comedy – and so she thinks

Stewart Lee – Snowflake/Tornado at Marlowe Theatre

admin — Tue, 17 Mar 2020 18:28:25 +0000

Tonight’s show is sold out. The room is a third full (ever the optimist). Coronavirus has swept the nation, and two hours ago we were told to avoid all public places, including theatres. A few stupid souls, hardy individuals, and committed comedy lovers have come out to support their local theatre (The Marlowe, Canterbury) and see Stewart Lee: Snowflake/Tornado. A double-bill of two new hour long ish minute sets from ‘the world’s greatest living stand-up’ according to The Times, and a fact we are reminded about repeatedly.

He doesn’t want to be here. He wants to be at home, away from potential viruses.

But that doesn’t stop him being witty and charming. Both shows are fun and vibrant, with a joke a minute, each one being quickly set up and smashed down.

There’s a few things that always happen in a Stewart Lee gig. He always slurs other comedians – this time it’s Ricky Gervais, Jimmy Carr and Pheobe Waller-Bridge – apparently Fleabag isn’t the first time ever that the fourth wall has been broken, who knew. There’s a lengthy bit about Alan Bennett, and Dave Chapelle doesn’t fair too well.

As a self professed fat, balding, deaf, man in his fifties with poor eyesight and diabetes, he doesn’t look like your typical snowflake. And he’s not. He’s just very culturally and socially aware, and believes strongly in political correctness. He has centre left politics, and isn’t afraid to share them.

It’s not intellectual comedy, but it is cerebral. It’s not deadpan, but it is laidback. He takes you on a journey, but there’s no conclusion. You don’t need those things with Lee. You feel comfortable, even as he challenges you, and the crowd are roaring with laughter throughout.

Is he the world’s greatest living stand-up? I’ve not seen enough to answer that. But as a man to spend my last day of freedom with, he’ll do pretty well.

Live at the Marlowe

admin — Tue, 11 Dec 2018 14:57:55 +0000

The Marlowe Theatre’s regular showcase of creative comedy acts Live At The Marlowe sees big names and up and coming comics gather together on the stage of the Canterbury theatre. The final gig of 2018 saw Sara Pascoe, Jamali Maddix, The Pin, Sara Barron and Suzi Ruffell on top form and full of witty banter.

Suzi Ruffell bounded around the stage with energy as the evening’s compere. It’s just as challenging acting as the introducer as it is performing, and she was funny and warm as she told tales about her own life and experiences.

Opener Jamali Maddix thought the Canterbury crowd were a tough one, but his politically slanted comedy went down well and saw laughter rippling out. Extremism and terrorism is never an easy subject, but he managed to deliver pointed humour.

Sara Barron’s stories about her marriage and relationships was aware and acute, as the American comedian spoke with rawness and honesty, without ever seeming to try to be too shocking, just authentic. Sketch comedy can be hard, but The Pin (Ben Ashenden and Alex Owen, who write and star in their BBC Radio 4 show of the same name) are funny and deadpan.

Sara Pascoe headlined this Christmas edition. Down to earth, droll, and smart, her sharp comedy sends laughter out across the room. Strident and shrewd, she’s an engaging and likeable person who connects with the audience through her down to earth and self-deprecating delivery.

Everyone likes to laugh. Live At The Marlowe lets you do just that.

Monthly open mic

admin — Thu, 15 Feb 2018 11:02:34 +0000

Swipe

admin — Fri, 19 Aug 2016 20:11:02 +0000

For some reason, despite the fact that we’re all glued to our phones and screens like an extra limb, and that we communicate with everyone else important in our lives through technology, the idea of meeting a partner online is still slightly taboo. Alyssa Salter of all female theatre company New Match Collective realised how daft this is when she broke off a relationship with a guy she met on Tinder, and ‘realized how awful it is that I felt alone in this experience when at least five of my friends had experienced the same thing.’

It was then, back in June 2015, that she decided to write a show about online dating. Swipe, now performing at the Camden Fringe festival, is an hour long performance of sketches and vignettes exploring dating in the modern world, and how choice can be paralysing, communication confusing, and the whole experience of finding love very much in flux.

‘All the scenarios derive from real experiences, and it contains a lot of my dating trials and triumphs. It’s a very real play that is swimming in the experiences of so many women.’ she says, but it spans the sexes. The tales are drawn from over one hundred interviews with women around the world, and whilst originally intending to be a cast of men and women, in the writing Alyssa realised that she ‘only had a voice for women this time.’ This doesn’t stop it resonating with both sexes though. The small theatre was filled equally with men and women, and the nods and laughter came from both.

Corny chat up lines are nothing new of course, but the ease with which someone can disappear when you only know them from through your phone – ‘ghosting’ they call it; the simplicity of sending a dick pic, wanted or not; the disconnect between the persona you portray on and offline; and the temptation of simply moving on with only a swipe are all very much modern dilemmas.

Love’s not easy. New Match Collective have assembled dating horrors and highs through the lens of technology and modernity to create an hour’s entertainment that’s amusing, entertaining and utterly identifiable.

Running 18th -21st August at The Hen & Chickens Theatre, London, as part of The Camden Fringe. Tickets available here.

The Guilty Feminist recording

admin — Wed, 30 Mar 2016 13:15:04 +0000

I’d like to think that all women want to be treated equally to men. But then what comes with this can be the fear of losing any of those things we enjoy as females – the right to wear make-up, enjoying a flirty text, going to the gym, wearing pretty clothes, having a white wine spritzer rather than a pint, and, dammit, taking maternity leave to have children. If we call ourselves feminists, there’s a certain guilt which comes with these things sometimes.

Danish comedian Sofie Hagen and Australian Deborah Frances-White know this. They’ve been there. They are there. Their hilarious new podcast The Guilty Feminist explores the ‘feminist ideals we hold and the insecurities and hypocrisies that undermine them.’ I went to see them record their latest podcast recording on exercise, with guest Jessamyn Stanley.

You can read the rest of the review here on Funny Women, and download the podcast here.

Changing Minds Festival

admin — Mon, 14 Mar 2016 22:06:33 +0000

Bringing the topic of mental health out of the medical setting into the mundane reality is an important and laudable endeavour – particularly when it comes to the arts. I fear that some of the less knowledgable, or less open minded, might see any link as implying that severe illnesses can be ‘cured’ by a mindfulness colouring book, or biological disorders solved with only a short dance and a pretty picture.

Changing Minds, the weekend festival at the Southbank Centre about the role of arts in mental health and the intersection between the two was a fabulously balanced collection of events curated and presented by experts (whether that’s professional or from lived experience). Entertaining and informative, the six story building was awash with people curious to learn more.

A complex blur of physical, emotional and environmental triggers, there is no one size fits all solution. It’s the same for physical health of course, but we can see that, so as visual beings tend to find it easier to understand. Art and creativity can do everything from take the edge off to literally saving a life by providing a lifeline. There’s evidence that the arts can have significant impact upon health outcomes in studies by Arts Council and the National Alliance.

The programme was filled with talks covering everything from how humour can take the sting out of shame with comedians Jack Rooke and Sofie Hagen, how therapists can be ore creative (a panel including Nicola Crooke and Paul Gurney), the place of art versus chemicals (Jo Marchant, Rachel Kelly, Danny Cunningham), what the words ‘mental health’ actually mean (Bobby Baker, David Adam) and more.

There was also the opportunity to try some of the ways in which art can enhance wellbeing, and participants were invited to move the body through dance with Yunkong Song, read poetry alongside Ellie Stamp or craft in Amy Brown’s workshops. Stalls from Mind, Rethink, Time To Change, CALM, Biblio, Bethlem, Lambeth LivingWell, B-EAT and Articulate made for a vibrant area of exchange and inspiration. There was also the opportunity to try some of the ways in which art can enhance wellbeing, and participants were invited to move the body through dance with Yunkong Song, read poetry alongside Ellie Stamp or craft in Amy Brown’s workshops.

The weekend was a reminder than open and honest dialogue, mutual partnerships and curiousity are crucial to changing the perspective of mental heath, but also that it is happening. The spectrum between illness and wellness is a grey one. Good mental health isn’t about not being crazy. It’s about being comfortable, communicating, and connecting.

Sometimes art can be the tool to make that happen.

Andy Hamilton's Change Management

admin — Tue, 27 Oct 2015 12:06:00 +0000

Born in 1954, Andy Hamilton has seen a number of changes throughout his life. As have his audience, as the number of raised hands shows when he does it a quick poll as to how many others were born in the fifties, and again to ascertain the number of Radio 4 listeners in the room. In the surrounds of the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury, this was a middle aged, middle class, audience, and Andy Hamilton played to his audience, with a middle of the road show. Change Management is his new show, all about, well, the changes, vicissitudes and shifts that have taken place over the years.
There are some changes that are a concern for Hamilton, due to being rooted in three things, as far as he sees – fear, marketing, and narcissism. Whereas his parents raised his generation based on the premise that whatever was happening, at least they weren’t being bombed, today’s society is one obsessed with risk management and protection, and so we have the expected but no less able to raise a smile jokes about insurance ads and accident claim hotlines. Politics has sold out to marketing and sport is drenched in advertising, and we’ve moved from a society where we make stuff to a ‘society where we sell advice to one another.’ And finally narcissism – well you’ve only got to look at social media and selfies to see how technology has enabled or enforced that change upon us.
But this isn’t a grumpy old man moaning about how life was so much better when he was a lad. Instead Hamilton delivers soft and easy observational comedy about the changing flow of life, not passing judgement (mostly), just remarking on the alterations. Hamilton is engaging, mixing cheerful quips with thoughtful observations and insights. One thing that certainly has changed is the way that comedians today are expected to be close to the bone and as controversial as possible. The conversational tone of Hamilton doesn’t subscribe to this – it’s not about generating as many column inches as possible or inciting drama, just making people smile at the absurdities of life. This isn’t to say that everything is safe – jokes about Hitler come up – but it’s not provocative for the sake of it.
Over the two hours the audience come to like Hamilton. Granted, they probably appreciated his humour anyway, having paid the ticket price and come out to the show, but throughout the live experience they come to like Andy Hamilton the man. He is the kind of uncle you’d love to entertain you at a family gathering, the guy down the pub filled with stories as his sups his pint, or the teacher who would tell you down your textbooks whilst he regaled you with far more educational tales. Witty and laidback satirical anecdotes are his style, and it’s one he wears well.
As if to summarise the off kilter but safe nature of his show, the finale is a crowd rendition of Ging Gang Goolie, sung to the tune of the German national anthem. Eyes gaze around, slightly confused by the bizarre ending – but everyone is smiling. That’s what comedy is about.
—
Andy Hamilton is renowned for his long-running BBC Radio 4 sitcom Old Harry’s Game appears as a panel regular on The News Quiz, I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue, Have I Got News For You and QI along with co-creating and writing for Ballot Monkeys and hit sitcom Outnumbered. Change Management is touring until the end of November 2015.
The Canterbury Festival is one of the most important cultural events in the south east, bringing music, art, comedy, performance and literature to the beautiful city of Canterbury. For more information and the festival calendar click here.

A night of giggling at The Good Ship

admin — Tue, 15 Jul 2014 11:06:19 +0000

I like laughing. I also like Edinburgh. Yet I have never actually made it to the festival of fun and creativity that takes place in the fine Scottish city every August. Luckily enough, although I am sure it doesn’t quite compare, London is awash with comics rehearsing their stuff before they unleash it on those demanding audiences. And so, for those of us exploring these early performances, and as compere Ben Van Der Velde, comic and founder of the Good Ship Comedy Club, reminded us on this Thursday night in July – we are a wall, and the artists are there to throw shit.
In the few weeks running up to Edinburgh, these preview shows are a test bed for new material. True to form, this evening in the Kilburn venue saw some rough and some smooth. Some laugh out loud moments and some gentle smirk, some genuine entertainment and some raised eyebrows, some straight up one liners and some witty sarcasm. Stomping feet in laughter and squirming bottoms in awkwardness. All for only four quid.
The night kicked off with twenty five minutes of divulgence from Manchester lass Kate Mulgrew in her set Happily Ever After. Mainly about her own life, and Disney, and the merging of the two it was a warm set filled with observations about life and longings. Likeable, she’s the kind of girl you’d be glad to share a brew or a beer with, whether in an optimistic or cynical bent. When the set is sharper she will also be the kind of comedian you’d happily part with cash to see as a headliner. By the time Edinburgh rolls round expect a shorter more punchy set, filler buffed, excitement more evident than awkward anxiety – and a great show.
Andrew O’Neill skipped on to the stage and burst into song, an entrance which seemed something of a juxtaposition to his long dark hair and sleeve tattoos. Firing through fifteen minutes of one liners mixed with impersonations, I confess, I was a little confused at times, but then I have realised I spend just as much time at comedy shows bemused as well as amused. Chock full of skittish sketches, he flitted between jokes with energy and enthusiasm, bounding humour at the audience and making engagement essential. Whether you ‘got it’ or not.
Andy Zaltzman, who is half of the topical podcast The Bugle, and owner of some excellent hair, usually conducts his satirical remarks in response to suggestions from the audience solicited in advance. Tonight a rather keen fan/heckler was the most engaged, frustrating the rest of the crowd a little, and slowing down the set. Exasperated by politics, the world, society and the environment, his sharp remonstrance delivered with a laser cut tongue is quick and responsive, even if he did appear a little weary tonight. Witty and sardonic, he still was without doubt the crowd’s highlight.
Sure there were some misses, but plenty of hits to compensate. I don’t want to over think the metaphor, but some material will definitely stick to that wall and make it up to Edinburgh. Scotland can look forward to their visitors.
Catch more Edinburgh previews and more at The Good Ship Comedy Night, usually twice a week, and a bargain at only £4.

My Stories, Your Emails

admin — Sat, 15 Mar 2014 09:37:40 +0000

So I wasn’t expecting to see a minge. Oh yeah, spoiler alert there. In fact, I hadn’t read the blurb. Keen to investigate the Wellington Arts Scene and aware that the New Zealand capital’s annual festival was on, I signed up for tickets for the first thing that sounded as though it might be about words.
Ursula Martinez first performed her two part short show back in 2010 in London. It was a response to the response of her strip tease being filmed and going viral; a challenge to the privacy of the internet (there’s a question mark as to how concerned you can be about privacy when whipping your kit off in front of thousands of people, but hey ho).
Tales of childhood and growing up in Hackney, honest reflections on family life and the trials and tribulations of a Spanish mother in the UK, responses to her video, graphic images and observations are all regaled with deadpan and wry humour in a series of one liners. An hour long, it’s a quick and brief exposition of a mind and a mediation on privacy that results on some smiles, some squirms and some satisfaction.
As always though, it’s the reaction and comments from the audience that is both the most revelatory and entertaining.
‘It must be a London thing.’ – in response to feeding a cat Space Dust
‘I don’t get it.’ – after Ursula recounts a conversation in a lift in an East London council estate, complete with accents
‘We are not trying that.’ – a woman pushing 70 to her husband after Ursula posted a picture of a rather gymnastic and acrobatic sexual position.
My Stories, Your Emails
Wellington Festival