In the cold hard light of day we all know stand-up is a tough gig - the Fringe is a buyers’ market and we’re all on the look out for the next best thing. Tony Jameson & Katie Mulgrew Tell Tales is the latest offering from two of the circuit’s newest stars. Both from The North they take the stage for half an hour each to unleash their own individual brands of comedy.
Both comics have strengths and weaknesses. Their ability to work and control an audience is good and they are comfortable and easy to watch. Once the audience is on side they are funny, quirky and have their own unique styles. Smooth deliveries run throughout and both obviously share a genuine love for making us laugh. Their confidence is clear, they are engaging to watch and I can see why they both are considered as two bright young things.
The drawback for me here was the material and content of each stand-up. They both stuck to a running theme of The North and pulled many stories and gags out of the bag constantly. As Tony is a Geordie and Katie a pure Lancashire girl through and through I can see why, but I felt there was nothing new to be said or vented. Yes, they were funny in places but the majority of the material fell on deaf ears as I feel the North-South divide jokes, and the ‘War of the Classes’ stories are well and truly exhausted. Didn’t Victoria Wood cover all that in the eighties?
So even though they are two very promising performers, I wasn’t blown away. Kudos has to go to Tony though for the best Fifty Shades of Grey joke I’ve heard at the Fringe so far. Telling tales is fun, but I would love to hear one I haven’t heard already.
