Review of Fun House Comedy Club
 | "Good old fashioned stand up" by Anna Lord for remotegoat on 03/03/08 |
It's a new venue for this monthly dose of comedy, but this didn't seem to detract from the number of people present or the jovial atmosphere. There was a hint of Phoenix Nights about the Hillsborough Club. The Lounge itself was laid out like an office Christmas party or a bingo hall with the tables in long parallel lines along the room at right angles to the stage.
The compere Spiky Mike got the proceedings underway by asking the audience to shuffle the tables and chairs forward towards the stage, immediately creating a cosy and relaxed mood as we all shambled forward. A few minutes of topical chatter and whooping later and the crowd was sufficiently warmed up for the evening's first act.
On bounded Stephanie Davies, a newly single scouser imparting confessional tales of train toilets, internet dating and flatulence. The women in the crowd seemed to enjoy Davies warts and all approach and there was much nodding in agreement throughout the set. The male audience looked slightly embarrassed at hearing a feminine petite blond discuss trapped wind - would they have reacted the same way if Davies happened to look like Jo Brand?! Davies held her own and won them over with her glib, quick witted banter.
Next up was Chris Roach and the evening took on a noticeably more 'laddie' tone. The first few minutes was devoted exclusively to football - I don't know too much about football, but he evidently said all the right things because the audience was putty in his hands after that. He went on to share musings on parenting, hoodies, sat navs with speech impediments, and an imaginative solution to the obesity crisis - "give fast food employees the same discretionary rights as bar staff so they can refuse to serve anyone they think has had a few too many already". He occasionally teetered on the margins of good taste, but the punters forgave him and he went down a storm.
Finally the headline act, Greg ("named after the pope not the pie shop") Cook took to the stage. He could have stood on the stage and recited the shipping forecast to a captive audience such was the presence he commanded, but fortunately for us, he did not opt for this and instead told some great gags. Greg Cook is smart, really smart. He told the audience how his brother was killed by heroine - a wax work of Joan of Arc fell and crushed him in Madame Tussauds. I was left wishing we'd seen a little more of this sharp intelligence, instead of vegetarian jokes and supermarket annoyances, but nevertheless, Cook's set was slick and perfectly timed.
If you like your comedy exclusively surreal and edgy then this may not be for you, for this is stand up of the traditional type with its feet firmly planted in the real world, with observations we can all recognise. A thoroughly enjoyable Friday night with a warm atmosphere (though probably best leave the Sheffield United shirt at home!) and you can be assured of good quality acts.
| Event Venues & Times | |
| finished | Park | Wadsley Lane, Hillsborough, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S6 4EB |
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