Rondo comedy show
The half Irish, half Colombian uses the audience in his short slot, and was by far the highlight of the evening
The viewing I saw featured New York MC Suzanne Lea Shepherd to present, who, despite her enthusiasm, wasn’t great at crowd control. For instance, Shepherd pointedly called out the rude couple on their mobile in the front row, but her weak finger-wagging response was more akin to lecturing an unruly school child than an obnoxious asshole who couldn’t respect performers. And it is this tameness which carried through much of her humour where the jokes are too kind to have any major impact. Still, she was cheery and passionate for the lukewarm audience.
Will Mars was the first to poke his head through the hole, and began the night with sardonic, self-deprecating quips about his physical appearance ranging from his weight to going bald. A great warm up, though at times it felt more like group therapy confessions. For his own well-being, I too hope there lurks a Vin Diesel under there.
Up straight after was Paul F Taylor whose bizarrely amusing antics shows influence from the comedy stylings of Flight of Concords. By far one of the most endearing acts, and the one performer who made the best use of the fact that his head was levitating on stage, Taylor was a great midway point between Mars and Matt Gifford. When the latter stepped on after Taylor, the loud and eccentric comic, Gifford, wasted no time on introductions to make the best use of his set time with jokes about cocaine and potatoes. The half Irish, half Colombian uses the audience in his short slot, and was by far the highlight of the evening.
The giant 6’7” Luke Benson followed on after with numerous jokes relating to his imposing stature. Lastly, the token Scot Steve Carling took to the stage with quips about Scottish culture and American politics. He slowed down the momentum of his predecessors but was nonetheless funny, ending the night on a gradual come down.
