Comedy 42 - Review

Post

Subscribe

Fri 15 Sep 2017

Comedy clearly comes in all shapes and sizes. And nowhere was that truer than at the Lichfield Garrick studio theatre when the regular Comedy 42 stand-up nights returned after a four month absence. There was quite a diverse line-up of comedians on show at the intimate studio theatre when Comedy 42 dusted off the mothballs on September 15. Canadian comic Tony Law was the headline act while the other comedians on the bill were Jessica Fostekew and Matt Hollins, while local performer Chris Purchase once again was the compere on the night.



Fun and laughter was in the air from the off when a new slimline Chris Purchase took to the stage having lost an amazing eight stone - or an "entire Mo Farah" - in the last 12 months. After setting the scene for the near capacity 150-strong audience, Chris first introduced Jessica Fostekew, who has appeared in BBC 1's Three Girls and Channel 4's National Treasure. Jessica took on some seemingly hard-to-please older men in the audience by talking about the "dramatic" two day birth of her son and subsequent life with the toddler. She also spoke about the trauma of performing comedy on a cruise ship - and in front of efficient Swiss audiences during a recent stand-up tour. But Jessica saved the best till last when taking issue with the misleading terms used for people who are strong or weak.



Jessica then gave way to Leicester comedian Matt Hollins who has been performing on the circuit for nearly 15 years. The former winner of the highly prized Leicester Mercury Comedian of the Year title, which has previously been awarded to Johnny Vegas, Jo Enright and Mitch Benn, is very much in the dry, deadpan category of comedian. He talks a lot about his apparent mental health problems, and how that impacts on his search for a girlfriend, including the use of a popular online dating website.delivery is said to be offset by sharp, quirky observations and ideas.



And then there was the clearly eccentric Tony Law, bounding onto the stage in shorts, boots, and a baseball cap and sporting his trademark full beard. Tony, who has been a regular on UK television screens in shows such as BBC's Have I Got News For You and Never Mind The Buzzcocks and Channel 4's 8 Out of 10 Cats, is very much in the 'weird and wonderful' camp. He almost burns himself out with the energy he brings to his 30 minute of stand-up as he tells his audience that the favourite thing about comedy is 'surprise'. Tony certainly delivers on that! Apart from going in and out of a variety of accents, from posh British and local Midlands drawl to Texan and Caribbean, he also performs his "favourite World War Two aeroplane", claims to have invented the naval convoy, and talks about his time travel exploits - Genghis Khan was "mean".

Rating: 4 out of 5

#comedy
#humour
#theatre
#september
!date 15/09/2017 -- 15/09/2017
%wnbirmingham