Every Saturday of the Fringe, Afterhours Comedy is presented at the Assembly Roxy. A great way to finish off the day or to start the night. Four comedians come on stage and you can be sure they’re all great. A variety show in which the comedians vary by night but each are hand-picked by Afterhours.
On the night I went to see it, Carl Donnelly was our compère. It being late at night and having no children in the audience, Donnelly took the high-swearing approach to being a host and told ‘dirty’ jokes. He was enjoying himself and interacted well with the crowd, who were also seemingly having a great time. First on stage was Fringe regular Jo Caulfield. Caulfield had some good stories about relationships, her husband, TV shows and her irritations with people, especially small people. Next up was Alistair Barrie, who dissected the Olympic opening ceremony and made fun of statistics. The American Al Lubel came third and in my opinion was the star of the night. His topic and style of comedy was unconventional and fresh, mainly consisting of an explanation of own his name. Normally I am not one for repetition, but he uses this ingeniously. The headlining act was Gareth Richards, who had stepped in last minute. Richards comes across as the stereotyped geek, complete with his omnichord and harmonica playing. He’s very likeable and naturally funny- think Ross from Friends.
As always with variety shows, the acts don’t get much time to shine and connect with the audience, but we do get a glimpse of why they are some of the best comics in town. All of the comics on stage were confident, had good material and were able to entertain a large room full of people. All in all, Afterhours Comedy is a great variety stand-up show with talented acts and a guaranteed good time.
