If I was putting together my dream stand-up night I'm pretty sure I'd include Tim Key and Bridget Christie, so hats off to Berk's Nest for including them in their latest comedy night at Cadogan Hall. The venue is classy – I think I was seated next to a couple of bespoke suited managing directors – and the acts are consistently classy too.
Sarah Keyworth was on compering duties, doing a great job of getting everyone in the mood with the usual "what's your job?" crowdwork. There seemed to be an unusally large number of entreprenurs and life coaches in the front row – maybe that's Chelsea for you – but Keyworth was never wrongfooted. And it later emerged that they might have been telling fibs anyway.
Bridget Christie was on first, getting match fit for her upcoming tour with a mix of new material and polished older routines. Christie has firmly established herself as stand-up's premier spokesperson for the menopause ("which affects one in one women", she explained helpfully) but her material is actually relatable to anyone who has ever had children or was a child. When her son was born he had to be sucked out by a vacuum - and now he's a teenager Christie has to do the same to extract himn from his bedroom...
I had seen Jin Hao Li before at the Edinburgh Fringe and I was slightly worried that his off-the-wall deadpan approach might not work with this more mainstream audience. I could not have been more wrong. If anything his quirky, oblique observations – imagine Steven Wright if he had been born in China and grew up in Singapore – absolutely went down a storm, smashing my own childish prejudices about comedy tastes to smithereens.
Tim Key, of course, was also a winner, coming on in his trademark shabby suit, cracking open his lager can and demanding that one of the life coaches in the front row held it while he recited his bathetic poems ("Tania googled herself. Still nothing."). Key might be known to most as a TV/film star (he's currently in The Paper and soon to be back in the new BBC Alan Partridge series, but he really is superb as a live performer.
After a second break headliner Nish Kumar hit the ground running declaring what a clusterfuck the week had been. And he wasn't even talking about Angela Rayner, Peter Mandelson or assassinations in America, he was talking about the train strike. I wasn't quite sure if London had ground to a halt as he suggested, but there was still something comically infectious about his rage. Kumar has just turned 40 but he's not mellowing, he's getting angrier. And funnier.
Cadogan Hall might be better known for classical concerts but this recent run of skilfully curated stand-up gigs has hopefully introduced some new people to the delights of stand-up comedy. This line-ups are always strong, but for me this bill will take some topping.
