Reviews and Recommendations: comedy

Saw Ricky tonight and, whilst he was sound, the night was essentially a throwback to 1970's humour ...sadly not so funny and represented poor VFM in my view.
Ricky has enough clout to do his own tour talking about his life and sharing stories and its a pity he's effectively acting... [more]

Event Date: March 28, 2009
Event Venue: lichfield

Saw Ricky tonight and, whilst he was sound, the night was essentially a throwback to 1970's humour ...sadly not so funny and represented poor VFM in my view.
Ricky has enough clout to do his own tour talking about his life and sharing stories and its a pity he's effectively acting as compere to a bunch of acts best left in the 1970's. Ricky was barely on stage but if you find Benny Hill and variety funny then it may be worth your hard earned money. One of the acts - Frank Barton was politically on really dodgy ground. I confess the night as a whole felt disappointing despite Black Onyx's displays of talents in this genre.
Ricky does meet the crowd afterwards and signs his book which you can pick up for £8 so it is a chance to meet the great man himself! [less]

'The show all comics dream of. Middlesbrough Town Hall on a Friday night!' were the words of Rob Brydon as he walked on to loud, lengthy applause, whistling and cheering of his 1100+ crowd. It sounds like a normal show, but when you think it is actually a leap. Brydon... [more]

Event Date: Friay, April 24, 2009
Event Venue: Middlesbrough Town Hall

'The show all comics dream of. Middlesbrough Town Hall on a Friday night!' were the words of Rob Brydon as he walked on to loud, lengthy applause, whistling and cheering of his 1100+ crowd. It sounds like a normal show, but when you think it is actually a leap. Brydon has toured but not as himself. Sure there were Uncle Bryn and Keith Barret moments but overall the show was Brydon as Brydon. I should make a mention of his support act Hal Cruttenden, whose comedy was warm and giggly to start the gig. Brydon told the crowd his story of the birth of his fourth child with quite graphic detail and one of his highlights are his impressions. Ronnie Corbett stuck in a sandpit, Anthony Hopkins working on CBeebies, Al Pacino and Shaking Stevens. He ends his show with an encore of songs, most notably Islands In The Stream which had the crowd singing, swaying and clapping. Rob Brydon definitely left the Middlesbrough crowd pleased. He said it was his first visit to Middlesbrough and I hope it isn't his last. [less]

It was an odd show, I wasn't sure whether to like it or not.  

First up was his warm-up act who was utter rubbish.  All he did was ask people where they were from then insult them about it.  He swore after every other word and told... [more]

Event Date: December 4, 2008
Event Venue: Portsmouth Guildhall

It was an odd show, I wasn't sure whether to like it or not.  

First up was his warm-up act who was utter rubbish.  All he did was ask people where they were from then insult them about it.  He swore after every other word and told no jokes at all.  This concerned me.  Not only by the fact that I was feeling Frankie might be exactly like this and could ruin how funny I find him on Mock The Week and other shows, but also by the fact that he actually needed a warm-up act!  

So we had 20 minutes of this guy insulting the a audience and then we had a 20 minute break.  At the end of this break the warm up act came on again and started telling everyone to cheer and how Frankie needed us to all "Feel the love in the room" before he came on.  This stuck me as odd.  Why would a successful comedian like Frankie Boyle need someone to get the audience cheering for him beforehand? Anyway, he then came on and started his act.  

He can't have been on for more than an hour.  A lot of material, at least 50% of it, I had heard before, though some of it I had only heard before because I have been to a Mock The Week recording and it wasn't shown on TV.  A lot of the things he says are more shocking than funny.  He knows when he takes things too far yet he still says them.  You feel very on edge throughout the show, possibly from wondering what he is going to say next.  Some of the things he said were funny, but this was more when he said something clever or a bit random as opposed to when he was being dark and insulting.  His final joke which I had heard before but it hasn't been shown of TV (that I know of) was about how he had been to the supermarket and forgot his children weren't with him and said "Hello Mr Cheese" to the cheese.  And that is the sort of thing I think he should really do more of.  

When you see him on Mock The Week, you notice that wrinkled nose thing he does.  It seems to be a nervous twitch.  It really did feel as if he didn't want to be there.  You can see he is very insecure in himself and in some ways, I felt sorry for him.  And he seems to have a formula to talking to the audience, he doesn't really engage them like other comedians.  Hello. What do you do? Where do you come from? Now I'm going to insult you...

Frankie is good in small doses, but not in long goes.  I think the problem is he doesn't warm to the audience at all.  It makes me wonder what he is like in real life, I'm sure he is a lovely person and all his aggression is just an act but I don't think it's helping him much.  I will still be watching him on TV because he can be very funny but I won't be going to another of his stand-up shows.  I would give his show 5/10 (could have got a 6 if it wasn't for his naff warm-up) [less]

Saw Michael McIntyre last night. Absolutely fabulous night, never stopped laughing. From the time the lights dimmed in the Arena, before Michael even came on stage there was high expectancy and before the Compere announced his name the whole place erupted into cheers and clapping from the sell out audience.... [more]

Event Date: September 27, 2009
Event Venue: Trent FM Arena Nottm

Saw Michael McIntyre last night. Absolutely fabulous night, never stopped laughing. From the time the lights dimmed in the Arena, before Michael even came on stage there was high expectancy and before the Compere announced his name the whole place erupted into cheers and clapping from the sell out audience. His one-man show is full of spot-on observational comedy covering every subject you could think of; and every subject you can laugh along and know exactly what he's talking about and know that at some point you've done or said or experienced the same thing. It's like being out with your best mate. He's great and I thoroughly enjoyed his routine and would love to see him again. Dont hesitate, go see this fab fella - promise, you wont be disappointed. Come back to Nottingham soon Michael! [less]

I feel as though I've been shortchanged slightly.  This show had absolutley no structure and the Boosh team - who have earned a reputation for surreal and original comedy - seemed content to simply repeat jokes and songs from the show without putting any thought into any kind of... [more]

Event Date: November 28, 2008
Event Venue: Glasgow SECC

I feel as though I've been shortchanged slightly.  This show had absolutley no structure and the Boosh team - who have earned a reputation for surreal and original comedy - seemed content to simply repeat jokes and songs from the show without putting any thought into any kind of storyline or new material.

Saying that, the crowd seemed to enjoy this, hollering at the very mention of old characters.  The first half of the show was basically a roll call of these characters who, in turn, repeated their catchphrases from the show before exiting.  The audience lapped this up, awaiting an appearance of their favourite personality whilst feeling obliged to shout of their affections for the cast.

The second half of the show started with some promise.  Howard introduced a play about the future of the planet and the show looked as though it had gained some much-needed structure.  This material also seeemed to be entirely new and was - at times- entertaining and funny.  However, this did not last.

With a full backing band in tow, Howard and Vince then proceeded to perform some of the songs from the show, like a greatest hits tour.  Don't get me wrong, I adore the songs of the show.  In some kind of context though.  When an episode breaks into a humorous song involving the various characters, it adds something to the show that other shows seem to lack.  There is no doubting that the Boosh have a knack for writing songs that are both entertaining and hilarious.  The problem here was that the songs were reeled off without being in any way related to the show.  Again, the audience cheered for this and sang along but it is not quite what I expect from a comedy show.  It is quite obvious that the guys want to be rock stars and comics, but the two do not mix well when there is no storyline.

Some of the witty banter between the 2 stars was rather funny.  Vince's constant put-downs aimed at Howard always raise a smile and there was even some decent responses to those in the crowd who felt the need to shout 'I love you' every 2 minutes.  But overall, the show was vastly disappointing.  Any hardcore fans would love it, as all of the favourites are regurgitated for the sake of the live performance.  However, this is what I feel let the show down.  Having bought the tickets over a year ago, surely the guys have had the time to write some new material?

inevitably a DVD will emerge from this and inevitably the fans will buy it.  The merchandise stand appeared to be doing good business and, with an 'aftershow party' at £10 a ticket along with further tour dates in January, I can't help but feel that the Mighty Boosh are content with making their fortune by ripping off their loyal fans, without bothering to prepare anything new for them.  The loyal fans appear to enjoy it though so if you fall into this category, I'm sure you will enjoy this show.  If not, expect to be disappointed. [less]