A great night at The Hollybush, (Cradley Heath). The crowd was warm and the acts delivered some great performances. Everyone would have left feeling satisfied with the free entertainment they had received, however Sausage lovers would’ve been outraged! Mr Dave was too busy turning scouring pads into wigs that he forgot to defrost the bread and put the sausages in the oven…
The evening’s compare was BRUISED FOURSIDES with his chip paper chin and his various wigs, these ranged from real wigs to bits of rag left lying around the place. There we go. The first act that Bruised introduced was...
MICKEY SHARMA, Trying out some of his new material this seasoned act worked the room very well. Interacting with the audience and setting up a running joke that the other acts could follow. His new material worked well and he got plenty of laughs from all around the room with his diverse act, ranging from his relationship, family to ethnicity. A great start to the action packed evening.
Second up was LEE MCLAUGHLAN a new face to the scene, He had his work cut out for him to follow such a great first act and unfortunately he couldn't keep the rooms spirit up. He showed fear and it won out unfortunately. He had some jokes with potential but his delivery was a little slow. Waiting to see where he was taking the joke left most scratching their head. He needs to maybe work with more obvious and less drawn out material.
Next up was another new face DAVE POLLARD with a mix of one liners and some controversial jokes about ethnicity, his daughter and his girlfriend Lucy. He got the buzz back in the room. For a newbie he had good stage presence and he had the confidence of a budding pro.
We then stopped for a short break.
After the much needed break we kicked off the second half with JAY HANDLEY trying out some new material, had a lot of potential in places but I felt he was trying to make it too current and deep. His comedy worked well when he didn't try and go to beneath the surface. Politics only works in comedy if you can achieve the very awkward angle that's needed. In a nutshell it felt too forced.
To follow another new act JAN BLAZAK He opened his act on the obvious, he's polish the rest of his act was based on his experience as an undateable. He had in my opinion a very misogynistic view that left a few women in the audience in stunned silence and his coarse language was overused. If you like your comedy aggressive Jan is exactly what you're looking for. I feel if he toned down the anger his material could work better. But the room tittered at him.
We had another short break until Bruised Foursides kicked off the next load of acts with...
NIGE LOVELL, He introduced himself and if it wasn't obvious from his accent gave us a little insight in to his roots. Again had the room tittering but I found his act to be a little flat in places, But he did try to interact with the audience which gained him positive results. His stage presence was very confident and assured.
HELEN JONES was up next with apparently only her second performance in her comedy career, She went into her heritage about being English in a Welsh world whilst growing up. Her autobiographical set got a few laughs and some positive results and she ended on a good note. I feel her act could do with filling a little but for a second performance she was entertaining. Her lack of confidence and nerves didn't show through her act at all.
To Follow was JAMES HATELY with a very Surreal look at himself and the bizarre world that seems to occupy the space between his ears. He was a real crowd pleaser and everyone seemed to enjoy his performance. He seemed very confident in his material and was able to turn his everyday situations into funny encounters. Definitely one of my favourite acts of the night.
After another short break we were introduced to a young guy from Stoke, SHAUN PACZKOWSKI that made a similar reference to Jan about his Polish heritage. I felt he stumbled around a little and wasn't too sure what his inspiration was. He had gags about McDonald and how he loves fast food. However compared to some of the other acts I just felt this one was left a little wanting.
We were treated to another well-known and experienced final act. AL GRANT During Bruised Foursides introduction distributed his home-made musical instruments This seemed to please audience members. Along with his gags and one liner’s he introduced us to his partner in crime - his guitar, along with some of his X-rated songs. I think the crowd had such a great night at this point and he was such a familiar regular that his performance wasn't over worked.
All in all it was a great night at The Holly Bush, a few acts still have some way to go but I have definitely experienced worse comedy nights.
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