Comedians

Review: Bramall Comedy Night Daliso Chaponda, John Robertson & Ellie Taylor

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It is always a signal of a friendly, supportive atmosphere at a comedy gig when the compère decides to sit with the rest of the audience and watch the acts. That seems to sum up the feel of the monthly comedy nights at Bramall Hall in Birmingham, and is perhaps why audiences are consistently keen.

Daliso Chaponda is not a comic I was familiar with prior to Bramall Hall’s most recent comedy night but he is certainly an example of someone with a great enthusiasm and respect for the craft of stand up comedy, frequently being the one laughing the loudest at the rest of the evening’s entertainment. Chaponda himself is an extremely endearing performer, speaking in hushed tones with the audience quietening in order to listen. This somewhat delicate demeanour contrasts delightfully against the occasional expletive or crude remark, making his set one that ticked all the boxes, as well as providing that little bit of extra shock factor.

john robertson

John Robertson

With this next act being the proud creator of live-action videogame The Dark Room (look it up if you haven’t already), I was unsure of what to expect from Australian comic John Robertson. I was expecting, however, that he would naturally require a microphone to amplify his voice across the relatively large music hall, but alas he did not. Robertson is the epitome of the naughty boy at school who everyone knows is an attention seeker (he is, of course, a stand up comedian) but is still the most popular boy in the class. Incredibly loud and well-articulated, this act surely won’t please every audience member but that didn’t seem to matter with so many people being on board from the get-go anyway. The next twenty minutes were a storm of unpredictability, shouting, audience interaction and ideas that weren’t always followed through, with the majority of us being left wanting more.

Ellie Taylor, last June’s Comedian of the Month and presenter of popular makeover programme Snog, Marry, Avoid, is a confident presence on stage, with an aptitude for audience communication as well as storytelling. Her height, while providing a space for material about her time spent as a model, allows Taylor’s stand up to take on a more physical element. The fact that this comedian is not afraid to be goofy or silly definitely works in her favour, with a warmth to anecdotes that ensures an immediate audience connection. Seeing a live performance from Ellie Taylor was something that had been on my to-do list for a long time and her set showed great promise for a fantastic new Edinburgh show in August 2016.

BRAMALL COMEDY NIGHTS

Seven Questions With… Gavin Webster

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As the proud owner of the title of Comedian’s Comedian 2014, an award voted for by comedians themselves, Gavin Webster has had a busy year. And rightly so; this comic is a true grafter with a genuine warmth to his performances. Gavin is currently working on series three of the popular Radio 4 sketch show, The Show What You Wrote, where material is written by the public and performed by comedians. He is also currently gigging across the country with his latest material.
To find out more about Gavin’s comedy, I asked him these seven questions…

1) What is your favourite kind of audience?

The best audiences are the ones that go with all the oohs and aahs along the way, the ones who like all the asides, all the attitude and all the exaggerated mimes and caricatured voices. They realise stand up for the pantomime that it is. The pay off isn’t too important to them. it’s the whole thing, the whole aesthetic, the being in the moment. Does that all sound a bit ponsey? It’s not meant to!

2) Do you consider yourself to be a writer or a performer first?

That’s a difficult one. I’d say writer because if I didn’t think of it and then write it down, how could I possibly talk about it with passion and enthusiasm?!! There are people who can do that on the comedy circuit but they’re not comedians in my view, they’re actors. They’re actors getting into the role of being comedians. It’s like ‘and here’s another thing that pisses off my team of writers!’.

© Alan Harrison

© Alan Harrison

3) Which nation has the best food?

It’s got to be Lebanon.

4) What kind of people do you avoid?

I’m getting worse mixing with people as I get older, it’s like I’ve lost my patience and tolerance glands. There’s a lot of silly billies at the Edinburgh fringe who seem to just surface once a year and talk confidently about what comedy is all about and then you never see them again. They’re probably boring some poor bastard to death as we speak. I don’t like it when people find out what I do and start ‘interviewing’ me. It’s like I’m stuck in some sort of local radio groundhog vortex at times. I always tell barbers that I’ve got a day off today from work.

5) Is there anything that makes you feel hopeless?

Well I suppose there’s the obvious, famine and flood and the fact that people earn shitloads of money in an afternoon in the city yet apparently we, the public, you know the people that get up 5 days a week and work our tits off, should feel responsible when we watch the comic relief programmes like it was mine and your fault that we live in a greedy heartless world. Having said that after the school run I tend to come home, sit down, have a glass of pop and watch Heir Hunters. That doesn’t make me feel hopeless, it makes me feel blessed.

6) What is your best trait?

It’s not modesty and it’s certainly not tidiness or cleanliness. It’s definitely not a penchant for hard work or patience. I’m not very empathetic and I can’t chill out like a Buddhist. I suppose I can keep things light and make jokes and stuff when things are pretty grim. At my mam’s funeral I think I was quite a good host afterwards in the pub. I told a great anecdote (it wasn’t even mine, it was about someone else) and it was very funny but no one laughed. Maybe it was a funny comics story, every comedian including some very well known ones really liked the story, no one in the pub laughed. They weren’t even sure if it was supposed to be funny. They were all my sister’s mates and they must have thought ‘my god and he’s supposed to be a stand up comedian’. Anyway the short answer is I don’t think I have any good traits!

7) What boosts your confidence as a performer?

When I do a theatre show in Newcastle (it’s the only place where I’ve got a proper following) and new people come and think it’s a terrific show and they then instantly become fans and at the same time other people come and don’t like it at all and never want to see my act again. For good measure they tend to reserve some personal abuse on social media. It means that I’m not all things to all men (and women) and that slowly but surely (very slowly, I’ll admit) I’m finding my crowd. Now when I perform at one of my shows on Tyneside, 300 people instantly get into it and another 100 tend to look at them curiously like they’ve stepped into an underground political movement.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT GAVIN WEBSTER’S WEBSITE

SEVEN QUESTIONS WITH…

December: Comedian Of The Month #23, Al Porter

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Each Comedian of the Month on MoodyComedy is a comic who has never previously featured on the website. Reasons for selection can include various current projects the comedian is involved with, or perhaps recent appearances on television programmes or podcasts. There is no strict criteria however, as Comedian of the Month simply stands as a collection of recommendations, highlighting interesting and original aspects of certain comedians and their work.

Al Porter is surely the epitome of a comedy success story, familiar to many as a result of his recent appearance on BBC’s Live At The Apollo, during November. At only 22 years of age, this stand up comedian has been working the circuit for just a few years and has been quick to establish a name for himself in Ireland as well as across the UK, even making it to the semi-finals of So You Think You’re Funny within a mere three months of his first gig. He also performed his debut stand up hour, Al Porter Is Yours at this year’s Edinburgh Festival.

Al Porter

Al Porter

It’s hard not to like Al. Maybe it’s partly due to the accent, or perhaps his unyielding enthusiasm for performance, but the pivotal reason, it has to be recognised, is Porter’s sheer level of skill that he utilises to provide entertainment that is full of energy and positivity. Clearly Porter is a born showman, with a talent for building a rapport with audiences. He’s chatty and flamboyant but slick with a manner and abundance of material that has an undeniably uplifting quality, making it clear that Al is a man who appreciates and understands the role of an entertainer and works tirelessly to fill that quota.

Surely I can’t be the only person to feel as though this young man has somehow managed to harness the spirit a strange but endearing Irish grandfather in his performance persona? Dapper in his pristine suit and tie and armed with a storyteller’s stage presence, Al Porter is not only accessible and enjoyable to watch, but he gives the impression of wisdom beyond his years, making him someone who’s stories are well worth a listen.

For more information, visit Al Porter’s website and follow him on Twitter.

NOVEMBER COMEDIAN OF THE MONTH

Seven Questions With… Patrick Monahan

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patrickmonahanPatrick Monahan is one of the most energetic performers to ever come out of Ireland or Iran or even Newcastle. With an uncanny ability to get audiences animated through singing, dancing and laughter it is perhaps unsurprising that Monahan’s demographic spans a large age range. His material is largely autobiographical: it’s honest, uplifting and immensely enjoyable to witness live. And the opportunity to witness the force that is Patrick Monahan live may come sooner than you think, as he is rumoured to be announcing a tour in the very near future.
To learn more about his comedy, I asked Patrick these seven questions…

1) Do you consider yourself to be proactive?

I think to survive as a stand up you have no choice but to be proactive, your material is constantly up on every social media on line, clips are put up on YouTube filmed by audience at gigs or by the police on CCTV and uploaded. So you have to keep writing and developing new comedy routines and gags and stories, cos if people discover you on line, and come to see you, it’s nice for them to see you doing something different. It’s not like being a singer that can do their greatest hits on line and on stage, I’d love to be Justin Bieber or Adele, but unfortunately stand ups can’t be.

2) Where does your love of dance come from?

I’ve always loved physical comedy from growing up watching comics like Robin Williams & Richard Pryor, who not only tell the story but re-enact every detail of the story. And I love comedy about real life things that have happened at clubs or music venues that instead of just telling it, I can express it through dance to the audience. I enjoy dancing but I don’t know how many people like watching me dance.

3) Do you love or loathe the concept of New Year?

I think the whole idea of having a new year its great fun, but in reality it doesn’t actually change that much from doing comedy a week before or a week after. Although people actually out on New Year’s Eve at a comedy show are a lot better behaved than people out in December cos most people out on NYE are mostly couples or family celebrating who want to listen to the show as opposed to office parties who want to sleep with Denise in accounts & roast Dave from finance who are out on a Xmas works do.

4) What would you define ‘lazy comedy’ as?

Anyone who nicks routines of another comic is obviously lazy and should be punished by being sent to a remote island with a laptop and not allowed off till they can write a one and half hour show of their own stand up. I have to write a new tour show every year and I didn’t even know my alphabet till I was 14. If I can write regularly then no excuses for anyone else.

5) Which subject bored you the most at school?

School was interesting for me cos I went to a couple of different schools, so before I could get too bored me family had moved to somewhere else. But I definitely think if I went back to school now, I’d get more out of it than when I was a kid. Also most schools give away a free tablet to write on.

6) Do you enjoy being busy?

I love it. I get 2 days off a year, which is Christmas Day and New Year’s Day, but to be honest, by the evening of Xmas I’m scratching around at home looking for an impromptu gig I can sneak onto!

7) Does the audience your comedy attracts ever surprise you?

My comedy audience range from 8 years old to 88 years old, mainly cos me comedy is non-offensive, without any swearing or anything too blue. So my audience will consist of couples & families who bring out their kids & grandparents. I love it, I’d never complain.

KEEP UP TO DATE WITH PATRICK MONAHAN’S COMEDY WORK BY VISITING HIS WEBSITE AND FOLLOWING HIM ON TWITTER.

SEVEN QUESTIONS WITH…

Seven Questions With… Scott Bennett

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Scott Bennett

Charismatic Yorshireman Scott Bennett is an instantly likeable stand up performer, with an admirably relaxed delivery style on stage that enables audiences to trust his comedic judgement; he is a reassuring comic. Having recently taken his debut show to the Edinburgh Festival, Bennett is quickly moving up the ranks as a recognisable face on the circuit.
To learn more about Scott, I asked him these seven questions…

1) Why did you choose to write a show all about your father?

I should say that it was because I wanted a fitting tribute to my father, something that could unite us both and a piece of work we could both look back on with mutual respect and affection. The truth is that he is an endless source of material and I could have probably written a couple of shows. I love studying him, like a David Attenborough documentary, he’s such a rich and intriguing character. I don’t think I could have written a character as fertile with comedic value as my dad and the fact that his escapades have more than a ring of truth to them, just makes it even more attractive.

2) What is your favourite thing about Yorkshire?

Many things, the accent, the thrifty money-saving mentality, even the food – which other county can boast their own savoury pudding? We also got a stage of a major cycling race recently; this was a big deal. I was tempted to go up there with a whippet tied to the back of my Raleigh Grifter with a bit of string and join the leading pack as they passed through Ilkley.

3) Do you think it is important for comedy to be relatable?

I think it depends on the subject matter and how it is conveyed. I think as long as the audience are made to feel part of the comedian’s world that’s the main thing. I love many styles of comedy, although I do have a soft spot for pure observational stand-up comedy. There is a real beauty in the simplicity of it; you can get a bigger laugh if the audience can immediately understand the direction you are taking them in.

4) What has surprised you recently?

How much I enjoyed the BBC programme “The Great Pottery Throwdown” – yes, it’s just people making pots, but it’s bloody marvellous. I think I am definitely getting a potter’s wheel in the shed. Imagine how good that would be, nipping out to put the bin out and then come back in with an ashtray and a vase; amazing. I am also going to be a father for the second time in January, which is fantastic. I probably should have mentioned that before the pottery programme really.

5) Which job role would you hate to have?

The Prime Minister. Imagine the stress of that job, the decisions you would have to make would terrify me. I know politicians aren’t perfect but it’s not an easy job. I’ve heard the way they get grilled at eight in the morning by John Humphreys on the today programme; it’s brutal. I am barely functional at that time of the day; I often have to slide out of my pit like a hungover Gollum, it’s an effort just to form words. Also as a comic I wouldn’t be able to resist the urge to slip material into Prime Minister’s Questions, or slam the leader of the opposition like a heckler in a comedy club. I’d also definitely fiddle my expenses; forget the duck houses and moats I would be sneaking through obscene amounts of Ginsters pasties, Red Bull and caffeine eye rollers, the staples for any road comic.

6) Do you look forward to retiring or dread it?

I am looking forward to it, as long as I am healthy and comfortable it could be great. I’m going to follow in my father’s footsteps and start paying the world back for the misery it has caused me. I could spend the mornings just getting out into rush hour traffic and getting in other people’s way, sitting in supermarket car parks with my indicators on just waiting for spaces and clogging up the queues at the post office just to buy a single stamp. Afternoons would obviously be spent on the potter’s wheel. I’m hoping my children would keep me; I’ll have two girls who’ll be grown up by then. The first one has already shown some aptitude for performance and drama, so if I don’t hit the big time, I will be focusing all my efforts over the next few years living my dreams through her, like any good parent should.

7) Are you content?

That’s difficult to say. In my personal life I would say yes, I’ve got a lot to be thankful for. My wife is brilliant. People often forget about the partners of those who do comedy or any type of performance, it’s a thankless task and they have to be unwavering in their support. It’s not an easy sell, “sorry love, I can’t stay and change the nappies; I’ve got to go on stage in Liverpool and seek validation from a room full of strangers! Bye!”

With regards to my comedy career, I am proud of what I have achieved but I am always looking to push things on. I want to develop as an act, do bigger and better shows and take my writing up a level. I have many projects I am keen to try and get off the ground; sitcom ideas, new hour shows, the list is endless! I feel as soon as you feel content with your comedy career you become complacent, you have to keep the pressure on.

SCOTT BENNETT IS CURRENTLY PERFORMING ACROSS THE UK

SEVEN QUESTIONS WITH…

November: Comedian Of The Month #22, Jessie Cave

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Each Comedian of the Month on MoodyComedy is a comic who has never previously featured on the website. Reasons for selection can include various current projects the comedian is involved with, or perhaps recent appearances on television programmes or podcasts. There is no strict criteria however, as Comedian of the Month simply stands as a collection of recommendations, highlighting interesting and original aspects of certain comedians and their work.

Jessie Cave is a comedian with her fingers in many pies, epitomising the spirit of a naive school girl, with a style of comedy that borders on being uncomfortably honest. Recognisable from major franchises such as Harry Potter and Glue (Channel 4), Cave is an actress, artist, blogger, stand up comedian and all-round creative with a great deal of natural talent and innovation. It only takes a brief glance at her Instagram page to determine that here we have someone who is one of a kind, and is making a great success of that fact.

Though the amount of pure stand up available on the internet is extremely limited, it is easy to see that Jessie’s stage persona is very similar to the persona she presents through various other artistic mediums, such as through her cartoon doodles and short films. Her latest stand up hour I Loved Her has been praised for its truthfulness and bitter edge, describing the woes of neurotic obsession, possessiveness and extreme loneliness.

jessiecave

© Jessie Cave

In 2012 Jessie Cave worked as essentially a part of Simon Amstell’s publicity team, creating a series of strange YouTube interviews with the aim not only to promote Amstell’s show Numb, but also as a means of attempting to make the comic as enthusiastic about the internet as Cave is. As well as being able to portray Amstell in a way that is more realistic than that of other comedy appearances (note his time spent as controversial Never Mind The Buzzcocks host), these videos demonstrate Jessie’s ability to derive humour from standard conversations, a side effect, no doubt, of her bubbly personality.

It is hard to avoid the fact that Jessie Cave is a character, or at least an exaggeration of the performer, but this is a character that audiences feel inclined to indulge. She is like being in the school playground; she is misbehaving in class.

For more information, visit Jessie Cave’s website, follow her on Twitter and subscribe to her YouTube channel.

OCTOBER COMEDIAN OF THE MONTH

Seven Questions With… Shazia Mirza

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Shazia Mirza 1 - pls credit Linda Nylind.jpegShazia Mirza is a comedian and columnist from my home city of Birmingham. Where others may stay well back, Mirza tackles difficult political topics head-on, effortlessly demonstrating to us all why comedy is so vital in this day and age and using her stand up as a platform to get us talking about important social issues. Shazia is currently preparing to take her 2015 Edinburgh show The Kardashians Made Me Do It on tour across the UK.
I asked Shazia these seven questions to learn more about her…

1) Is it important to you to find humour in serious subjects?

It’s not important, I just try to do material on whatever I feel something about. So if I’m angry, sad, happy about something, I’ll try and find jokes about that because at least I feel something about it. It’s when I don’t feel anything about anything that I feel stuck, which happens often, as you can’t care about everything and sometimes its tiring so I just think oh I’ll go to bed and have a cup of tea.

2) Which part of the country is your favourite?

I love the Midlands, because I was born in Birmingham and the humour feels very familiar when I go home. I feel like they get me, they are laughing with me, and I can make in house jokes that only we can laugh at. I can also talk ‘Birmingham’ – that is my lingo with my accent, which just makes people run from me if I do it elsewhere.

3) What is it that made you quit being a teacher?

The tipping point was when someone kept stealing my mug in the staffroom. I thought I’m not having this anymore. Also I was doing jokes in the classroom, which they just didn’t get, and I thought I could make more money doing this out in the clubs, so I did. 

4) Which month of the year is your favourite?

September. I can go on holiday, it’s cheaper but it’s still hot and the kids have all gone back to school so there is peace and quiet on the beaches of the South of France.

5) Are you usually early or late for things?

Late. Because I try to fit in 20 things in one day. For some reason I still think I can do a gig in San Francisco and Leicester on the same night.

6) Do you fear failure?

I’ve failed so much that I can’t imagine progressing any further without failure. If I don’t fail at something every few months, it feels weird. Everyone needs a car crash to remind them they are not invincible. 

7) Is 2015 a good time to be a comedian?

I have been a comedian in other years too, but it seems like now there is so much you can’t help but joke about. There is so much in your face that’s getting people angry and frustrated every day that there is loads to say. Everyone is being affected by something these days that can make them angry. 

SHAZIA MIRZA IS TOURING HER LATEST SHOW ‘THE KARDASHIANS MADE ME DO IT’ IN EARLY 2016

SEVEN QUESTIONS WITH…

TV Review: Catastrophe, Series 2

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Catastrophe is back with a bang. Written by Sharon Horgan and Rob Delaney, time has moved on since the dramatic events of the last episode we saw back in January of this year.

Sharon’s baby bump, the reason that the pair are now married and living permanently in the UK, is now a toddler. Time has actually progressed to such an extent that episode one of the new series sees the pair welcome a second baby into the world: Moirin (assuming that this is the correct spelling; a suspecting extended family are assured that it’s an Irish name, and that she is not in fact called ‘Moron’). The humorous social and cultural ignorance shown towards the baby’s name, when teamed with the sudden, crude death of the family dog, certainly sets the tone for series two of this dark-humoured sitcom.

© Channel 4

© Channel 4

The ‘loser’ status of both characters, though particularly Sharon’s, seems to have elevated since series one but this serves as a surprising relationship strengthener for the couple who stand united against various bitchy false friends and family members (clearly showing that if the company is right, it doesn’t matter how small said company is). The onscreen connection has also cemented, showing that this fictional couple are genuinely friends as well as lovers, which is a great credit to Horgan and Delaney’s writing if nothing else and arguably serves as a platform for the darker humour scattered throughout the dialogue. It shouldn’t make us laugh, but somehow Rob referring to Sharon as a “psycho bitch” in French definitely does.

It is surprising, perhaps, that the children don’t play all too big a role in this comedy; Sharon and Rob are still, arguably rightly so, the integral focus of the narrative. In fact, it feels in many ways as though the majority of the characters in Catastrophe are inconsequential add-ons to the storyline, it often seems as though the couple don’t even notice when others are around, but this doesn’t mean to say that the extended cast do not bring their own elements of hilarity with them. Mark Bonnar and Ashley Jensen return to series two as fraught and bitter Scottish hardly-couple, Chris and Fran, and this pairing undoubtedly brings another dark element to the programme, which seems to be a recurring theme with Catastophe.

Catastrophe is a sitcom brimming with suppressed and entirely inappropriate giggles, with Horgan and Delaney effortlessly capturing the essence of what it means to be human; namely, being innately and irrepressibly self-centred.

CATCH UP WITH SERIES TWO OF CATASTROPHE ON ALL 4

Seven Questions With… Luke Toulson

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Luke Toulson 1October’s Comedian Of The Month, Luke Toulson, is an immediately likeable stand up comedian, with his relaxed and casual delivery enabling him to secure an immediate audience connection. Undeniably slick yet simultaneously coming across as sincere, Toulson is a comic who excels on the live circuit.
To learn more about Luke, I asked him these seven questions…

1) Why are you a stand up comedian?
A combination of being the least smart of 4 kids and playing the fool to get attention, failing at an awful lot of things during my 20s, and then seeing a Bill Hicks DVD.

2) What kind of person makes you feel the most frustrated?
People at the front of self-service queues who aren’t paying attention, people who believe the Tory economic argument, and lazy comedians.

3) Do you want people to think that you are clever?
Yes, but I don’t mind when they think I’m stupid.

4) What will you always have time for?
I love every second I spend with my kids, which is sadly less than I would like. Even an amateur psychologist would suss out that those two statements are probably related.

5) Have you conquered any big fears in your life?
I guess quitting drinking falls into this category.

6) Which film could you watch on repeat?
The Blues Brothers.

7) Are there any comedians you aspire to be more like?
My favourite stand-up is Bill Burr, but I don’t want to be more like any comedian, I just want to be a better version of the comedian I am. However, I would gratefully accept Sara Pascoe’s bravery and work-ethic, Henry Paker’s mind, and the looks of various comedians it would be too embarrassing to name.

LUKE TOULSON IS CURRENTLY PERFORMING AT VENUES ACROSS THE COUNTRY

SEVEN QUESTIONS WITH…

Video Interview with Noel Fielding

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91DcyrLnXyL._SY550_Noel Fielding has embarked on the second UK leg of his massive stand up comedy tour, An Evening With Noel Fielding, this week and he is celebrating with the release of his tour DVD, which was recorded live in Melbourne.

MoodyComedy was invited by the British Comedy Guide to send a few questions for Noel to answer, and the following BCG article includes the resultant videos of his answers, where he discusses why he enjoys working so much and what he plans to do in the future.

Noel tries to explain his show…

An Evening With Noel Fielding is hard to describe. It’s a tough ask, but we asked him to try and explain what people can expect:

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