26-06-09 Tuesday I - Alice and Steve (Disney+)

Well, we smashed through that. Nicola Walker and Jemaine Clement were amazing, as were all the cast, and it was so well-written. Six half-hour episodes took us through the story at pace. Not sure if there *can* be a second series, but whoever wrote it should be watched for their next opus. Some really cringey bits, and some laugh out loud moments really made it. 

23-02-27 - Monday I - Maisie Adam @ Connaught Studios, 26th Feb 2023

I'd seen Maisie on HIGNFY before, and when I saw that she was coming to Worthing I said to TW that we should go see her. TW actually bought tickets as a birthday present for me, which was nice. That seems an awfully long time ago... 

So, the night rolled around eventually and we headed out. We stopped for a pre-show drink at the New Amsterdam, which was nice, and from there it was only a short walk to the studio. The crowd were a bit older than we were expecting, and I did worry for a bit that we had missed a memo, but when Maisie came on, she performed standard stand-up - I guess it's just that Worthing tends to an older crowd and older people have more disposable income. 

Anyway, she talked to a couple of people in the audience, which was fun and a little odd at times. Some bloke, when asked what he did, replied that he couldn't say because he'd signed the Official Secrets Act, and there were a few other peculiar exchanges - Maisie managed to find two people who both worked at Sainsbury, and they started having a separate conversation about which branch of Sainsbury they both worked in - Maisie was almost able to sit back and let us as the audience entertain ourselves.

Then we had an interval and then Maisie came back on to do the main part of her show, which was light-hearted and optimistic and really enjoyable. It wasn't always laugh-out-loud funny, but the laughs were never far away. She is a very engaging performer and I really enjoyed the evening and I was glad that we went. Highly recommended if you get the chance to see her. 

TTFN.

19-09-21 Saturday I - Rob Delaney @ The Komedia, 17th September 2019

Tuesday Night it was time to go see Rob Delaney at the Komedia. I finished work as normal at 5pm and wandered in to town. There wasn’t much point in me heading back to Worthing, as everyone was heading the other way, so I went to Bill’s to get dinner and made sure I had something to eat for the evening. I had crispy calamari to start, which I love and would choose every time. No other starter gets a look-in, really. And then for my main I made a non-standard choice and went for a Buttermilk Chicken Burger. With extra bacon. It was nice enough, and the brioche bun it came in was delicious, but maybe I should have chosen something else? Chicken green curry, maybe? I guess it’s FOMO (fear of missing out) catching up with me.

I met the others (TW, M&D, J&J) in the Dorset Bar, which is about as close as you can get to the Komedia without actually *being inside* the Komedia. They were just finishing off their drinks, and then we headed over to the venue.

There were already a lot of people in the place, even at five past seven (doors opened at 7pm). I guess because it was unreserved seating, people wanted a good view. We managed to find a space for six fairly easily, and then started the interminable queue for drinks. I was pleased to see that they had bottles of Erdinger alkoholfrei, so I had one of those.

Back at the table in time for the warm-up, a very funny New Zealander called Alice Snedden. It wasn’t until partway through her routine that we realised we’d heard her just a couple of weeks ago on The Now Show on Radio 4. She was good though; confident, moving through her set at pace, leaving space for people to catch up from time to time. She did well, despite the fact that not many people knew who she was, and the crowd responded well.

Time for a short break and another round of beers, and then it was the main attraction.

We were all seated, and the lights went down, and then Rob D strolled onto stage. No announcement, no behind-the-curtains voiceover, he was just there. And he was straight into it. He is just naturally funny. Some comedians have an overarching theme, or a point they want to get across. I don’t think Rob did; he just wanted to come out and be funny. He told a number of unrelated stories, but as each story unfolded and he explored further, he just got funnier and funnier. Each story ended in a mini-climax of mirth, and then he would move onto the next story, starting from scratch again, and build that up until the crowd were in stitches.

Towards the end of his set, I needed to use the facilities, but I hung on and so was glad there was no encore! Rob was laugh out loud funny, and I had a brilliant evening. The tickets at £20 each were good value for money. And the good thing was that because I wasn’t drinking, I could drive home – result!

TTFN.

19-06-08 Saturday - Lou Sanders @ Komedia Brighton, Wednesday 5th June

Another date, another night out. TW and I had arranged to see Lou Sanders as one of my Christmas presents, so off to Brighton we went. I had originally booked to see Angela Barnes, but she changed her date to later in the year, and I had heard good things about Lou. She had been an interviewee on RHLSTP, and I think I’d also heard her on Pappy’s Flatshare Slamdown, so when I saw that she was playing the Komedia, I was keen to get tickets.

I met TW in Brighton, and we had a pre-show dinner at Bill’s. Because her birthday is imminent she had an offer of a free bottle of prosecco with dinner, which was nice, so we took advantage of that. I had a burger, of course (how very unadventurous of me) and TW had a Glow Bowl, which was basically a posh salad, but a healthy option. We shared some calamari to start. It was nice, it was a good way to relax after work, and it was great to spend time together out of the house.

When we’d finished, we still had some time before the show started so we adjourned to the Heart and Hand, where TW had a gin and I had a pint of Toast, which grew on me. At first I didn’t like the aftertaste, but by the time I made my way to the bottom of the glass, I quite enjoyed it.

Then we headed into the show, and Adam Hess was the warm up act. I’ve seen him before, he’s very funny and appears to be quite scatterbrained and breathless, like it’s all unplanned. Maybe it is, but whichever, it was enjoyable. Then we had a short break, and Lou was on.

She was very funny, I really enjoyed her show. I think it was the last time she was performing “Shame Pig” - at least, that’s what she said. There were a couple of different stories she told, and she hung them together through the theme of shame. TW and I were both laughing, and it was a good night out. I’d certainly go and see her again, and was glad that I’d taken a punt on going to see her.

We got home relatively early, and hit the hay. Another great time had.

TTFN.

18-04-30 Monday - Robin Ince @ Shoreham Ropetackle Centre (Thursday 26th April)

Last Thursday we drove to the Shoreham Ropetackle Arts Centre to see Robin Ince. I'd booked the tickets back in January, so this had been a long time coming. The Ropetackle is a lovely venue, it's staffed by volunteers and has a licensed bar with some lovely beers. The crowd seemed a bit older than I expected, but then the penny dropped that they might have been there because of his involvement in The Infinite Monkey Cage, the BBC show with Brian Cox. 

I was there because of his podcast work with Michael Legge on Vitriola, and with Josie Long on the Book Shambles. Those shows are unscripted, unlike the Infinite Monkey Cage, and so I had a good idea of what to expect from one of Robin's shows, despite not having seen him live before.  

In the podcasts I've listened to he is full of ideas and stories, to the extent that those stories and ideas compete with each other and cut across each other. He can be a bit frantic, but he is like a kid in a candy store, delighted by new information and endlessly curious. As he said to us, he doesn't talk to anyone all day, and then he has us, his paying audience, captive for two hours, and he downloads or broadcasts all his thoughts for the day to us in that time.  

The show was brilliant, it was two hours (with a twenty-minute interval), and it did seem a little haphazard. It was mostly funny; he leapt from subject to subject, seemingly without any direction or plan, the words and thoughts flooding out of his brain, and it was always interesting. After the interval he did have to rush through his piece on art appreciation, but then at the end he had a number of callbacks to things he'd mentioned, so maybe it wasn’t as unplanned as it seemed. 

Robin hasn't been doing stand-up for a couple of years and I'm glad I got to see him. With all the other things he's doing (the BBC show, the two podcasts) he might not be doing as much stand-up as before. The show was just what I was expecting though, and I would recommend going to see him.  

I'm planning on seeing a couple of comedians during the Brighton Festival and if I do, I'll try to mention them here.  

TTFN.

Saturday 18-02-03 I Ahir Shah at The Old Market (1st Feb 2018)

On Thursday we went to see Ahir Shah at The Old Market in Brighton. TW had bought the tickets as a Christmas present, and I was looking forward to it. I didn’t know who Ahir was, and I’d never heard any of his stuff. But he was interviewed by Richard Herring on his RHLSTP, and apparently he was short-listed for the Edinburgh Comedy prize in 2017.

He was good. I liked his set, I liked where he was coming from. He was absolutely suited to a Brighton audience, being sort of lefty / liberal. He made some really good points, and some sharp analogies. He was preaching to the converted though, it being Brighton. Even when he wasn’t being laugh out loud funny, he was thought-provoking and interesting. I’d be interested in seeing his future material, and how he builds on what he’s already achieved.

The Old Market is a lovely venue, we’ve got some friends who have staged productions there before, but unfortunately we’ve never made it to their shows. I think we’ve probably been missing out. While we were enjoying a pre-show drink, I noticed that they were advertising Fleabag, and nudged TW. She bought tickets later that night, so we are definitely going back at least once. And Rob Auton is performing his show “Hair” there at the start of March, so I might be going back sooner than planned.

Before going to The Old Market we went for dinner at the Kanok Thai restaurant, which was delicious. We each chose a starter and a main course, and all the dishes were lovely. We left not feeling over-full, and refreshed ready for the evening’s entertainment. I would certainly recommend it as a good place to eat.

So that was our Thursday. Dinner out, wine and a comedian who confirmed all our views of the parlous state of current affairs. What more could one want from a night out?
TTFN.

Friday 17-05-19 Sofie Hagen

TW & I went to see Sofie Hagen at the Blue Man in Brighton on Tuesday night. It was a rare night out together, and we enjoyed it. M&P took on the babysitting duties, and we caught the train into town.

The Blue Man is on Queens Road just down from the station, so we went straight there. The staff were relaxed and welcoming, and put us at ease straight away. Since we both like a glass of wine we shared a bottle of picpoul which was quite nice. The barman accidentally undercharged us by a couple of pounds and although we offered to pay the difference, he wouldn't hear of it, which was nice.

The Blue Man serves North African cuisine and the decor reflects that. There was a Moroccan feel to the place; it is small and cosy and the table layout encourages a communal experience. We sat for few minutes upstairs until the barman announced that downstairs was open and we could go down.

Downstairs holds about 30 people so it was a very intimate gig. The audience were a diverse bunch, there were older folks, mostly women, a couple of cross dressers/transsexuals, and just a handful of men. Again the communal experience was encouraged, with long benches down the sides, and the Moroccan feel continued. They had also decorated the ceiling with 7" vinyl singles which was nice.

Sofie's set was good, given that it was an Edinburgh preview, so a few rough edges were to be expected. A few years ago I saw a preview by Richard Herring and that needed much more polish. TW & I both properly laughed and I think everyone enjoyed it.

I hadn't seen Sofie before; I was introduced to her when she was interviewed by Richard Herring on his RHLSTP podcast. I listened to her "Comedians Saying Stuff" podcast, which I enjoyed. Going to see a full stand-up show was a bit of a punt but it was worth it. And if I see anything even remotely interesting at The Blue Man, I'll probably go - it was so nice. 

After Sofie's show we went back upstairs and had a shared platter of food and played backgammon. The food was delicious, it was a very relaxed affair. We did consider seeing a second show, but decided we couldn't do that to M&P, so we headed home. While we were preparing to leave, I put on my hoodie and accidentally elbowed one of my neighbours in the head - that's how snug the venue is. Of course I apologised and no harm was done (I think), and we headed up to the station.

Monday 15-04-06 Richard Herring @ The Ropetackle (Saturday 28th March)

So, the night after I went to see Courtney Barnett, and TW went to see Murdoch's Crazy Eyes, we treated ourselves to a second night of 'cultcha'. I've been a long-time fan of Richard Herring, I remember being blown away by TMWRNJ, and apparently it might be out on DVD this year. I've listened to his Leicester Square Theatre podcasts, AIOTM, and the Collings and Herrin chats. I've bought a couple of his DVDs and I even pay (more than) a pound a month to support his wacky and way-out internet-based ventures which are bound to end in disaster.
So when I heard he was coming to the Ropetackle Arts Centre, I was overjoyed. I bought tickets for myself and TW in a wild act of celebration, and then sat back and waited for the date to roll around.
I like the Ropetackle. It's staffed by ageing volunteers who do a damned fine job, while still leaving it a little rough around the edges. They let you pick up tickets on the door, and they serve Long Man beers, which are locally brewed, so it's all good. We turned up and the guy on the desk spent a minute or two searching for our tickets before admitting defeat and printing off two new tickets for us. The couple before us had experienced the same issue, so I think we got our tickets slightly more quickly; the guy behind the counter was muttering darkly about having a chat with someone as he handed our tickets over. We bumped into some friends so sat with them as we nursed our soft drinks; I still felt a bit fragile from the previous night, and TW was driving, so we were both on the wagon.
Then it was time to go in, so we filed in and sat near the back. Herring was a few minutes late on, apparently this was because he hadn't done his local research, the slacker. Overall I enjoyed the show. It was good, but in parts it seemed like he was reciting a speech. The bits where he freestyled, about Shoreham-BY-Sea, and chatted to a harp player in the front row were more sparky. But it was a heart-warming show, especially the finale. Now that he's married and a father, it seems that he is enjoying life, and that certainly came through. As I say, I enjoyed it, and I would recommend going to see him if you get the opportunity. I think he's added a date in Worthing, here. It would be an interesting experiment to go and see him again, to see whether the show was different at all. But I think I shan't.
We got out of the performance pretty quickly, being at the back, and Rich walked past us. He really is very short. I'm not tall, weighing in at 5' 8", but I reckon I towered over him. He was busy setting up his stall, and TW asked if I was going to get my programmed signed, but I chose not to. And then he was swamped and there was no chance. Maybe next tour? We'll see. So we got out sharpish, got back to the car, and drove home. We stopped for sandwiches at Tesco once we got back to Worthing, and relieved my baby-sitting parents, and normality resumed.

Saturday 15-02-21 - James Acaster in Worthing

Last night TW & I went to see James Acaster at the Connaught Studio in Worthing. It was part of Matt's Comedy Club, a regular night in Worthing which has been going for a few years now.
James was supported by Jay Foreman, who is a musical comedian. He is actually Beardyman's brother, which I didn't know until I looked him up on Wikipedia just before the show. And it showed, he did some really clever stuff (which was also funny) with his guitar and the songs during the show.
The night started with three local comics who each had a short slot. The funniest of these was a passive-aggressive housewife called Lindy Larkin, she came across like Alison Steadman in Abigail's Party, and she had some really sharp lines.
Then Jay came on, and sang some songs. They were light, witty and enjoyable. He had a couple of more eccentric jokes, and the John Lennon song was brilliant, I thought. The half-hour or so that he was on sped by.
Then it was time for the interval. TW went and bought a CD from Jay, and as she does, they got talking. She told him that we'd been to see Beardyman, and they had a nice chat. And then, it was time for the main event.
I was looking forward to seeing James, I'd seen him on a couple of TV shows, and Richard Herring interviewed him last year and bigs him up a lot, as part of the new generation of comics coming through. His show was likeable enough, and he is certainly a likeable fellow. He plays a lot on his geekiness / awkwardness and the way he interprets other people's behaviour (in the show) is cleverly wrong. The show really sparked when he accidentally swore. To explain, Matt's Comedy Club is a "family friendly" event, and so they must have asked the comedians not to swear. I'm sure they wouldn't have asked Frankie Boyle to perform, for instance. James coped well, I'm not sure that his act involves much swearing anyway, but he accidentally swore anyway, and there followed a moment or two of inspired lunacy, the act began to take off. The finale was odd, but funny, and all the way through it seemed to be building to something, but never quite getting there.
It was a good evening, and I'm glad I went, it was good to have time out with TW, even if we were both hanging and tired. That may have affected my enjoyment of the evening, but there were great bits there, little nuggets of brilliance.
This morning we played Jay Foreman's CD to the girls and they really enjoyed it. We have a permanent memento of the evening, as well as the memory of the laughter, and of course next time we see any of them on the TV, we'll be able to say we were there and we saw them...