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The new "What Stand Up Have You Seen Lately?" thread

Started by Small Man Big Horse, July 16, 2016, 08:16:30 PM

Previous topic - Next topic
I saw an hour-long version of Kiri's show at Machynlleth and it was outstanding. I mentioned in the Mach thread at the time that it takes a special talent to quickly switch from pure filth to white supremacy and trans rights in front of 500-strong Saturday night crowd without losing them. A five-star show. She deserves to be massive.

Small Man Big Horse

Jordan Brookes - This Is Just What Happens - I'm a big fan of Brookes and have seen all of his shows now, mostly live but one thanks to NextUp, and this is really great, but not quite up there with his best work. In some ways it felt like a high polished work in progress as there's a couple of bits which tail off, or just didn't make me laugh in the way I wanted to. I fee harsh being so negatives as there are aspects which has me laughing a huge amount
Spoiler alert
(the dream about his Uncle, response to being called ugly, the beginning and his chair gymnastics, the ending)
[close]
, and it's strong throughout, but sometimes it felt like he was purposefully deflating the room after a high energy bit, and yeah, while it's mostly fantastic the odd bit fell flat. Right now it's a 3.75/5 show, but I imagine once it hits Edinburgh it'll be more consistent and will get the acclaim he deserves.

Pink Gregory

#482
I appear to be stood 6 good paces away from Sunil Patel.  He's sat on a chair having a vape by some sort of historical fountain.

Anyway, Harry Hill - WIP jesus, feel like I've been hit by a train, don't think he even stopped for breath; jackhammer gags evolving into surprisingly elaborate clowning that I really wasn't expecting.  Wasn't sure what to expect, but he's Harry Hill for a reason.

edwardfog

Sounds like something Sunil would do.

That Harry Hill show is extraordinary. Going to take some beating to shift it from my number one spot this year

Small Man Big Horse

Caught an afternoon of work in progress shows at 2Northdown:

Jen Ives: Peak Trans - An already very strong show from Jen who won me over very early on and the laughs came thick and fast. It did still feel like a work in progress show, with some short bits of material that she was testing out for the first time and so it was slightly scrappy at times, and which is why I'm only rating it 3.75, but this is another show where I'm sure the finished version will be something special

Siblings: Siblage - Whereas this felt pretty complete, and started off (for me) really badly as the two pretend to be stage technicians and the joke doesn't go anywhere. At this point I had a bit of a sinking feeling about the duo, only for every sketch that followed to be really funny, and far, far better, plus there's a couple of songs, and I'm a sucker for those, so this gets 4/5.

Luke Rollason: Bowerbird - Lots of prop comedy from Luke which mostly works,if you were to be a little mean you might describe him as "Son of Spencer Jones" which is unfair as Jones hardly invented the style, and Rollason certainly has a lot of original material which is really funny. The odd bit felt flawed though, and it needs to be tighter throughout, but I still enjoyed it and while I doubt I'll see the finished version of this, I'll be interested to see what he does next year. 3.5/5

DrGreggles

Saw Kitson doing (supposedly) a WiP tonight.

Bits and bobs of written sections in there, but most of it was him just fucking about - and Kitson just fucking about is probably my favourite Kitson.

Hilarious anyway - and over 2 hours.

edwardfog

Quote from: Small Man Big Horse on May 29, 2022, 08:03:11 PMCaught an afternoon of work in progress shows at 2Northdown:

Jen Ives: Peak Trans - An already very strong show from Jen who won me over very early on and the laughs came thick and fast. It did still feel like a work in progress show, with some short bits of material that she was testing out for the first time and so it was slightly scrappy at times, and which is why I'm only rating it 3.75, but this is another show where I'm sure the finished version will be something special

Siblings: Siblage - Whereas this felt pretty complete, and started off (for me) really badly as the two pretend to be stage technicians and the joke doesn't go anywhere. At this point I had a bit of a sinking feeling about the duo, only for every sketch that followed to be really funny, and far, far better, plus there's a couple of songs, and I'm a sucker for those, so this gets 4/5.

Luke Rollason: Bowerbird - Lots of prop comedy from Luke which mostly works,if you were to be a little mean you might describe him as "Son of Spencer Jones" which is unfair as Jones hardly invented the style, and Rollason certainly has a lot of original material which is really funny. The odd bit felt flawed though, and it needs to be tighter throughout, but I still enjoyed it and while I doubt I'll see the finished version of this, I'll be interested to see what he does next year. 3.5/5

Three shows I would have liked to have seen. I think I saw the first ever run through of Peak Trans during which Jen seemed quite drunk. I imagine it's changed quite a bit since then. Hoping that her 2nd show is 100% New York Jen which is one of the funniest things I've ever seen at The Paddock.

I like Siblings okay but they seem unusually derivative sometimes. The Siblinginging had large parts seemingly taken wholesale from Jordan Brookes and Ellie & Natasia. I'd call them nepotism babies but they haven't really got much to show for it yet

Still yet to see a Rollason solo show but I would like to. He's so funny as part of Privates

edwardfog

Quote from: DrGreggles on May 29, 2022, 11:23:50 PMKitson just fucking about is probably my favourite Kitson.

Agree 100%. World's funniest man off the cuff - not a good playwright

Small Man Big Horse

Quote from: edwardfog on May 30, 2022, 08:08:33 AMThree shows I would have liked to have seen. I think I saw the first ever run through of Peak Trans during which Jen seemed quite drunk. I imagine it's changed quite a bit since then. Hoping that her 2nd show is 100% New York Jen which is one of the funniest things I've ever seen at The Paddock.

I like Siblings okay but they seem unusually derivative sometimes. The Siblinginging had large parts seemingly taken wholesale from Jordan Brookes and Ellie & Natasia. I'd call them nepotism babies but they haven't really got much to show for it yet

Still yet to see a Rollason solo show but I would like to. He's so funny as part of Privates

Apologies for the late reply, and this was my first time seeing any of the above so I didn't really know what to expect. Jen was definite getting the biggest laughs, and she has that naturally relaxed and naturally funny stage presence which led me to think the show really will be fantastic when finished.

I'd not known anything about Siblings but I didn't detect anything "Brookes-esque" in it (and I'd seen him the night before so he was pretty fresh in my mind), it's not reinventing any wheels but it was nicely daft throughout. And I've never seen Privates, but will definitely check them out if I can after your recommendation.

edwardfog

#489
Conner O'Malley
Saw the first UK show (?) of this US alt comedy darling last night at Moth Club. He's best known for inventive and strange youtube videos and appearances on stuff like Joe Pera Talks With You and I Think You Should Leave. This was very funny, more relaxed than I was expecting from the amount of screaming and gunge he uses in his videos. Instead he tells imaginary stories from his life as an American Scumbag, like how his uncle tattoos the Thanksgiving turkey with the Blue Lives Matter Punisher symbol. He's got a very literary sense of detail which can lead to some wonderful high-density lines, inflected with the voice/mind-virus of Dril (My wife and I are getting deplatformed on Pornhub; you might recognise our videos - we're the ones with Family Guy turned all the way up in the background*). I got the sense a few times that the material would be just as funny written down as being performed, which I guess is a big compliment. He ended with a 20 minute showing of a film which was an odd choice but it was a very good film so no complaints here.

*slightly butchered

Small Man Big Horse

Quote from: edwardfog on June 03, 2022, 10:08:08 AMConner O'Malley
Saw the first UK show (?) of this US alt comedy darling last night at Moth Club. He's best known for inventive and strange youtube videos and appearances on stuff like Joe Pera Talks With You and I Think You Should Leave. This was very funny, more relaxed than I was expecting from the amount of screaming and gunge he uses in his videos. Instead he tells imaginary stories from his life as an American Scumbag, like how his uncle tattoos the Thanksgiving turkey with the Blue Lives Matter Punisher symbol. He's got a very literary sense of detail which can lead to some wonderful high-density lines, inflected with the voice/mind-virus of Dril (My wife and I are getting deplatformed on Pornhub; you might recognise our videos - we're the ones with Family Guy turned all the way up in the background*). I got the sense a few times that the material would be just as funny written down as being performed, which I guess is a big compliment. He ended with a 20 minute showing of a film which was an odd choice but it was a very good film so no complaints here.

*slightly butchered

I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it so much, I've a ticket for tonight though am struggling a bit after a shitty night's sleep and the fact that I finish work at 6.30pm and have dash across London to get there. What time did he come out on stage, out of interest, and how long did he perform for?

Tokyo van Ramming

Quote from: Small Man Big Horse on June 03, 2022, 11:22:01 AMWhat time did he come out on stage, out of interest, and how long did he perform for?

Support acts, Fred? someone (very good) & then Lolly Adefope began at 8 and O'Malley came on at probably 8:30. He did 30-40 mins and then the 20 min video.

I hope you make it, I had an absolute blast.

Small Man Big Horse

Quote from: Tokyo van Ramming on June 03, 2022, 03:33:39 PMSupport acts, Fred? someone (very good) & then Lolly Adefope began at 8 and O'Malley came on at probably 8:30. He did 30-40 mins and then the 20 min video.

I hope you make it, I had an absolute blast.

Thanks for that, it's hugely appreciated, I managed to nap during my lunchbreak so I'll definitely make it, and I'm relieved that I won't have to rush if he's not on until half 8.

edwardfog

Have a nice time. 1st support was Freddie Meredith aka groomofthestool. He's a London hipster comedy weirdo who did a lot of stuff with Sam Campbell during the brief wonderful period when Cambo was in town. He does a bunch of very weird videos on his insta not a million miles away from O'Malley's own. I have complex feelings about him in that he sometimes feels a little too mannered and trendy, but his set last night was very funny

Small Man Big Horse

We had Phoebe Walsh (at times great, but I had the feeling her material would work better in the context of a longer show) and Tim Key, who was on fantastic form, with 20 minutes of poems which were 90% of the time mocking The Queen / Jubilee / Royal Family.

Conner was fantastic too, if I'm to be honest I'd have preferred an extra twenty minutes of stand up rather than the film, not that I didn't really enjoy it, but I'm sure it'll be released online at some point and O'Malley was such a great performer I just wanted to see more of him. I'm so glad I went though, it was one of the best gigs I've seen in ages, and I've been going a bit stand up mental this year so it's up against a lot of competition. 4.5/5 (and it would be higher if it wasn't for the physical misery aspect).

I'll never, ever go back to Studio 9294 though, I'm sure it's okay if you're  one of those young people you get these days (who did make up 90% of the crowd), but I'm an elderly gentleman at 47, and having to sit on benches meant that by the time Connor came on my back was in agony, and my arse is deeply upset with me too!

AllisonSays

Agree with all of that SMBH, especially the benches, haha! Phoebe Walsh had some good lines but didn't quite settle into it; Tim Key is a hilarious force of nature, his crowd work is incredibly funny; and Conor O'Malley I thought was very funny but suffered slightly in comparison to Key. There was a guy behind me chatting total shit the whole time - he told O'Malley he taught 'ceramics and maths, to adults' - but it was a great shoe in the end.

Small Man Big Horse

Quote from: AllisonSays on June 04, 2022, 12:02:41 PMThere was a guy behind me chatting total shit the whole time - he told O'Malley he taught 'ceramics and maths, to adults' - but it was a great shoe in the end.

Christ, that would have driven me mad, I can't stand people who do that at comedy gigs. The level of heckling in general was quite poor too, just shouting out things like "Joe Pera" and the name of one of his video's made no sense to me, though at least Conner shut them down quickly.

When it comes to Tim Key, now I know we've discussed bootlegging on the site before, and I've always been against it, and thought it not fair to video a performance which may see the comedian working on new material, or just stuff he or she doesn't want out there in the wider world. But, um, well, for reasons I can't explain I did video most of Key's set, I'm not putting it on youtube publically but if anyone wants to see it send me a pm and I'll send you the link.

edwardfog

WIPs

Celya AB - Swimming
She's a very fast rising star and an absolute factory of charming one-liners on twitter. In this show she reports her agent saying she has it all: a good-looking bisexual French woman of half-Algerian descent, with a very winning stage presence and some funny observational material with a very broad base appeal. You have to assume she's going to have a massive Edinburgh and some heavy panel show rotation in her near future. Although she's not really adventurous enough for my tastes, it's hard to imagine anyone truly disliking this show, which mostly focuses on her outsider's perspective of the UK, tied in with plenty of universal observational material about phones and movies etc. She delivers her material quite softly and slowly, which sometimes gave the room a sleepy atmosphere between laughs, but she's such pleasant company I can't really begrudge her anything.

Sarah Keyworth - Lost Boy
Following Celya, this was another pretty slick mainstream set from a safe pair of hands. I was hoping for a bit more gossip on her split from Catherine Bohart (whose new show covers it extensively so I'm just looking for balance you understand) but she's clearly decided she doesn't want it to be another Robins/Pascoe thing, which is probably wise. Instead, the first half is some solid if conceptually unthrilling stuff about the pandemic, being in a relationship, moving house etc. The second half reflects on the passing of her writing partner Paul Byrne, who died earlier this year. There are great jokes spread throughout the whole hour, but when she talks about Paul there's a lot of feeling in there too, in a way where you can tell (at this stage) that she's trying to hold back emotion rather than theatrically project it. Powerful stuff in its own way. Another strong show from her.

edwardfog

Is anyone else going to ArgComFest this year? I'm really looking forward to it.

The first time I went I was just starting to get into live standup, and it was such a great way to get an overview of some of the best stuff going up to Edinburgh. I think it really tipped me over the edge into a full on enthusiast. Incredible value as well.

Small Man Big Horse

Quote from: edwardfog on June 05, 2022, 11:57:34 PMIs anyone else going to ArgComFest this year? I'm really looking forward to it.

The first time I went I was just starting to get into live standup, and it was such a great way to get an overview of some of the best stuff going up to Edinburgh. I think it really tipped me over the edge into a full on enthusiast. Incredible value as well.

Sadly I won't be going as I've two things booked up for that weekend already. Have to say that despite loving stand up I do struggle with more than four shows in a day, I've been to a couple of small comedy festivals (and Edinburgh back in 2009), and unless I mix it up a bit and see either some sketch comedy, or serious theatre, I find my concentration begins to lapse in the fourth hour.

Sebastian Cobb

Going to bin Netflix at the end of the week before my sub rolls over, any specials worth watching? I think I've only seen the Greg Davies one.

PlanktonSideburns


Tokyo van Ramming

Yep, Nate. And the Acaster ones if you can fit them in.

Pink Gregory

Going Chippenham comedy festival in July

do know, have seen -

Wil Hodgson (genuinely my favourite standup, also the festival organiser)
Bethany Black (ace)
Sooz Kempner (yay)

do know, haven't seen -

Andrew O'Neill
Jo Caulfield

don't know, haven't seen -

Sam Michael & John Matthews
Juliette Meyers
James Dowdeswell
Katie Mitchell
Joe Wells
Dumb Belles


any of those familiar to anyone? 

edwardfog

I think I wrote about Joe Wells upthread. He's pretty solid. Lots of good material about his autism and some less strong political stuff

edwardfog

Quote from: Sebastian Cobb on June 07, 2022, 10:09:33 PMGoing to bin Netflix at the end of the week before my sub rolls over, any specials worth watching? I think I've only seen the Greg Davies one.

Catherine Cohen would be the big one for me.

The other essentials are probably Natalie Palamides, Hannah Gadsby, James Acaster, Maria Bamford.


Small Man Big Horse

Quote from: Pink Gregory on June 08, 2022, 06:45:45 AMJuliette Meyers
Juliette Meyers

I haven't seen her for a couple of years now but she used to be a regular at a comedy club near to where I grew up, she's fairly funny, has a solid ten minutes for sure, but I wouldn't rush to see a full hour and would be surprised if it contained anything shockingly original in it.

Pink Gregory

Quote from: Small Man Big Horse on June 08, 2022, 07:53:50 PMI haven't seen her for a couple of years now but she used to be a regular at a comedy club near to where I grew up, she's fairly funny, has a solid ten minutes for sure, but I wouldn't rush to see a full hour and would be surprised if it contained anything shockingly original in it.

They're all WIPs for the Fringe, so hopefully she's got something more than a polished ten for the clubs.

Small Man Big Horse

Quote from: Pink Gregory on June 08, 2022, 09:02:03 PMThey're all WIPs for the Fringe, so hopefully she's got something more than a polished ten for the clubs.

Oh I'm sure she has, and I know she's done other full length shows in the past, but there's never been anything that special about her club set that has made me want to seek out a full show. That might be a bit unfair though, and I know a good few comics who have a club set which is very different to when they do a whole hour.