Reviews and Recommendations: comedy

An intimate venue at the Stockton Arc and Mark Watson made the night a total success. Spending 10 minutes before the show wandering around the theatre happily chatting with the audience makes him a friendly, open character as well as seriously funny one. At 8 o'clock he walked down the... [more]

Event Date: March 13, 2009
Event Venue: The Arc, Stockton-On-Tees

An intimate venue at the Stockton Arc and Mark Watson made the night a total success. Spending 10 minutes before the show wandering around the theatre happily chatting with the audience makes him a friendly, open character as well as seriously funny one. At 8 o'clock he walked down the theatre trying to catch everyone's attention; not on stage but standing near the 4th row. He gave a full-hearted welcome and but was worried about his entrance, saying it was a boring start to the show. He suggested he should hide which everyone found really childishly fun. Having tried stairs and the speakers, a man suggested Mark should hide under his seat. Mark was open for anything and shifted past 10 people to hide under this man's seat and then shouted: 'Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Mark Watson! Excuse me mate, can I just get past.' Hilarious 1st half getting the crowd warmed up with his stories about a sausage roll and his family before his stress-related health scare. The 2nd is him saying how he tried to avoid stress and how afraid he is to speak up for himself, from being touched by a man near Cardiff station and hearing a sex song while in the car with his dad. Not a bad crowd and Watson worked them to his advantage. True though, you get the full effect of Watson's comedy from the more intimate venues. Nevertheless, a great comedian. Well worth a watch. [less]

I have seen Rhod twice (not counting in Dublin airport where he wrote furiously the whole time, trying to look inconspicuous - wearing a tall woolly hat! And it was still on his head in the small plane flying to Cardiff...). He is the funniest guy I have ever seen... [more]

I have seen Rhod twice (not counting in Dublin airport where he wrote furiously the whole time, trying to look inconspicuous - wearing a tall woolly hat! And it was still on his head in the small plane flying to Cardiff...). He is the funniest guy I have ever seen and I will be in O'Neils, Cardiff on Saturday night to see his Edinburgh preview. He engages well with his audience (we were in the front row at the Millenium Centre and discussed with him our 15yr old deaf dog who lip reads!)

If you can't wait until he tours in the Autumn listen to his Saturday morning show live on BBC Radio Wales where he is aided and abetted by either Chris Corcoran, Lloyd Langford, Elis James or Eggsy (Goldy LC). It is the best two hours of radio AND available as a pod cast. How much meat CAN you get from a pig?

My son is a huge Oasis fan and I rib him as he has senn them live at least on 15 occassions - I could be following in his footsteps with Rhod - even my wife is worried! I am 53 years old.

Don't think about it - just buy a ticket, some hankies and see him (other comedians are available). You will not be disappointed. [less]

Having only seen Tina C before on the rather rubbish Sky1 'Eurotrash' clone 'Yanky Panky' I wasn't sure how good this would be. Plus a half price ticket offer arrived in my Inbox a day or so before. Uh-oh tickets not selling I thought.
The space itself, 'The Venue' used to... [more]

Event Date: November 2, 2008
Event Venue: The Venue, Oran Mor, Glasgow

Having only seen Tina C before on the rather rubbish Sky1 'Eurotrash' clone 'Yanky Panky' I wasn't sure how good this would be. Plus a half price ticket offer arrived in my Inbox a day or so before. Uh-oh tickets not selling I thought.
The space itself, 'The Venue' used to be the church crypt and as such was a bit of a tight squeeze for Tina & one of her taller line-dancers once up on the rather high stage!
As for my fears of a low turn out, yes there were a few empty seats dotted about, but it wasn't noticably empty.
This was a 'spoof US political rally' show with Tina campaigning for the Presidency, urging us in her theme song to 'Tick My Box' along with a cute audience action. Although obviously written recently it was nice to have a very topical joke thrown in about Obama's illegal alien aunt that only just surfaced in the press. The whole show flew by with a mix of satire, country and a nice Q&A session to enhance the 'rally' feel. The jokes, puns and innuendo came thick and fast, culminating in red, white and blue balloons flying everywhere just like a real rally. Afterwards Tina was happy to pose for photos & sign CDs, along with a first for her, signing my balloon! ;o) [less]

Delete the Banjax treated a packed theatre to an hour of fast paced sketch comedy with plenty of laughs. They are perhaps lacking the surreal invention of Pappy's Fun Club, but they are just starting out and they look very promising. Their live show, Your Money Or Your Life, uses... [more]

Event Date: November 15, 2008
Event Venue: Etcetera Theatre

Delete the Banjax treated a packed theatre to an hour of fast paced sketch comedy with plenty of laughs. They are perhaps lacking the surreal invention of Pappy's Fun Club, but they are just starting out and they look very promising. Their live show, Your Money Or Your Life, uses a charity telethon as a framing device but crams in plenty of ideas. This is their successful Edinburgh fringe show with some additional material. The four performers have plenty of energy and Caroline Jones in particular commands attention as a seriously disturbed quiz contestant in Dear, Oh Dear, Oh Diary, one of the new sketches. Other highlights include Do The Math, or how to survive the credit crunch, Crushed Ice, a bickering experimental dance troupe,  and God's Fingers, a psychopathic evangelical duo with their own school who bring the show to a rousing conclusion. Good fun. [less]