The Coopers Arms hosts a line up of no less than seven comedians. The compère is Gill Smith, who announces the arrival of the first blow job gag within five minutes of taking the stage, and it sets the tone of her 15 minute set that hops from subjects as diverse as students, PE teachers and paying taxes. She explains that tonight’s show is a mixture of new talent and experienced comics trying new material.

Edward Hands is one of the latter, dressed in tweed jacket and waistcoat. He plays on this in his act, saying it keeps him 'in touch with the kids'. He explores some pretty dark areas, talking about kinky sex and fetish clubs. He targets foreign nations like Australia and Spain, but sadly it comes across like xenophobia. What Edward Hands appears to be missing is some kind of flow, theme or narrative. As it stands it's all a bit disjointed.

Mark Simmons is a promising young talent - possibly the highlight of the evening. He has a fresh and unique style; laid back at times, absurd at others, and cleverly characterised. He 'relates' to his audience by starting every new anecdote with 'Have you ever...', and posing bizarrely obvious questions like '... been in a car', or '... heard of a gym'. This is the name to watch out for. Raw talent with some good original ideas.

There's the first of two intervals, and then Kurt Driver. He takes his comedy off the beaten path of normality. The material is surreal at times, but not political. He explains 'I won't do much political comedy. I don't know much about politics. I don't know much about anything. I'm quite a catch.' He tells us how Big Brother killed comedy, and how Jim didn't quite fix it for him. Overall his act works pretty well, although it needs close attention to catch some of the subtlety of the surrealism.

It's Colin Martin's turn, and whilst he hits the odd comic raw nerve, the material never seems to quite resonate. He uses more longer-form stories than one liners, and some of the gags feel a bit hackneyed. He has a promising start, and he works hard to recover later but never quite gets there.

After the second interval it’s Dave Orange. He’s from Essex, and covers the obvious ground for anyone from that county. 'I'm from Essex, but I had to leave because I had one O Level'. It's no surprise that chavs come under his comedy microscope quite a lot - their Burberry caps and the cars they drive. They are solid gags, delivered confidently, and an excellent start to the final segment of the night.

Olly Allsop has a bit of a David Baddiel style, relaxed and clearly experienced on the mic. His material gets a bit surreal, for instance the story of how he met his wife. And his husband. He has a tattoo on the back of his left hand, and says it's a constant reminder to buy post-it notes. He's a clever comedian, clearly writing good material.

The final turn is Aaron Rice, who says he's 'not bald – I have ingrowing hair.' The inside of his head, apparently, is like a shag pile carpet. His character is angry young man; a fixed stare and delivering some body-blow comic punchlines. Like discussing war with your Nan. 'She's selling missiles to the Russians, and I just thought she was shit hot at Bingo'. He uses language expertly, like mixing up gynaecology and genealogy, with the obvious comic results. It's finely scripted, and delivered well. Aaron Rice is another promising young talent from this showcase at The Coopers Arms.

Some of tonight’s performers threw themselves into the comedy pit for the first time, whereas others are old hands, using this opportunity to test out new material. The newbies won tonight, perhaps because their gags were a little less obtuse. Overall a very strong bill of performers, and since it's free, you certainly can't argue with the price.

Cast Credits: Comedians (alpha order): - Olly Allsop, Kurt Driver, Edward Hands, Colin Martin, Dave Orange, Aaron Rice, Mark Simmons. Compère - Gill Smith

Company Credits: Technical Support - Toby Smith.

END

(c) Pete Shaw 2007

reviewed Sunday 14 October 07 / The Coopers Arms, Reading

Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2008