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

[PlanktonSideburns]

Chloe Petts and Ed Gamble.

Ed surprisingly has got himself a surprisingly aggressive full volume delivery since we last saw him but packed tons of material onto a pretty tight, slick tour set (Electric).
Didn't mention taskmaster, did do some marriage stuff but it worked.

Chloe Petts, a decent 20-30 mins to a full theatre and went over well - got some genuine big laughs.

Saw petts in Aber in the winter, she was really great, some good, kindhearted drunk heckler work also

[Small Man Big Horse]

Not strictly stand up but I spent about ten minutes searching for the theatre thread I started a while back only to miserably fail, and both of them were live humour so possibly count. A bit.

Heathers - The Other Palace Theatre, Victoria - Big lavish and show-y West End musical adaptation of the cult eighties movie kind of plays it broad and gets away with it for the most part, though the way Veronica is portrayed as kind of goofy in the first half doesn't quite work. The second half sees her (and everyone else) on much better form, the idea of the ghosts of the deceased haunting Veronica is a fun one, and throughout the songs were pretty strong, though "My Dead Gay Son" and "Seventeen" were easily the stand outs. 4/5

Night On Boob Mountain - The Vaults Theatre, Waterloo - Three teenage girls mysteriously arrive on Boob Mountain swearing to be friends forever, occasionally taking to three microphones to belt out a tune about their lives, but when they discover object of affection Rex soon the girls friendship is tested, and an old witch living on the island makes the whole thing quite weird every so often, an aspect I wish there was a bit more of. There's a bit of a gap in the middle where it forgets it's a musical too, but it more than delivers on that front at the end, and this is close to being pretty special, though to get there the script needs a couple more drafts and one or two more songs thrown in. 3.75/5

And then something which definitely was stand up:

Paul F. Taylor - Molten Comedy -Billed as a fully improvised show, this was exactly that and so could have been dreadful, especially as there were only eight of us in the audience at The Bill Murray. Thankfully that wasn't the case and the majority of it was very funny stuff, and while the odd bit died flat on its arse Taylor was nicely self aware and so knew when to ditch a bit and move on, and due to really liking the tone and feel to his material he's someone I definitely plan to see again. 4/5

[Pink Gregory]

Quite excited for WIP Harry Hill now at Wells Comedy Festival

Also seeing Rob Auton, Kiri Pritchard-Mclean and Dane Baptiste, the latter of whom I haven't followed for a while so interested to see what he's doing.

[The Ombudsman]

I managed to get tickets, not to cats, but to Stewart Lee in September. It will be my first time seeing him live ever and I'm really looking forward to it.

I do want to get out more and see more stuff. I'd really like to see Rachel Fairburn. I have seen their All Killa No Filla live show and that was great.

[CaledonianGonzo]

I saw Rachel Fairburn's Maniac show last year and thought it was great.  Deadpan and mordant, but full of laughs.

[The Ombudsman]

I saw Rachel Fairburn's Maniac show last year and thought it was great.  Deadpan and mordant, but full of laughs.

Yes, I've heard other good things about her. I think you can get a download of one of her older shows so might look at getting that. Think she's great.

[Bobloblawslawbomb]

Anyone going to Lou Sanders show at the Lowry tonight and hasn't checked their emails, the show has been postponed til 4/5/22 due to illness.

[Chudraa]

Anyone going to Lou Sanders show at the Lowry tonight and hasn't checked their emails, the show has been postponed til 4/5/22 due to illness.

Brian Logon wrote in a review that she had gone on stage the other night having just been sick backstage, which, to be fair, is vintage Sanders

[Small Man Big Horse]

Bella Hull - Babycakes (WIP) - When Hull mentioned she'd only been doing stand up on the open mic circuit for a year I winced and thought this was probably going to be painful stuff, but in fact it was a pretty strong set, mostly revolving around her relationships and why they've gone wrong, but she has an interesting story about her parents as well. A confident performer who managed to save bits which were underdeveloped with a quick quip, my only complaint is that she arrived over ten minutes late and was off the stage in just over half an hour, which takes the piss a bit when you're charging £6 for a work in progress. 3/5 (but when the show is finished and a decent length I can imagine rating it higher).

The Mystery of Edwin Drood - A musical take on the unfinished Charles Dickens novel, this pretends we're watching the production in a Victorian musical hall and so there's some deliberate over acting and occasionally bickering between the cast, it's almost a little pantomime-esque but manages to avoid that by being smarter and containing some genuinely sweet songs along with the more amusing ones. And I loved it, I was enormously impressed by SEDOS (an amateur theatre group, though they have their own theatre and I'd suggest semi-pro would be a better description) who once again have put on a production that could be on at the west end, and for £18 a ticket this was a bargain. 4.75/5

[edwardfog]

I'm a Bella Hull fan too. Saw her do a WIP show with Charlie George and Izzy Askwith last year and thought all three of them were pretty exciting new talents, but Bella was my favourite

[paruses]

Yes, I've heard other good things about her. I think you can get a download of one of her older shows so might look at getting that. Think she's great.

Yes I got The People's Princess which is probably from 2019. I enjoyed it and was hoping she would be playing Mach (but isn't). Really enjoy her and KPM on All Killa (although I don't think one of the live shows would be for me. I likely unfairly think "Rocky Horror" for those sorts of things where the fans have nicknames).

[Pink Gregory]

Yes I got The People's Princess which is probably from 2019. I enjoyed it and was hoping she would be playing Mach (but isn't). Really enjoy her and KPM on All Killa (although I don't think one of the live shows would be for me. I likely unfairly think "Rocky Horror" for those sorts of things where the fans have nicknames).

There's a few in jokes but the live shows translate very well, I've been both in person and watched livestreams.  The two of them are nothing but consummate professionals when it comes to the podcast, and frankly I'm beyond glad that neither of them regard it as their main 'thing', because that would really ruin the fun.

You can find another of her shows (Her Majesty, I think?) on Go Faster Stripe

[edwardfog]

Joe Wells - Everything is an Attempt to Be Human (WIP)
Very much straight down the line alt comedy, mostly about autism and politics. Ticks all the usual boxes, including the crowbarred profound/sentimental bit. He has plenty of good lines and he's a solid performer, but it's hard to get too excited about.

Nina Conti - The Dating Show
A populist show where she puts away existential questions of what it means to be a ventriloquist and takes the masks out for an extended spin. The alchemy is always extraordinary to watch, where it feels like she can respond verbally (and funnily) to someone's body language before they even make the gesture. There's something genuinely supernatural about it, and when it works it's incredibly funny. This show suffers a little from diminishing returns as the segments get progressively slightly weaker, but still a great night out and something that everyone should experience at least once.

[BritishHobo]

I really like the idea of that, but I can't bear looking at them masks, they really freak me out. I'd just be looking at the floor the whole time.

[DrGreggles]

Wayne Dobson did it better in the 80s + magic

[lauraxsynthesis]

Joe Wells - Everything is an Attempt to Be Human (WIP)
Very much straight down the line alt comedy, mostly about autism and politics. Ticks all the usual boxes, including the crowbarred profound/sentimental bit. He has plenty of good lines and he's a solid performer, but it's hard to get too excited about.

Nina Conti - The Dating Show
A populist show where she puts away existential questions of what it means to be a ventriloquist and takes the masks out for an extended spin. The alchemy is always extraordinary to watch, where it feels like she can respond verbally (and funnily) to someone's body language before they even make the gesture. There's something genuinely supernatural about it, and when it works it's incredibly funny. This show suffers a little from diminishing returns as the segments get progressively slightly weaker, but still a great night out and something that everyone should experience at least once.

I saw the Dating Show on Monday. The Arts Theatre must be the worst venue in the West End. Or maybe most of their staff were off with Covid coz it was chaos. I never liked those masks so didn't have high expectations but it was an impressive show and increasingly funny. Lots of Monkey and a little bit of meta.

[edwardfog]

That's interesting I didn't notice any issues with the staff on Wednesday, although they had a couple of issues with the sound.

Not the ideal venue though either way. Half empty when I was there, and I think the show would have benefited from more intimacy

[edwardfog]

Saw a few interesting clown-adjacent shows at the April Fools festival this weekend. I think these were all WIP

Julia Masli - Choosh
A last minute replacement for Christian Brighty who came down with covid, this was my favourite thing I saw this weekend. Masli's a fantastic performer, really funny with very few words and a compellingly unreadable smile, aggressively not for everyone. It's kind of Charlie Chaplin meets Spencer Jones vibes. This show bills itself as pure silliness but it's also a family saga of two generations of Russian immigrants to America and an effective howl of anguish against capitalism. I missed the presence of the Duncan Brothers from Legs and Logs but this is a great show.

Jazz Emu - A Selection of Works
What it says on the tin, this is really just an album's worth of songs played almost back to back, with some minimal stand-up holding it together. The songs are so good though. Essential if you're a Flight of the Conchords fan, just make sure you're sitting somewhere where you can see the whole screen behind him.

Lorna Rose Treen - The Bone Wars
A first ever outing for this debut show about the real historical Bone Wars, still in pretty rough shape. She does a lot of clever business with an overhead projector which was the most interesting bit. Cool to commit to a single prop and then find all these unique innovations around it. The crowd was howling with laughter at jokes which were only gently amusing.

Elf & Duffy - Heist
A very silly heist show told with an extremely clever mix of mime, BSL and live foley effects. You have to pay attention to what's going on but there are some truly brilliant moments in the mix. If they gave it just a touch more polish they'd be winning awards left right and centre. I do find Elf a slightly annoying stage presence but it's the kind of annoying where I also think she's really funny and a genius and I'm in love with her.


Sadly double booked myself for CLOWNTS and John Robertson. Maybe someone else has the inside scoop

[Small Man Big Horse]

Huh, I'd not heard of that festival and it's a shame as there's some acts I'm really fond of there.

Quantum Leopard - This has been one of the most reliable mixed bill nights I've ever attended but it started off really badly with Will Seaward last night. I saw him at the same gig just prior to the pandemic kicking off and had really liked him, but tonight the spooky graveyard set story he told felt lazy and all too often depended on being overly weird, that's something I normally like too but I found this painful by the end. After that came five acts doing five minutes each and two were dreadful (with one doing impressions of people like Joanna Lumley and Jim Carrey that felt like I'd fallen through a timewarp to thirty years ago), though three were strong at least. And after that the gig returned to its normal fine form, Al Clark, Zoe Mitchell and Ian Lane all doing very funny ten minute sets, while Laura Lexx headlined with really great material about rescue dogs, slightly shakier gags about Asda and Lidl, but in general was as good as she normally is.

[edwardfog]

Wow, maybe I'm not keeping up as well as I thought I was but I haven't heard of any of those guys (apart from Laura Lexx of course). I appreciate these posts digging for diamonds in the rough

[The Ombudsman]

Saw Jon Ronson last week, while not necessarily a stand-up it was mainly humorous. Very much enjoyed it, it was a good show well adapted to the small stage I thought.

[Small Man Big Horse]

Wow, maybe I'm not keeping up as well as I thought I was but I haven't heard of any of those guys (apart from Laura Lexx of course). I appreciate these posts digging for diamonds in the rough

I only knew of Will Seaward due to a previous Quantum Leopards, and Ian Lane as he's a friend, but otherwise I'd be in the same boat as you.

[Memorex MP3]

Saw James Acaster there yesterday, some really good bits so I'm sure he'll wind up with a pretty good show out of it all. Not sure how serious he was about actively wanting heckles but playing a tiny club in London where his show has a massive waiting list probably isn't gonna result in very many; the one heckle there was was pretty good though.


Was meant to go to Frank Skinner beforehand but that fell through, managed to get the ticket resold on Dice on the day at least which IME has not happened even when a show has tons of demand (giving each person a whole hour on the day of the event means a resale ticket only gets offered to like 12 people max).

[up_the_hampipe]

Really wanted to see that Acaster show. So was it just bits/stories then and not an improvised type of thing?

[edwardfog]

I'm sure it'll be on the front page of netflix before too long


Live comedy this week:

John-Luke Roberts - A World Just Like Our Own, But... (WIP)
JLR's new show is an adaptation of his very good twitter thread about parallel universes, and a continuation of his last show It Is Better in that it repeats the same joke format for the entire hour. I really enjoy his stuff generally, and this is a good show, but it has a similar problem to the last one in that the repetition creates a lulling effect which can send the audience to sleep. For this WIP it was still loose enough to admit improvisation, personal disclosures and breaks in the format, which I hope he keeps in because the conceit badly needs to be broken up from time to time.

Nick Helm - WIP
I like swearing approximately as much as the next man but I guess I've never found it innately comedic or enough to sustain a routine inandofitself, which is where Nick Helm and I differ. He won me over a bit with this show, which was mainly just a rundown of the Police Academy movies followed by some pretty funny stuff about his antidepressants and then some pretty bad stuff about fucking Hitler's dad. People who enjoy his shtick will probably continue to enjoy him as he seems on good form right now.

Max & Ivan - Holmes and Watson
The first of a six-show retrospective they're doing at the Pleasance London right now for NextUp. This show is from 2011, and not bad, but you can tell weren't quite cooking with gas at this stage. It's very ambitious already but the characters aren't very distinctive yet, there's a bunch of mime which slows down the show, and the jokes aren't hitting the familiar heights. Still good, but studenty, feels a bit like a radio 4 sketch show. Ivan briefly passed out near the end of the show which was kind of alarming. Not sure if that's going to make the edit.

Max & Ivan - Con Artists
Their next show from 2013 is already way better, still using a lot of characters but much more coherent and memorable, with some great surprising choices in stagecraft. Some of the tricks from H&W come back (like Ivan's running animation) but they've found ways to develop them and make them 5x funnier. They just need to iron out a bit of the purple monkey dishwasher stuff and we'll be on to prime Max & Ivan. Ivan also managed to remain conscious for the whole runtime on this one.

[Memorex MP3]

Really wanted to see that Acaster show. So was it just bits/stories then and not an improvised type of thing?

He said the waiting list was 3000 people long. Seems like there's a good chance he'll be there again at the end of this month or early next month, I'd guess the show was made live at the exact same time as their weekly email went out a couple of weeks back as I saw it there and tickets were available without a waiting list or anything.

It was mostly stories as they popped into his head, wouldn't say they were fully evolved into bits. Some improv bits but there was a total of one audience contribution all show so not loads of room for it.


Not 100% on how Dice works but I'd have to imagine it's massively advantageous to join the waiting list for 1 ticket. Loads of people probably cancel 1 ticket so it must be way more likely to get offered 1 too?



What other venues are good for checking out for WIPs?

[up_the_hampipe]

Hopefully he'll do bigger venues, like Leicester Square Theatre or Soho Theatre, but usually places like Top Secret or 2Northdown also do WIPs.

Interesting about the show, nice to hear he's still going down the route of personal stories, as his last special was one of the best specials I've seen in a long, long time. I wonder whether the title is a new approach to handling audiences, whereas he used to have a problem with sabotaging shows completely based on a single heckler.

[Small Man Big Horse]

Jenny Bede The Musical - In which Bede promises to sing 25 different songs, many of which are based on already existing musicals, and tells the story of her time in mostly forgotten girl band Cherry Falls. There's one minor misstep with a Hamilton parody sung from the perspective of a self-obsessed supposed friend, but the rest of the songs were all really great, and the tales of life in Cherry Falls were both funny and disturbing. 4/5

The Extraordinary Time-Travelling Adventures of Baron Munchausen - This stars Nigel Lovell, Will Seaward and Alice Moore who all pretend to be good friends of the Baron, but they don't know where he is, and claim the only way to track him down is to tell three tales of the man based on audience suggestions. They then took turns picking a pre-written card out of a bag, and each story involved bringing up members of the audience to the stage, and this being a family show that was mostly children, some of whom were very funny but some of whom turned out to be very shy. I had a right old moan about Seaward's stand up set at Quantum Leopard last week but this kind of material suits him perfectly, it's very silly but very daft, and though it perhaps relies on audience interaction a little bit too much it can't be denied that some of the kids got the biggest laughs, and the big fat old man they got to pretend to be an abominable snowman at the end and who had to dance badly and then be tickled a lot was fucking amazing. 3.75/5

[SteveDave]

I saw Frank Skinner at the Bill Murray on Saturday and upon his arrival he told me off for leaving my empty pint glass on the stage as we were sat in the front row. It was a great show and he's lost none of his sharpness, but very unnerving to have him delivering lines right into my eyes at points.

[BritishHobo]

Do any of you go to these gigs by yourself? I've always been pretty content going to gigs and shows by myself if nobody else is interested in going, but I'm looking to start going to more shows, and one venue in particular seems to make a massive point on its booking form of acting like it's really weird if you're only booking one ticket. It warns you multiple times that you've only selected one ticket - as if that could only be an error - and at the end you literally have to tick a box to say you meant to only book one, like the loner cunt you are. It then emphasises several times that if you do have friends joining you you can link tickets with them later. As if you're in an actual conversation with someone and they're giving you an out so you can pretend you do have mates but they're just not booking their tickets yet, but you do have mates, honest. There's also a mandatory question as to why you're coming to the show, and the answers are all social occasions like stag dos or anniversaries.

Anyway, I booked that a couple of days ago, and today I've had a phone call from the venue to say they noticed I've only booked one ticket, and they wanted to check if I need to link my booking with any friends who are also going, so I had to say out loud that no, I'm going by myself, I'll be sat by myself, there'll be no friends beside me, just me, just myself, on my own, loner, alone at the comedy show, by myself.

I've gone solo to more comedy shows, music gigs, films, signings, festivals etc than I can count, always felt very secure and comfortable doing it. Never seen this in my life. It feels like exactly the mad paranoid scenario that my socially-awkward teenage self would have been terrified of happening the first time I went to an event on my own. The kind of fear that can only come from being so self-conscious that you mistakenly think everyone else is going to be as interested in your personal situation as you are.

Is this common? Has anyone else had this? Or do you all have friends, I guess, UNLIKE ME.