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.

The Holly Bush (The Bush) - 19.04.12

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.

Testing, testing, 1..2..3..

The Midlands comedy circuit shows, from an audience perspective.

After watching and enjoying comedy over the years, I would like to give a non-biased opinion of the shows I come across and the up and coming talent.