Friday 27 April 2012

The RoadHouse - 24.04.12


Warm, friendly and fun is how I would describe the atmosphere in The Road House - Open Mic Night. The MC is JAMIE TIPPING a very warm and approachable young man. With a wide variety of performances his approach was very relaxed and easy going. Setting off he ran through a list of the forthcoming acts


First up KATY HANNAH and her Acoustic guitar. She warmed the audience up with one of her own songs. She sang well and her music was very clear and easy listening. She followed with a Jason Mraz cover. Her final cover was highly requested - Kiss the girl (Little Mermaid) she performed well.


Following the musical performance was a poetry set by ZOE HATCH. She was visibly nervous when she first sat down at the mic - book of poems in hand. She started off with a deep, dark, thought provoking piece about her relationship and where she thought she'd end up. She lifted the mood with a couple more light hearted, comedic poems. All were received well by the audience.


Next up was the MC JAMIE TIPPING - Feeling inspired by the previous act he to read out some of his poetry. I felt Jamie was warm and is a fun person to hang out with. But his act could use a little more time and thought. He has good material he just needs to put a little more effort into pitching.


The fourth act of the night was MIKE O'CALLAGHAN - an enjoyable set with a slow start. But once he was up and doing his act it was really enjoyable. He fluttered between being a strange, criminal mastermind to contemplating sex on the beach with a dead badger. It's a must see routine - I couldn't do it justice!


What more can I say about this man. DAVE POLLARD I have reviewed and although his act was slightly different this time round it was still great to watch. The little subtle changes made it fresh. It was indeed the same but different in a very good way. The delivery of his act he has down to a fine art. His facial expressions really help you get the imagery in your head.


The first female comedian of the night, LIZ GARNETT. I have never seen Liz perform before and I think she may be new to the comedy circuit. She seemed confident enough with her material but a little over exaggerated and I found some of her stuff a little hard to relate to at times. Her material had potential and she was very flamboyant with her delivery. I think given time and practice she could iron out the wrinkles in her act.


There was another music act up next PAUL - ONE MAN AND HIS GUITAR. He played very well and he was very confident - he had some very funny tales to tell between songs. Everyone seemed to like his material. We also got to hear about his 22 years in Germany. Overall a good act and a really enjoyable performance.


After Jamie pronounced his name wrong JOHN DORAN was up next. Again I think he's new to comedy and his nervousness was very obvious in his routine - dry mouth attacked regularly. He covered a lot of material and not much of it leading anywhere funny. He did get a couple of laughs, which seemed to keep him going for another couple of minutes. I'm sure if he keeps writing he will find his style of comedy. But he does need to work on his act.

Another great act of the night the confirmed vegan ROB JACKSON, he went on to a very cold audience. His comedy was well received and we enjoyed getting to know the inner workings of a clearly superior mind! Also we were treated to a special insight in to his deviant fetish and habits, an avid consumer of porn and the very complex role it plays in his life/mind.


Another Comedian that I have seen and reviewed before was JAN BLAZAK. He had changed the Opening of his act and it worked so much better. If he could continue to develop his act along those lines I feel he would be more warmly received. I think the females in the room didn't appreciate his Jabba joke. But it was certainly an improvement on his last performance.


I have seen this comedian a few times and he's grown on me.. ROB KEMP - very surreal humour, mixed with fact and he's very articulate. His act went down very well with the crowd and he has also improved on his material. It felt a lot more polished and a really enjoyable performance.


Next there was a short set, by a new comedian LISA DEVILLE (apparently only her second performance) she kicked off her set and likened Mr Kipling to her own personal crack dealer. She also shared with us some tales of her marriage and sex life. The pace was really good, with a confident delivery she kept the audience entertained. I hope to see her act develop.


Finally we were treated to another great act. LEON CLIFFORD he started his act with the obvious – ginger jokes. He had some great material and he kept everyone in the room chuckling with his self-deprecating act. He had good rapport with the audience and plenty of participation. Definitely an act I'll be looking forward to seeing again.

Chuckles had a very good night and enjoyed all the acts. Thank you for an entertaining evening.

No comments:

Post a Comment