"A Seriously Funny Attempt To Get The Serious Fraud Office In The Dock"

[Backstage With Slowdive]

Later this month, see here.

I saw a poster for this last night, and after some thought decided I didn't fancy that line-up enough to pay £20 for it. Knock half the names off and doubel every else's stage time, I might go for it.

Still, some folks round here might be interested.

[quadraspazzed]

Mark Thomas
Omid Djalili
Mark Steel
....
Stewart Lee

That there would probably be my ideal comedy-fest lineup of still living British comedians (and Kitson and Hardy). Shame about the rest really.

[Famous Mortimer]

I'm down in London the next weekend, and can't afford two in a row, or I'd be there in a shot. Sounds like a great night out.

[Village Branson]

How much is it?
Don't want to ring ticketmaster just to find out the price.

[TheAdmiral]

The tickets from www.ticketzone.co.uk are £20 or £22.50, presumably not including those stupid extra fees they always put on top.

I'd like to go, but I'm really not sure I can afford this...

[Backstage With Slowdive]

I've heard this was quite good, apart from Russell Brand being rubbish and Josie Long not being as good as her Tedstock appearance.

[Godzilla Bankrolls]

I've heard this was quite good, apart from Russell Brand being rubbish and Josie Long not being as good as her Tedstock appearance.

What? That was her "Rowan Atkinson at the Secret Policeman's Ball" moment? Sweet Fucking Christ. All she did was an old Harry Hill routine, with a bit of S Lee chucked in for bad measure.

[slempike]

I enjoyed it, although my disdain for Jo Caulfield has increased after her blurb included a quote about how she makes you feel better about female stand-up. She makes me feel considerably worse about stand-up in general most of the time. It was the first time I'd seen Josie Long, and I think I might actually enjoy her stuff in a smaller venue. Does she always do those excruciating hand gestures, or was it genuinely because she was nervous?

The Guardian review took issue with the fact that Russell Brand was the only comedian to engage with the cause, but really all that he did was trot out his faux-naive explaining it in simple terms thing, and called the Saudi Prince "Princess Leia", because "he sounds like he should be in Star Wars!". I was quietly hoping that Stewart Lee's set which was the bit from 41st Best Stand-Up on CBB racism would include the Russell Brand bit as he was on just before, but sadly not.

[Backstage With Slowdive]

What? That was her "Rowan Atkinson at the Secret Policeman's Ball" moment? Sweet Fucking Christ. All she did was an old Harry Hill routine, with a bit of S Lee chucked in for bad measure.

No, the point was the person who saw it also saw Tedstock, and when reporting back he said "Josie Long was ok, not as good as she was at Tedstock". Not actually implying that that was any kind of triumph, merely using it as the only available yardstick. Tedstock was the only time either of us saw/heard her act (I don't count reading scraps iof transcripts on this forum).

[Godzilla Bankrolls]

Phew.

And yes, she always does those gestures.

[mcbpete]

It was an excellent night. The second half in particular was great and a fantastic surprise act by Bill Bailey too.

[Village Branson]

A very good night and one in the eye for all my friends who thought it would be too political, as you'd barely be able to tell if you just turned up.

Maybe that's a criticism of the acts, as they didn't address the topic, just recite their routines, but that's all I was hoping for, having not seen any of the current routines.
Russell Brand's getting outraged at the wrong moment schtick was good:

"BAE have been selling weapons to the Saudis"
"They what! The basta-oh that's ok that bit?"


Other than that, if I'd seen many of the acts then it wouldn't have been worth the money, but as it were it was a top price to see lots of comedians I like doing their newish material, and it seemed like a good enough cause I'm not gonna lie I went for the laughs.

A mention to Robin Ince who made the slight extra effort to get his mate who plays the accordion along to do some material not from his current line.

[Godzilla Bankrolls]

Martin White? You mean he didn't do Song 2, Toxic or Backstreet's Back... again?