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Latest items? Unedited? Fringe Report Uncut
Jongleurs Camden
Verdict: Stand-up comedy
Friday night at Jongleurs Camden is hot and steamy (writes Cecilia Holmes) - a reminder of the old music-hall days when punters squeezed in at any cost to get a seat. It is large and square like a ball-room, and the atmosphere is electric.
Most people are quaffing lager (it’s getting hotter in here by the minute), having a great time eating and catching up with friends. Beer is poured out in huge four-pint jugs to a thirsty sea of faces at the bar - it seems childish to ask for a single pint.
It’s about to begin.
The stage lights flash on, blinding the front rows, revealing an arty-looking backdrop of ripped metallic sheets. It turns out the people in the front row are traffic wardens: a line of sitting ducks, waiting to be verbally abused by a compere and five comics.
Tonight's MC is Stephen Grant. He’s a quick and witty raconteur, warming up the audience without making it sound too Hi-de-hi! His observations are sharp, delivered in a relaxed manner. Traffic wardens? He can’t believe his luck. A good guy though – he manages to castigate them without aggression.
Ninia Benjamin
A girl with a healthy ego. She wants a second cheer – the first wasn’t quite loud or responsive enough. Ninia Benjamin is one powerful dresser, bling-bling trinkets on each hand, pink hat, white clothes and lots of curves.
It’s in-your-face comedy with plenty of references to sex, being big, and some self-deprecating remarks that border on the apologetic. Sheer personality propels her as she dazzles with profanity. A Wood-Green-London girl with lots of mouth - the crowd loves it. What a blessing to be able to say the things that most people dare not - and get away with it.
Andrew Maxwell
A laid-back Irish guy, with a gift for using the often-neglected pause in his delivery. He is so nonchalant that there’s time to look around the crowd and see them giggling - waiting like a pack of school-children for the punch-line. Andrew Maxwell’s gags are in the style of ‘I don’t care - in fact you don’t care about anything in the UK’. There are some ‘Paddy’ jokes.
Listening to him is conspiratorial - like having a drink at the bar. He picks the kind of statements newspapers use - particularly about immigrants – and turns them on their head. He knows how to lead on one path, then switch to an opposite idea – a great ploy to keep attention.
Karl Spain
Karl Spain talks about Ireland and weight problems with a dry and witty style. He tells about being single now, ‘well for the last... three or four stone’. He is polite and self-deprecating, but gets his points across, eg on the idea of the Irish being supposed thick – ‘You gave us that reputation’.
He moves to storytelling about himself, and friend 'the "eegit" in the car'. It’s clever stuff – he leaves the audience to fill the visual pictures he creates from words.
Marian Pashley
Marian Pashley could keep the audience listening all night without a break - with her warm voice and constant flow of chatter . Her style is ‘girl from down the road’, commenting on all the little things in every-day life that bother: supermarkets, relationships – and other people’s children.
She delivers well-thought-out observations in her soft Yorkshire vowels that calm the crowd (it’s now unbearably hot). Considering a lot of four-pint beer jugs are empty, there should be more rowdiness - but her style does not invoke this mood. Everyone is rapt, listening to her flawless delivery.
Brendan Lovegrove
New Zealander Brendan Lovegrove gives a punchy start to an act that only gets better. His humour is towards the dark side, set off by a self-assured charm that has the front row of girls wondering if he’s single. Damn! He’s just mentioned his wife - so that ones a no-go.
He’s a rapid raconteur, interspersing words with lots of mimed funny descriptions of gay rugby-players. The delivery is accurate and timed - as he stabs the audience with questions. His style is devil-may-care; his material carries a more sinister undertone. He builds in a local item from the Camden press – an impressive finish to a varied act.
Cast Credits (alpha order): MC - Stephen Grant. Ninia Benjamin, Brendan Lovegrove, Andrew Maxwell, Marian Pashley, Karl Spain.
Company Credits: Technical Manager - Venue Staff. Production - Jongleurs.
END
(c) Cecilia Holmes 2004
reviewed Friday 16 July 04 / Jongleurs Camden
Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2012
www.fringereport.com
