Liverpool Daily Post - Comedy Blog

All change for Laughterhouse

2009-11-12T11:55:31Z

Capital of Comedy changes name and branches out

]]>

The established comedy nights at the Slaughterhouse pub will now be accompanied every weekend with gigs at the Slug and Lettuce on North John Street.

Both will now be named Laughterhouse and the Slug and Lettuce nights - which are being staged to cope with sell-out demand at the Slaughterhouse - begin on November 27 and 28.

Acts such as Reg D Hunter, Lucy Porter, Keith Carter, Neil Fitzmaurice, Tom Stade and Phil Nichol, alongside local favourites, are promised.

For more information see www.laughterhousecomedy.com or call 0151 728 9898.

Glorious, victorious Eddie Izzard

2009-11-10T08:58:24Z

The second coming of this comedy icon does nothing for my image as a hopeless 90s throwback

]]>

My life, 2009: On the TV - downloaded episodes of David Cross's cult US 90s sketch show Mr Show. On the iPod (at least it's not a discman) - Pearl Jam. And live on stage - Eddie Izzard. If it's true your self image often sticks to that of your formative years I'm in the middle of a very nasty nostalgia fest. I might start fancying Christian Slater again, or wearing tie dye dresses.

So it wasn't the plan to go and see Eddie Izzard on his Liverpool dates last week. It all reminded me too much of the young me, sitting around at uni in Hull with my housemates, watching his show Glorious on video, yelling catchphrases like "I'VE LOST MY COMEDY" or "IT'S A SERIES OF SMALL WALLS" at each other. Time to move on and embrace the 21st century.

But as the dates neared, it seemed too good an opportunity to miss. It was Izzard who first tailored his act to an arena audience and I wanted to see how he did it with an inkling he'd still be the daddy of them all (possibly not difficult). I wanted to be in the same room as the man who'd taken it upon himself to run 43 marathons in 51 days (and will still do an "impromptu marathon" before a gig if the mood takes him). I even found his die hard belief in the fundamentals of the Labour party quite endearing. And his 'let's all work together in a big ball of Euro togetherness' ethos is so friendly, intelligent and open - I think I love him a little bit. I had to go, he was only down the road.

But arena comedy is dubious, and often dull. Would Izzard have some tricks up his sleeve? Of course he did. First of all was the set, huge Egyptian style pillars and screens that could have come from the stage of a large scale West End musical. It immediately evoked the themes he would touch upon during the night - life, the universe and everything. And nothing, of course. And monkeys, squirrels, giant squids. Biblical themes.The foundations of modern language. The most complex of theories turned into deceptively simple gags. The big set really helped to create an atmosphere, leaving Izzard victorious where other arena players, shoved on into the bare spotlight (and in some cases, should have been hauled off by the neck in a comedy crook) and left vulnerable in front of thousands.

The old trademarks, like scribbling imaginary notes to himself on his hand if a joke whizzes over the head of the crowd, are comforting. He even makes mention of his old beekeeping routine off of the 90s ("do beekeepers ever just suddenly freak out when they realise they're covered in bees?"), which was sweet. There's nothing topical, very little personal, just the workings of a unique mind thinking big (and little) things.

The adoring Echo Arena crowd may have been several thousand strong but despite that there was this feeling of having the man all to yourself. An adorable stage presence, for one night only, everyone wanted to be in Eddie's world, monkeys, squirrels, giant squids and all.

Curb Your Enthusiasm? Exactly, etc

2009-10-16T13:54:35Z

Curb Your Enthusiasm has become a laugh-free zone THERE I SAID IT

]]>

Season seven of Curb has begun on British TV (More 4). I've scanned a few US sites for an idea of how it's gone down and it seems to have been typically very well received, which is pretty much what you'd expect. And, of course, any fule no that this series includes the long-heralded Seinfeld reunion, and you wouldn't want to mess with that if you didn't know what you were doing.

But so far, so bad. It's all gone horribly wrong. The season premiere had everything curling as I cringed my way through 30 painful minutes - and not in the usual Curb way.

This was laboured, this was obvious and the set ups were far too deliberate. There was, as always, good and funny performances (thumbs up as always to the brilliant Catherine O'Hara, who turns up as Marty Funkhauser's sister), but even Susie was boxed in by the limits of some horribly contrived plot turns.

Surely Susie and Larry would have mellowed out and stopped being so aggressively ascerbic with each other by now? Sure, their conflicts have always been the stuff of legend, but poor old Susie Essman seemed bored out of her mind, and as soon as she told Larry she wouldn't say who else was coming to her dinner party, the already fatigued viewer knew full well the table was bound to be populated with everyone he would manage to piss off over the course of the episode, and a rude and uncomfortable scene would ensue.

I can see how Larry wanting to dump Lorretta before she is diagnosed with cancer is classic Curb dark humour, but it just seemed a bit too gauche even for this show.

This episode was full of lame set ups for misunderstanding and abuse, and at this early point, just a shadow of its usual self. Perhaps familiarity has started to breed contempt. This opener played out like self-parody. I still have faith and await the entrance of the old Seinfeld gang with interest but this - after the unforgettable ending of season six - left a lot to be desired.

Finding their niche

2009-10-07T10:08:06Z

Tom Wrigglesworth turns gadget geek while Reginald D Hunter turns moral arbiter on a night in with only BBC4 for company...

]]>

Until that advert with the trumpeter from the Bond films finally convinces me the Sky Arts Pack is worth throwing my money down the drain for, I'll get my brainy TV from BBC4, thank you very much.

And I've been enjoying Tuesday night 70s and 80s nostalgia-fest Electric Dreams far more than anticipated (the plan to stay aloof, slightly condescending, and not be tempted to yell WE HAD ONE OF THOSE!! didn't last two minutes). The first week, I didn't catch the name of the shaggy-haired helper fine-tuning all the antiquated gadgets and helping the family with their adjustment to retro living. Last night I realised it was Edinburgh Award nominee Tom Wrigglesworth.

Well, we've all got to make a living somehow. But the more I learn about the stand ups who made this year's Edinburgh Awards shortlist (Wrigglesworth, John Bishop, Russell Kane and Idiots of Ants), the less winner Tim Key appeals.

After Electric Dreams there was the surely-adapted-from-radio-and-dear-me-it-should-have-stayed-there It's Only a Theory, only made watchable in the least by the superior presence of Reginald D Hunter.

Made on a budget of about 50p (a visual gag about a bumper crossword book turned out to clearly be three taped together phone books, leaving me wincing for my beloved Reg), this show - part Dave Gorman's Genius without the sense of fun, part Moral Maze without any sense of gravitas - which the usually funny Andy Hamilton just couldn't carry without apologising to some imagined affronted viewer every five minutes and rendered inexplicable guest team member Claire Balding completely inane, didn't work at all.

I'll keep watching as a weekly dose of Reg is no bad thing. But I won't like myself.

DJ Yoda takes comic on the road

2009-09-30T08:27:00Z

NEW tour National Video Vacation sees Carl Donnelly in tow

]]>

DJ Yoda's promising a "90-minute non-stop blast of astounding good time spontaneity", with his latest tour, the follow up to last year's acclaimed Magic Cinema Show.

Armed with his trusty Pioneer SVM1000, cutting edge beats and rare footage harvested from the deepest depths of YouTube all augmented with his own extensive archives, Yoda has stepped up his unique show, slipping underground grooves next to Sesame Street rave and mixing up Alan Sugar with electro, hip-hop and dubstep beats.

His people describe it as "a 100% brand new selection of magnificent manoeuvres that will see him shaking you to the core with unbelievable optical chicanery and deck wizardry". Ooh, exciting.

He is, apparently, the first ever DJ to be supported on tour by a stand-up comedian.

Carl Donnelly was nominated for 'Best Newcomer' at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards this year for his show Relax Everyone, It's Carl Donnelly.

Despite being a relative newcomer, his confident, conversational style and silly sense of humour has seen him garner a devoted fan base through performances at Brighton Fringe, Latitude, Bestival, Camp Bestival, country-wide tours and the Edinburgh Fringe as well as various radio appearances.

As well as Carl, the National Video Vacation will be graced with the presence of Geordie japesters, Taschenhat, who will be - it sez 'ere - "astounding one and all with their unimaginable musical mischief and mockery".

It rolls into Liverpool on Tuesday, October 27 at the O2 Academy on Hotham Street.

Jamie Carragher's comedy night

2009-09-04T16:00:44Z

So John Bishop didn't win the Edinburgh Comedy Award. What do they know. Console yourself with a comedy night at Jamie Carragher's.

]]>

John Bishop won't be there, I can't stress that enough. It's just that the picture above is proof that you do see the pair of them in the same room at the same time.

And with that tenuous link, you'll find gracing Cafe Sports Express on Thursday September 17 will be Keith Carter as Nige, Chris Cairns and Ste Porter, for the venue's first Scouse Humour evening.

Tickets for the do - at the Liverpool One restaurant, not the Stanley Street one - are £10 plus a bowl of scouse and you can't say fairer than that. For info call 706 7440.

Mickey Finn hosts charity event

2009-09-03T14:36:18Z

It's all in a good cause, etc

]]>

Comedian Mickey Finn will be the host of a charity event on Friday, September 4, in aid of Aigburth-based cancer support organisation Sunflowers.

The evening takes place at the The Dockers Club on Townsend Lane, Anfield, from 8pm, and will also include entertainment from two local singers and a disco.

Tickets are available on the door for £5.

Sunflowers is a free drop-in centre supporting people living with cancer, which offers benefits advice, counseling and alternative therapies as well as creative pasttimes.

For further information on the event, contact Glo Simmons on 0151 726 8934 or 07745 837007.

John Bishop up for Edinburgh comedy award

2009-08-27T13:27:58Z

SCOUSE comic has one in six chance of reinforcing our beloved 'best sense of humour' cliche

]]>

Our own, yes our very own John Bishop has been nominated for an Edinburgh Comedy Award.

The Carra-alike's latest one man show, Elvis has Left the Building - which he has been performing all month at the city's Pleasance Courtyard - impressed judges at the festival, who have shortlisted the Bootle comic alongside Russell Kane, Tim Key, Tom Wrigglesworth, John Richardson, and sketch troup Idiots of Ants.

The awards, which have previously been better known by the names of their past sponsors Perrier and if.com, have helped talent including Frank Skinner, Al Murray and Dylan Moran make a major breakthrough in their careers.

Producer Nica Burns, who has funded them this year, said: "The shortlist of six shows reflects an outstanding year of highly creative, original comedy performance dominated by stand-up."

It is the latest highlight in an incredibly succesful year for Bishop, who before Edinburgh was seen in his first acting roles, on the stage of the Royal Court in One Night in Istanbul, and on screen in teen drama Skins.

He recently revealed that after his Edinburgh run he will be filming a role "a long way from comedy" as a soldier in Iraq.

Bishop stands to win £8,000 and the chance to perform at a number of international comedy festivals. The winner will be announced on Saturday.

The Guardian's Paul MacInnes, one of the judges, said: "He's a dad, he's got kids, he sometimes puts the wrong fuel in his saloon car. It's the sort of stuff I would normally run a mile from. But such is Bishop's ability to deliver laughs, one after the other after the other, and so beguiling is his personality, that not only did I spend half my time in stitches, I left wishing more comedy could be like this."

Praise indeed. Good luck John!

Our Day Out the Musical - clips

2009-08-20T12:28:56Z

THREE weeks ahead of the Liverpool Royal Court refurb of the Willy Russell classic, a clip of rehearsal footage and behind-the-scenes interviews from cast members including Mickey Starke, Drew Schofield and Gillian Hardie is now available.

Go to http://www.youtube.com/user/ourdayoutthemusical to see.

The show runs from September 11 to October 17.

Glenn Beck in 'deliberately funny' shock

2009-08-20T10:37:19Z

Surely the strangest story of the week so far has to be the fact that Fox News super patriot Glenn Beck actually does stand up

]]>

Viewers of any Charlie Brooker programme or the Daily Show will be familiar with neo-Con lunatic Glenn Beck, in the news this week for calling Barack Obama a racist on national television.

There must be something in the air as the right certainly seems to be on the offensive these days - check out this odd op piece in The Telegraph, seemingly written by a T-1000, that has the likes of Robin Ince and Tim Minchin drawing rather bemused battle lines.

But back to Beck (pictured) - best known in the UK for the clip of his show in which he comes over so red white and blue he bursts into tears ("I love mah country.... and I fear for it", he famously sobs). Apparently he does that quite often. It's the kind of devisive Yankee oddity that makes the British exchange a collective shifty uncomfortable sideways glance a la Family Guy.

But even weirder was the revelation in the Independent's "Is Glenn Beck too right wing even for Fox News?" that when he's not pedalling the Murdochian agenda across the globe, he "moonlights on the comedy circuit".

What the?!

To Google, which reveals indeed he does. He refers to himself as "a poor man's Seinfeld", and, most disturbing of all, his latest show is a rally cry to "common sense".

*shudder*. Is there anything more worrying than an American Republican insisting their way of the world is common sense?

Open mic night

2009-08-18T15:58:55Z

New night open to any kind of act

]]>

Novas Contemporary Urban Centre on Greenland Street is sharpening up its act and kicking off a monthly open mic night.

Anyone who fancies having a go, including budding comics, it can get up and entertain from 6pm to 11pm in the Jamaica Rooms pub at the venue on Sunday August 30. A standard PA with 5 channel mixer, speakers, and mic with stand are provided, so all you have to bring is yourself.

From then on the idea is to host the night on the last Sunday of every month.

For more info, call 0151 708 3510 or check www.contemporaryurbancentre.org.

New comedy night on Wirral

2009-08-12T16:18:40Z

The irrepressible Tongue in Cheek lot head south to Wirral

]]>

Just a quick one to mention a new comedy night over the water which begins at Tallulas on New Brighton Prom at the end of the month.

Steve Royle, Stanley McHale and Milton Jones (hopefully more to come on him next week) along with MC Chris Cairns are heading the line up on what is apparently the first regular comedy weekend Wirral has ever had - on August 28 and 29.

Tallulas Live Lounge is situated above Wilkes Fairground and opposite Fort Perch Rock. Check out the website - it looks rather fun and boasts of featuring in a TV show called Strippers Indeed.

Tickets can be booked on 08444 77 1000, and all the acts you know and love including the likes of Keith Carter as Nige, Sully O'Sullivan and Daliso Chaponda keep the schedule busy until Christmas and beyond.

Tim Minchin to play Warrington

2009-08-06T11:17:49Z

Happily for us all, Tim Minchin's heading back this way

]]>

Ivory-tinklin', eyeliner smudgin' purveyor of comedy loveliness Tim Minchin is coming to Warrington's Parr Hall on September 4.

Nearly sold out, you'll have to move fast to get tickets from the box office on 01925 442 345.

Here's a bit of what you can expect:

U2 vs Dethklok

2009-08-03T11:04:03Z

Be afraid, be very afraid

]]>
I've blogged before about the virtues of Metalocalypse, a strange and disturbing cartoon series about a fictional metal band. It is so absurd, that the group in question, Dethklok, could only be a fictional band. Or could they? I'm starting to wonder.

So, I've taken the liberty of using Metalocalypse's rather eloquent Wikipedia page as a starting point to draw some rather disconcerting (and/ or, tenuous) parallels. Stay with me on this.

DETHKLOK: "In the series, Dethklok is a band which enjoys a popularity level unheard of in reality, ranking as the seventh largest economy on Earth by the second season."

U2: Rich-list botherers U2 are probably the nearest the non-animated world can get to this. The Irish are STILL protesting about the fact U2 are cheeky asset-protecting tax exiles. The Rolling Stones earn more, as it happens, but they don't tend to spend their spare time changing the world on the side.

DETHKLOK: "...Its popularity is such that impressionable fans will do anything its songs tell them to, even if that means death, which is usually the case..."

U2: Ixnay on the fatality, but "if you think U2 has played a role in changing the worlds of music, entertainment, popular culture, humanitarian relief, peace and social justice efforts - or has changed the world in you - then come join the conversation," welcomed North Carolina Central University. At their U2 ACADEMIC CONFERENCE held earlier in the year.

DETHKLOK: "If Dethklok endorses a product or service, competitors are quickly driven out of business."

U2: I noticed that U2 have managed to have the opposite effect, managing to jump into bed with Blackberry and iPod at once. It will probably make it easier for them to take over the world when the time comes.

DETHKLOK: "Organizations worldwide, ranging from governments to businesses, go out of their way to avoid hindering Dethklok..."

U2: Kind of like Blair, Mandela, Bush and the entire G8. In the course of my research (ie a quick google), I even found this, BONO'S POLITICS, which appears to be serious and has a genuine link to an Irish website which claims "give [Bono] the bully pulpit of the presidency of Ireland and he could transform it into a wondrous thing -- even match Barack Obama in terms of his world stature and influence."

DETHKLOK: "...to the point that the band is allowed to maintain its own police force..."

U2: Editing papers and liasing with world leaders can't be far off stamping one's authority all over the planet, et tu, Bono?

DETHKLOK: "..and can get away with any crime imaginable with virtually no repercussions, albeit the band is often too ignorant to even notice that they are committing illegal acts."

U2: Okay, so U2 don't go that far. But Bono's lyrics can definitely constitute a crime against music most of the time (lest we forget he once rhymed "mole" with "hole").

DETHKLOK: "The members of Dethklok tend to cause disaster wherever they travel, and anything remotely associated with them likewise tends to attract civil unrest simply by existing.."

U2: Again, not quite such a big deal, but go back to the tax exile thing. The small minority of Irish folk who don't live up the band's collective bum really aren't happy and it's been THREE YEARS.

DETHKLOK:"... Dethklok concerts are so notoriously violent that those attending are required to sign "pain waivers" at the entrance, releasing the band from legal liability in the very likely case they are killed or maimed. "

U2: U2 concerts are so notoriously large scale that those attending are required to take out a second mortgage to cover the cost of being allowed to be there.

DETHKLOK: "...For example, in the premiere episode, Dethklok's concert begins with a giant metal box that serves as the band's stage being airlifted and parachuted onto location. It misses the landing area and crushes much of the audience, both by virtue of its landing and subsequent opening."

U2: sees Dethklok and raises them with the 360 tour:

(pic from the BBC)

That's racist (or probably not)

2009-07-30T08:45:11Z

WHO knew sporting a Hitler moustache would get Richard Herring into so much trouble? Oh...

]]>

Time to wade into a melee, dear reader. What on earth was the Guardian, THE GUARDIAN of all papers, thinking when earlier in the week it printed a very curious piece about comedy that has left right-thinking stand ups fuming and threatening to sue? (To reiterate, that's right-thinking, not right wing.)

Brian Logan's piece, The New Offenders of Stand Up Comedy, stopped short of calling Richard Herring and out-and-out racist, twisting his words to make him out to be a complete and utter miscreant. In the comic's latest show, Logan asserted, "he argues "that racists have a point"".

Oh, come on. This is Richard Herring we're talking about! The journo gave Scott Capurro both barrels, but there's a stark difference between the in-your-face boundaries he pushes and the clever ways Herring plays with an issue to make an interesting point.

It's a shame he won't be bringing the show in question, Hitler Moustache, to Liverpool in the foreseeable future (we tend to get him at the very end of a lengthy year of touring the same show, and as a colleague lamented, maybe he he should have stuck to talking about yoghurt. Or cocks. Like he has in the past). Because this one, I gotta see.

I didn't bother with his last one, Headmaster's Son, because as much as I enjoy his work, as I'd seen quite a few of his last tours and knew the schtick. But this is a different matter, and it's all down to the C-word (context, dear reader, context).

"To have those contentious lines quoted our of context, with absolutely no explanation of what else takes place can have no other effect than to make the casual (and even the quite careful) reader assume that I am a racist," Herring has written on his blog (full story here).

'It is true that I do utter those words, but it is followed by a smart and interesting routine about our attitudes to race and ethnicity and then about 40 minutes of me railing against the BNP and encouraging people to stand up to fascism.

'He makes me sound glib, racist and needlessly controversial."

This, of course, is afforded an extra layer of humour by wondering just how funny it would look to see Herring argue this out in a similar manner if he's still got the Hitler moustache. Then again, Father Ted did that first.

The brilliant Brendon Burns is also apoplectic about how he was perceived in the Guardian piece, and Dave Gorman is standing up for his stand up pals here.

What on earth has actually happened here?! Sadly for us all, it seems the pitiful shadow of Sachsgate continues to loom large.