I haven’t been to The Comedy Store for a while now so I was looking forward to getting back into the swing of things on Saturday night.
The Comedy Store
The show is always a bit of a gamble because you don’t know who’s going to be performing- but one thing you can be sure of is that there is always a mixed bag of people on stage to suit all comedic tastes.
Gordon Southern was our MC for the night and he immediately latched onto a woman who was celebrating her 30th birthday in the front row and consequently he picked on her all night along with her hens who were all in good spirits (metaphorically and literally speaking). He had an I-pad on stage with him and did little raps to subjects he found amusing which were a bit hit and miss but brought something different to the show. He certainly has his work cut out for him because it wasn't the most welcoming of crowds I've seen there.
Allyson June Smith was our first comedian- a loud and proud American living in Britain who did a great impression of Britney Spears and pole dancing with just her fingers and a mic stand. A couple of her jokes went over my head as they may have been better suited to an American audience but she certainly had our attention when she told the story of going shopping for a ‘fanny pack’ in a UK store.
Gary Delaney was on second and stole the show for me. He told us a many a joke but when he realised that the crowd weren’t all that bashful, he upped the taboo rating until he had the audience pulling disturbed faces and making disgusted noises. He seemed to rise to the challenge of telling the dirtiest, naughtiest jokes he could to impress us and consequently there were no boundaries with this guy. I have seen him on TV before so a couple of his jokes were familiar- but I'm really pleased that I've now seen him live and heard some more of his hilarious offerings.
Imran Yusef was our third and final act and for me his time leaned more towards making political statements than comedy. He had the right age of audience to appreciate his jokes about living in the 70s and 80s- however this was overshadowed by his political opinions. I’m not sure that’s what the audience were looking for on a Saturday night after a few drinks. With that said, his comments were well intentioned and he poked fun at himself throughout to lighten the mood which brought in the laughs.
Gordon Southern summed up the evening as being ‘up and down’ (I’m not going to tell you what like!) and I think he was right. The night is dependent on the audience as much as it is the comedians- there were moments of great highs and lows but it’s all part of the experience and you have to admire anyone who gets up there to perform in front of a bunch of strangers. As always, I am looking forward to the next one.
The Comedy Store is on the first Saturday of every month at The Pyramid Arts Centre in Warrington.
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