Openly admitting his show was a ‘work in progress’ and should not be judged on the quality of all of the material, there seemed no need for excuses as Damian Kingsley ushered us all into a cosy backroom of the Espionage and made us roar with his witty sketches about life, love and general embarrassment.
Throwing in a few brilliant metaphors and mixing them through his intelligent comedy, Kingsley’s easy manner relaxed the audience into the friendly, comfortable atmosphere, helping everyone to enjoy themselves far more than they could have expected too. This particular audience heckled each other more than the comedian himself, testament to his genial personality which brought out the funny side in all of us. There was no fear of those embarrassing questions and cajoling that so many comedians favour as he spoke to us as friends and made us laugh out loud at his accurate descriptions of the traumas of buying drinks in clubs and the embarrassment of the men’s’ locker room.
Being such a versatile show no one, not even Kingsley, could promise the same for every performance but his witty embellishment on real life scenarios and his confidence in his material promises slick links and a packed and happy show regardless. No, it wasn’t all side-achingly funny, but it was mostly a pretty good laugh and for a quick evening of free comedy, what more could you ask for?
