If ever there was a lesson in the value of being patient, this show is it. There’s a sliding scale of quality on display here and if you sit tight right to the end you might eventually reach something almost worthwhile.
Genevieve Cytko gets the show off to a slow start with a couple of funny lines but nothing that brings the house down. Her set is full of observations that everyone has heard before and a few puns that are either obvious or don’t quite make sense. That said, she’s a very likeable presence and there was no sense of awkwardness in the room whilst she’s on stage, aside from the couple of uncomfortable moments where she forgot her material.
Next up is Ray Fordyce who sits one rung up from Cytko on the quality ladder. He’s a little more confident than the first act so he sailed through his set with less hesitation, but once again he has a lack of anything particularly special.
Finally Gareth Mutch took to the stage. It’s easy to take one look at him and dismiss him as a cocky young comedian who’s got too big for his boots. When he announces that he’s 18 years old and boldly tells the audience where to go in response to a quiet chorus of ‘ah’s, this first impression is sustained. Stick with him for just a few more seconds, however, and it becomes clear that he’s something a little bit different. He’s mastered the tricky balancing act of coming across as hugely confident without being smug and he soon had the audience in the palm of his hand. His material isn’t much more inspiring than that of the previous acts, but he has such a talent that almost everything he says sounds quite fresh.
If you’re happy to sit through half an hour of below average stand-up to reach a short spell of comedy that’s slightly above par, that’s up to you, but as enjoyable as Mutch’s set is, overall it’s probably not worth the effort.
