Long Paws 5th Anniversary Comedy Show review 30th May 2010.

For the 5th Anniversary of the Long Paws Comedy Club in Wells, young promoter Ben really went to town to provide a spectacular evening’s entertainment.

Compere was the craggy faced Arthur Smith (or for the benefit of the Streatham tax office, Daphne Fairfax).   This is a man who, like Sid James was probably born with a face like an octogenarian’s scrotum, with ancient jokes to match; and although you’ve heard much of the material before it is consistently laugh out funny (it certainly was a case of ‘the way I tell them”);  amongst other rubbish there was a trio of Doctor jokes, an extract from his autobiography and even a bit of Leonard Cohen.

First act was Tim Key (Winner of the 2009 Edinburgh Comedy Award) who shuffled shambolically onto the stage, put on his tie, cracked open a beer and proceeded to embark on some seriously bad, seriously awkward, seriously deadpan yet seriously funny poetry, as he sorted through his pockets for notebooks and bits of paper on which his material was written.  Many of his poems are set to backing tapes but this evening some was also backed by piano courtesy of the main act who sat meekly like a little forest elf waiting for his cues. Tim rounded off his act with his own unique version of the “tablecloth trick” in which despite the obvious dénouement was hilarious.  The apparent lack of polish to the routine was what in fact made it so incredibly perfect!

Next up was Abandoman, winners of the Hackney Empire New Act of the Year and Musical Comedy Awards.  This was a new act to me so I wasn’t sure what to expect.  Basically  Rob Broderick and guitarist James Hancox, have an act that will be unique every time as they perform on-the-spot raps at breakneck speed.  For example in “What’s in your pocket” the audience held aloft items from their pockets: a yo-yo; a tampon; a hotel card and a piece of lego, about each of which the lads improvised a rap with incredible accuracy, intelligence and humour.   Next there was a rap love story featuring two randomly selected members of the audience, and formulated around the information they gave about themselves, which was extremely clever, as this sort of performance requires confidence, precision and very quick thinking to make it work and while it has the potential to go horribly wrong, these guys carried it off awesomely.

Just before the interval, the mum of the young promoter is brought to the stage with a birthday cake and candles, while her publicity shy offspring leaps on to the stage extinguishes the candles and bounds off again, and during the interval we are all treated to a slice.

After the interval it is Tom Rosenthal (son of sports presenter Jim).  Brandishing a trophy he won in a student comedy award, he advises us that if we don’t think he is funny, this proves we are wrong.  Luckily he was funny although his act could use some tightening up  in places as he seemed a little nervous, and like pizzas ordered from Dominos, the delivery is far from perfect.  His was the weakest part of the evening, but he is a likeable enough lad at the beginning of his career and is sure to do well in the future.

Finally it is the unannounced headline act Tim Minchin, and although this was not a full show but a few select highlights it was a rare opportunity to witness him in a theatre so intimate that you could feel your seat shake as he stamped his foot on the stage in accompaniment to his songs a mere few metres away.  

Although Tim looks like butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth with his disarming smile, scruffy shoeless Dickensian appearance, and guyliner, his material can be rather challenging.  Prejudice appears to be about one thing but is about something else, yet he still gets an important message across.  A romantic number with an R&B feel is dedicated to his wife, but this was not as flattering as it first may appear, while “You grew on me” is a truly uncomfortable listen and reminds me I need to get something checked out by my Doctor.  Meanwhile The Pope Song, getting only its second ever live outing is probably the sweariest song ever composed but with a very valid and intelligent message (and you can probably find it on YouTube if you are curious). 

This is all very clever stuff from a very talented musician and comedian, and while music and comedy often don’t always sit together very well, Minchin and several of the other acts tonight proved otherwise.

In case you are interested in the next Longpaws show, it will be held on Sunday 19th September at Wells Little Theatre.  Roll on the next 5 years.

Picture by: The Bad Astronomer