I was intrigued to see who would choose a regular Saturday night comedy club over the spectacle of the Eurovision final being shown all around Brighton. Apparently, a lot of people, as the Komedia Comedy Club was packed with cheerful groups, hen and stag nights and couples of all ages. The excellent twice-a-week comedy night offered three solid guest performances and an outstanding MC.
Komedia delivered a stellar line of diverse comedy talent.
The lively crowd at Komedia was ready and willing to be entertained when MC Matt Richardson took the stage and kicked the night off with his quick-witted banter. In no time he exposed the front row’s strange professions, awkward first dates and dirty little secrets. The former Virgin Radio presenter has buckets of charisma, honed by his numerous TV appearances and co-hosting The Xtra Factor. On the comedy circuit, he has won multiple awards and is known for his high energy as well as sharp and edgy delivery. As an experienced MC, he handled the audience admirably well. Great stage presence and well-timed delivery made him a hard act to follow.
The first guest act on stage was Paul F Taylor whose bewildered persona complements his madcap ideas and strange lines of thinking. He has a unique comedic voice with quirky anecdotes and sharp observations that resonate on several levels. His style of comedy could best be described as absurd, border lining on surreal. One minute he was explaining how cavemen discovered speech, the next minute he was settling disputes between North and South Korea. As a testament to his physical comedy abilities, we witnessed a very long and detailed enacting of ‘I fucked your mother’ delivered by an enraged mime comedian who got heckled. Priceless.
The second act was Amy Matthews, whose authentic girl-next-door persona is a breath of fresh air. She is very comfortable on stage, which helped to create an enjoyable performance. Interacting with the audience and telling about her favourite break-up story warmed-up the crowd nicely. She then moved on to personal issues, making some observant remarks about being brought up in the 90s as one of the ‘anxiety generation’. Perhaps her best flash of brilliance was that buff gym guys must have some deep mother issues because they want to look like a uterus. Another crowd pleaser was her vivid experiences with goat yoga. Believe it or not, there is such a thing, I Googled it.
The closing act of the night was Lloyd Griffith, whose forte is choral singing and an uncanny resemblance to Jack Black. As well as a comedian, Griffith is an actor, presenter and classically trained singer. He has performed in BBC Three show Taxi to Training interviewing professional footballers, hosted Soccer AM on Sky Sports and the game show Flinch on Netflix. He is an all-round entertainer, sure to deliver a feel good performance – except at the very end when he lost his cool to a heckler.
Heckling was a concurrent topic throughout the evening. I can understand Komedia’s strict house rules against speaking during the performance and heckling in particular, but comedy clubs shouldn’t become church services either. The crowd at Komedia wasn’t especially foul-mouthed, so the performers and staff could have given them more leash. The constant reminders of no talking, no heckling policy fizzled out some of the fun. Having said that, Komedia delivered a stellar line of diverse comedy talent and an enjoyable non-Eurovision night out.
