In a “botched attempt” to entertain his audience before the show two things became apparent: Ivo Graham is hilariously charming and if Liam Williams could match his calibre of comedy we would be in for a thoroughly entertaining show (Williams did. We were.).
Graham’s set is full of hilarious coming of age stories complete with diagrams illustrating the trajectory of his love life. The witty narrative flows and each geeky confession endears the audience more to the man. It might sound like go-to material for a young, up-and-coming comedian, but Graham pulls it off so well, why criticise that? Plus he is not solely relying on his material. Graham has the wonderful ability of interacting and working off the audience. At two critical points of narrative Graham is interrupted by latecomers. He welcomes them, detours entirely from his set and still manages to keep everyone laughing. Or at least ‘smiling on the inside’ as the latecomer said. ‘Every stand up’s dream’ Graham replied not missing a beat, ‘warming the cockles of your heart’.
Following Graham would be tough, but it is no challenge for Williams. His brand of dark, abstract stand up would perhaps not be the obvious choice to match Graham. Then again, ‘I’m insecure as well,’ Williams told us deadpan. The next half an hour was a delightfully morbid, wonderfully peculiar form of storytelling as Williams first articulately took us through his life story and then onto a surreal stream of consciousness from the darkest corners of his mind. His quirky punch lines and ability to adopt characters made this even more amusing. He even got away with delivering some of his set with his back to the audience.
Really thinking about it, I am unsure whether I witnessed William’s having a breakdown or not. At the risk of sounding heartless, I don’t care, it was hugely comical. If Graham’s gift is his charm, William’s gift is his ability to paint with words.