Comedy addicts were treated to a night of raucous belly-laughs by the stars of BBC Radio 4's 'Sketchorama', The Noise Next Door, last night at the infamous Komedia in Brighton. The multi-talented boys made a rock-star entrance to thumping music and cheers from the crowd, demanding to be entertained. And boy did they deliver!
They kicked off with a song which sounded more like a dystopian nightmare whereby the late and fallen from grace, Sir Jimmy Saville was in charge of moving Brighton's dire parking situation – get this – into the sea! It was foot-tappingly catchy and a brilliant opening number.
'Jungle geezer' and regular guest on Channel 4's 8 out of 10 Cats, Rob Beckett delivered a sterling slot – analysing lad culture, the highs and lows of growing up in South-East London, hitting the big time and jacuzzi etiquette. He was then thrown into the unknown and terrifying world of improvisation comedy – promising it would be a 'treat' for us, as he had never done it before. The loosely-titled game-show, 'I'm A Celebrity – Guess Me Out Of Here!' starred the likes of Hitler, all five of Girls Aloud – but Mormon ...and a shit bucket. A brilliant performance from Matt Grant, whose irresistible humour and extraordinary physicality as the girl band left the audience in both awe and stitches.
Star of ITV's 'The Chase' and comedy's only British Asian gay doctor, Paul Sinha turned stereotypes on their heads, detailing life as a box ticker on equal opportunity forms and his far-fetched approach to hiding his sexuality from his parents – by dating eccentric singer and Simon Cowell's ex Sinitta for two years. A game of 'Kiss Chase' between Paul and Tom ensued, ending with a passionate declaration of affection from Paul and a frightening struggle from Tom.
The show dipped slightly towards the end with a slightly tedious version of 'The Great British Bake Off' – lacking the wit and humour that had been expertly delivered in previous sketches. However, before I morphed into a cynic, they ended the show with the excellent 'Perfect Partner', where the audience shouted out what would make their dream counterpart. It was decided that the most desirable assets when looking for a soul-mate would be a gammy legged undertaker, who was blind but could perform a flawless limbo.
