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drinks Monday 4 August 08
Amused Moose Starsearch 2004
Verdict: Stand-up & character comedy
The night is around 90 minutes of stand-up and character comedy. 10 comedians each deliver 3 minutes, there's interleaved humour by expert MC Mickey D, intervals, and a headline at the end. The 10 are in competition, in the promoting company's quest to identify stars of the future, and 2 go forward from this and other approximately weekly heats - which started at Christmas and end in July 04 - to a final held perhaps at this year's Edinburgh Fringe.
Competitions and drama or comedy don't particularly mix, because each is individualistic, and audiences are neither consistent nor predictable. Likely as not, each of the performers tonight will succeed somewhere, those judged losers perhaps more than those thought winners. But for the audience at least, it's a relaxed and well-organised (by Rachel Abel and comedy doyenne Hils Jago at Amused Moose) night of comedy, with each of the acts putting in a fine and often quirky performance.
MC - Mickey D sets a comfortable feeling to the evening, with a warm and affectionate delivery of some extremely well-constructed and delivered jokes. He feeds from the audience, but without being patronising, and keeps the pace going - in an easy-going way - throughout the evening, constantly creating new jokes from the events of the night. A master at work.
Matt Green has the thankless task of opening, which he does with panache, covering Iraq, Michael Jackson (both in the news, currently), HRT, and Theresa Gorman within the first few seconds.
Mark Angermayer explains he's an Austrian-Cornish comic; he delivers a set of imaginatively-invented and unconventional jokes including a deft one about cancer.
Stanley Silver describes his character as Lewisham-based, half-Irish, half-Sri Lankan, and creates a set subtly exploring race, politics and the secret of sexual happiness.
Petite and pretty Elaine Bernstein offers a risqué interpretation of LBD before deciding it's little black dress, and examines property ads, the war on terror and the congestion charge, in a imaginatively-written set.
Imran Yusuf describes swearing at women in Safeway ('bitch'), and covers anthrax, talcum powder, mouse-traps as a cure for pick-pocketing, and his interest in the evening's female producer, in a fast-paced and diverse set.
Mary Christmas In silver-pinned headdress and blue t-shirt, Mary's dressed to allure: 'A stranger's just a husband in disguise'. A well-formed and written set littered with sharp gags, many of them subtly filthy.
Neil Pummell jokes about his ginger hair and his theory of Judas Iscariot's shared ginger-ness resulting in the crucifixion; about Scooby-Doo & Anne Widdecombe and many other topics; light and entertaining.
James d'Chapeau is a tall man with black hat, 'Harry Potter grown up', a sharp piece of character comedy with skilled use of surprise tape recorders and a poem from age 11 - 'Happy Mr Sunshine'.
Kerry Godliman delivers a fluid set in her light London voice, about getting one's lie in first, setting alarm clocks ahead of real time, 'smug, posh' women, and the new meanings of words.
Johnston & Johnston say they're the 'genetic freaks for the evening', identical twins who sing/chant a skilful poem 'Give him a slap' about the many public figures we might like to.
Scott Huckle looks amusingly at junior versions of famous games: Scrabble, Monopoly, cognitive thinking and strategy, and new TV game shows - like 'Heroin Addict Big Brother'.
Headliner - Josh Covitt delivers a fine set of relaxed, cerebral and highly-original comedy. He's from Los Angeles, and handles the obligatory President Bush routine in an unusual and effective way. It's an impression of great subtlety, quietly and effectively delivered from well-scripted and considered material. His President Bush pursues the Moon for bringing 'dark time' and failing to obey the Law of Gravity - swift justice is promised. There's a fabulous Twin Towers joke, a highlight of the set. How to do anything to get back the woman you loved and lost is pursued to extraordinary lengths of perveted logic (and perversion) in another delightfully-created piece of pure intellectual writing.
And that's just the beginning of Josh Covitt's fine set. A natural, subtle and engaging comedian, with meticulously prepared and layered material and a shrewd understanding of his audience, his performance on this night alone merits a full-length Edinburgh show. Unfortunately for that potential audience, he lives in Los Angeles and performs tonight's gig only on a brief visit to London.
Credits Performers (alpha order): Mark Angermayer, Elaine Bernstein, James d'Chapeau, Kerry Godliman, Maggie Gordon-Walker as Mary Christmas, Matt Green,
Scott Huckle, Johnston & Johnston,
Neil Pummell, Stanley Silver, Imran Yusuf
MC - Mickey Dwyer as Mickey D. Headliner - Josh Covitt. Event organiser - Rachel Abel. Producer - Hils Jago. Company - Amused Moose.
END
John Park
reviewed Monday 2 February 04 / The Enterprise
Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2008
