Strictly speaking this should be called Middle Aged Comedian of the Year. Most of the the acts were young enough to be the offspring of feisty, filthy 82-year-old compere Lynn Ruth Miller. You only have to be 35 to enter, which is certainly not my definition of old. But, hey, let’s not nitpick too much, this was a night of refreshingly varied comedy rather than endless gags about arthritis.
First out of the blocks was Eastender Lenny Sherman who made up for in energy and persuasiveness what he lacked in sophisticated humour. Sherman felt more like character comedy than stand-up, sending up blokey white van driving, Sun-reading cockneys, though it was sometimes hard to see where Sherman ended and the character began. Whenever he did a line that could have come across as bigoted he had an engaging habit of underlining the irony by referencing how many retweets it had got when he posted it online. Of course, Al Murray does this much better but Sherman certainly gave the night a kickstart.
Camp comic John Pendal was a new name to me and most of the audience but won the crowd over with his “I’m kinky, deal with it” schtick. After a slow start he hit his stride with memories of a club called The Hoist which introduced him to the S&M scene. This was a very English take on sex though, with talk of Thunderbirds puppets, making tea at orgies and unlikely safe words.
Pete Beckley was the token weird act of the night. A hobbit-like man with Wolverine sideburns – also currently being sported by Tony Law, but Beckley and Hugh Jackman may have beaten him to it. His humour about not quite fitting in went well with his look and he had a winning way of dissecting and rewriting sayings such as “If it ain't broke, don’t fix it” so that they made more sense. There were some terrific lines here but also some duds. A bit more quality control and he could have been placed.
Actually there were two weird acts back to back. Sri Lankan stand-up Palan traded heavily on his amiable oddness, playing up the dysfunctional loner. His humour was self-deprecating deadpan and occasionally strange – redolent of Mark Silcox at times – but then he would also toss in corny jokes about his wife and size not mattering that could have been done on ITV in the 1970s. To his credit he ended on a big, original laugh and was also one of the few acts to mention Brexit.
The next act really had to mention the currently political situation as it was Magnus Turner MP, a spoof Churchillian politician played by stand-up Richard Rycroft. “The country is in a bit of a tiswas,” he announced in comic bumptious style. Some gags about Corbyn and the referendum added a topical edge to what is already a very impressive creation. His problem is that politics is currently beyond satire, making Turner seem more electable than some of the real politicians on our screens. He didn’t win the judge’s poll but did come second.
Final act of the first half was Kelly Kingham. I’ve seen him before and have always been won over by his idiosyncratic delivery. A bit camp, a bit Frank Spencer, a bit deranged and very funny. As with some others tonight the material wasn’t quite consistent enough but it is clear that Kingham has funny bones. Maybe if he could find a writer on his wavelength he could really go places, but even tonight he picked up third place.
Review continues here.
