home
|
about
|
news
|
contents
|
gossip
|
photographs
|
venues
|
brighton
|
dublin
|
edinburgh
|
film
|
features
|
interviews
|
awards
|
fashion
|
recipes
|
no more drinks
|
newsletter
|
links
|
contact
Latest items? Unedited? Fringe Report Uncut
Comedy At The Troubadour Club
Verdict: Monthly stand-up night
London - The Troubadour - April 04/ Monthly
This is a stand-up comedy night occuring on the first Tuesday of each month, compered by the ebullient David Ward. Tonight there are 5 acts, structured into 3 sets with 2 intervals.
David Ward's an aimiably podgy man in black shirt with a relaxed rapport with the audience. He creates a comfortable and welcoming atmosphere to the gig which sets the room up well during the evening for each of the acts.
John Newton's a man with cropped grey hair and a fabulous joke about the Washington sniper's victim's petrol station request. It's a contender for best joke of the night. John Newton constructs and delivers penetrating narratives and subtle, often excellently tasteless, news-based comedy.
Janice Phayre slim, petite, extremely impish, and shows off some of her bottom. It's the start of a blissfully funny set on masturbation ('I'm a wanker'), oral sex in relation to car mechanics, and as much naughtiness as she can get away with (a lot). It's all delivered from a wholly innocent-looking (though mischievous as a pixie's) face - breathlessly - with large round eyes accessorised by remarkably mobile eyebrows. Wonderful, just fabulous.
Roisin Conaty, elegant and beautiful London comedy performer, dreads other people explaining their dreams, examines the quality of her tears when rowing with a boyfriend, and nails down the Sympathy Hijacker - that irritating person who's always had it worse than you. Delivered with power and confidence, it's a sharply-written set packed with subtle insight into how we are.
Matt Dyktynski is a tall, good-looking man with thin sideburns and a deep masculine voice. He's also Australian, cue for bodily jokes, but clears the stereotypical antipodean humour topics away fast for a more subtle approach: his focus is human relationships and sucking cock. His comparison of the parent-child relationship to one containing love is acute, original and funny. His examination of the minutae of sex (who cleans up?), and the social diary of the Son of God is sharply observed, and delivered with an engaging and infectious sense of humour. A delight.
Dave Fulton's the headliner, and the highlight of the evening. He's an immensely powerful performer, with exceptionally intelligent, perceptive and robust material that ripples with steel-cored potency. A slightly dangerous-looking man, with curly black hair and grey-stubbled goatee, Dave Fulton (in his stage persona) possesses the body, face and air of unstable menace of a man born to play Steerpike should Quentin Tarantino be invited to make a big-screen version of Gormenghast. 'I'm an American and that means it's all my fault' starts a set of politics examined under a microscope delivered in a confident deep voice bubbling with a hint of quiet anger. Election year in America, Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheyney, Cherie Blair (looking like 'a young boy that slipped and fell into a make-up box'), Saddam Hussein, the French, Israel, Kashmir, late-running UK trains, whiny American girlfriends all occur in the first few minutes. The set's told in a narrative structured from extended paragraphs, using elegant compilations of words that are simply a tour de force of linguistics. And very very funny. Astonishing.
Cast Credits (alpha order): Roisin Conaty. Matt Dyktynski. Dave Fulton. John Newton. Janice Phayre. David Ward - MC.
END
John Park
reviewed Tuesday 6 April 04 / Troubadour Club
Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2012
www.fringereport.com
