, whom we saw opening at a Screaming Blue Murder in 2019 when he totally stole the show with his anarchic wordplay. This time he was armed with 23 new jokes to see if they worked – and the majority of them did. The great thing about his material is that it comes at you so fresh and fast, and a lot of it is thoroughly silly, that it’s impossible to remember his jokes even a few minutes later; it’s a cloudburst of (well planned) spontaneity, and then it’s all over. But he was great, as I knew he would be.

The show is free, but you are welcome to PayPal them a donation, that gets split between all the acts, which is probably the right thing to do. We really enjoyed it; and there are three more such shows scheduled for the next three Sunday evenings at 6pm. No risk comedy! You can’t beat it. Book your place for free here!