A packed house at the Bradlaugh yesterday saw a line-up that had changed over the weeks almost as frequently as we’ve had Prime Ministers, such is the world of live entertainment – you can never quite guarantee who you’ll be seeing! Nevertheless, the line-up looked extremely promising, as indeed it absolutely turned out to be.
Our host for the evening was local lad, Moulton’s own Ben Briggs, who loses no time trying to get to know the audience members. I think it’s fair to say he came up against some resistance with Dave, also from Moulton; but that was before any of us became acquainted with Ellie, who was shall we say not backward in coming forward. Both would feature quite a lot throughout the whole evening. It could have been worse – we might all have been from Newmarket (where Mr B proudly performed last week to several walkouts). There’s something about his faux-aggressive style that gets 90% of the crowd on his side but risks alienating the other 10%; as a result, we probably went into the first act with a slight nervous edginess to the atmosphere.
That first act was the excellent Ian Smith, a down-to-earth chap with a lovely sense of the ridiculousness of life which he uses to create some great comedy observations. Goole’s finest, he filled us in with the art of spotting benefit fraud, the optimum positioning for hands-on-hips, the dangers of Blackpool hotel bedrooms and the lengths some people will go to in order to complain to the BBC. If you’d seen Ian’s previous appearances courtesy of the Comedy Crate, then all this material would have been familiar to you, but fortunately it’s all good enough to enjoy the reminder, and his delivery is always spot-on. An excellent start to the evening.
Second up, and the only act who was new to us, was Laura Smyth, and what a fantastic entertainer she is. Larger than life and full of attack, her material comes from the familiar environment of one’s extended family – in her case husband, mother and daughter – but with such a fresh slant and a delightful honesty. I loved her observations about the McCanns and the state of sexual relations with her husband after ten years of marriage. She can literally have you shaking with laughter. Brilliant content and fantastic delivery, she truly nailed it.
Our headliner was Thomas Green, whom we had seen at the Comedy Crate Weekender only five months ago where he had previewed his End of Daze tour. He has an almost iridescent presence on stage, a big bundle of Aussie enthusiasm who Tiggers his way around the crowd, pouncing on anything and everything that the audience throws at him. This included Kate, who travelled around Australia for a year, but it took two years; that delightful moment of insanity fuelled so much of his routine. He has such a quick and sharp comic brain, which allows him to insert prepared sequences into his current impromptu conversations with audience with amazing ease. Whether he’s surviving Australian spiders, or falling in love with the first British accent he hears only to discover he set the bar low, his material is always ecstatically funny and was also completely different from the routines he gave us last time he was in Northampton. Definitely one of the top comics in the UK today, and a terrific way to bring the night to a conclusion.
That’s Comedy Christmas Part One at the Bradlaugh completed; can’t wait till Part Two comes around next Thursday!