Oxford Comedy Festival: Kate Smurthwaite & Jen Brister, Tap Social Movement, 29th July 2019

Last night marked the last show for QED Comedy Lab's big summer project, a month-long series of previews for the very best acts winding their way up to the Edinburgh Fringe. With over 50 comedians across the last four weeks, Oxford Comedy Festival is a sprawlingly mad undertaking, and one that has consistently pulled off exceptional bookings, picking the very finest stand-up comedians on the scene. Last night was no exception, with a pair of acts that managed to balance a justified rage at the state of things with a fabulous hit rate in their material that produced chortles, guffaws and all-out belly laughs.

First up was Kate Smurthwaite, a comedian and activist who has appeared on the likes of Question Time, This Morning and Newsnight. She'd picked Oxford for her only preview of her new show Bitch, one that sometimes meandered but was often funny and packed a terrific emotional kick. Her set was about owning the abuse she received as a product of her human rights campaigns. Baked into this was a difficult relationship with her father (the first person to call her the eponymous insult) and her polyamorous love life. The show was at its funniest when she was recounting her dating entanglements (including a particularly amusing anecdote about a date's experience with a paddling pool and red goo in the bedroom), but Kate was an engaging performer throughout.

There was a heartbreaking quality to the show, with Kate early on recounting one of the incidences of abuse she'd received, to the audience's growing dismay. There's a lot to unpack in Kate's show, as it moves from topic to topic. And yet it feels close to transformative, with Kate carefully unpacking her persona and giving audiences a glimpse of the individual underneath. When Bitch wasn't making us laugh it was giving us much to dwell on.

After a short break, we were treated to a superb hour of comedy from Jen Brister. A slick comedic tour de force, Jen deconstructs life as a happily married mother of twin boys and the privilege that she feels every day. Packed with hilarious anecdotes about parenting young boys (and there is nothing that makes me laugh harder than jokes on the struggles of parenting - as I am a father of an 'assertive' three year old) as well as the fear of what kind of individual these boys will become ('one's a chauvinist, the other's a misogynist'), Under Privilege shows why Jen has become such a highly rated comedian.

Contorting her face and voice (her Toby Young was wonderfully vile), Jen is a terrific performer, and her show propels along at a furious pace. Routine after routine lands and she's gleaned a slickness that makes her poised to once again make a big slash at the Edinburgh Fringe. To see her show so fully formed feels like a treat for this epic festival finale.

This sold-out evening of comedy was the perfect climax for the Oxford Comedy Festival. The acts they've curated (at least the six I've seen) have each been exceptional comedians, unafraid to address difficult subjects without losing the ability to make the audience laugh. QED Comedy must also be applauded for putting together a wonderfully diverse line-up, something that other providers of comedy are often unable to do. The comedy I saw was simply better because it elevated voices that in the past have not received such a platform. Oxford Comedy Festival is a bonkers undertaking but one enhanced by an ability to be one of the most modern, exciting arts festivals on the Oxford scene. Bring on 2020!

Rachel Fairburn: The People's Princess, Trinity College Beer Cellar, Sat 27th July 2019

On Saturday, QED Comedy Lab hosted Rachel Fairburn’s final preview of her Edinburgh Fringe show The People’s Princess. The show got off to immediate darkness and hilarity with a voiceover telling the tale of a recent - and much younger - love conquest of Rachel’s spitting on her face during an intimate moment – to which she responded ‘How dare you! I remember when Princess Diana died.’ Which triggered the existential crisis Rachel is now sharing with the world.

Thus begins her meandering on topics including dating in her 30’s, classism, celebrity culture, and public mourning, with jokes about Princess Diana and the Royal Family expertly woven throughout. Fairburn sandwiched her memories of the day Princess Diana died with her cynical hindsight – referring to a tribute to Diana from ‘Tony Blair, future war criminal’, for example. She also succeeded in walking that fine line comedians need between being both egotistical and grandiose (The People’s Princess), and self-deprecating: ‘I’m dressed like a depressed toddler.’

Rachel’s pace was astounding, with double and triple hits in a sentence, rousing the audience to applause at points. Yet the show was also full of moments of ‘oh shit I forgot this one’, which is to be expected with preview shows. But Rachel owned these moments, drawing them into her persona of being ‘more common than two stray dogs fucking in an alley.' Of course, her show is as raw and unpolished as herself.

No topic is too much or too little for Rachel. She had the audience in groans discussing her idea for a lewd BBC3 show, threw in a bit of Jimmy Saville and proudly declared herself an anti-Royalist. Rachel is privilege-aware and vehemently loves pointing out the double standards existing between the classes… like how it’s only OK to say the c-word in some accents. And also who gets to get away with being c-words! The largest laughs of the night went for Rachel’s stereotyping of ‘mediocre white middle class women’. No one could feel personally attacked, as she did the same for working class white women.

Rachel's show is electric, contained madness. Highly recommended, and I’m sure she’ll be a huge success at the Edinburgh Fringe.

Outliars: Trinity College Beer Cellar, Sat 27th July 2019

Outliars comedy show is a monthly event held by QED Comedy Lab, with this edition staged as part of their Oxford Comedy Festival. The Lab’s founder Matt Chadourne does an excellent job of hosting the night. The theme of the night is four comedians tell a story, and then the audience have five minutes to ask questions before voting on which of the stories was a lie. Although a simple concept, it challenges the comedians to walk the obscure line between embellishment for comedic effect, and believability in delivery.

First to stage was Simon Whittaker, whose passion for Robin Williams was manipulated into a passion for pharmacy. To such a point, he managed to qualify as a pharmacist despite going to no lectures in two years. Simon’s style of comedy gained a solid block of laughter from the audience at the climax of the story. However, his general narrative could have been punctuated with more jokes, as there were long pauses between laughs in the middle of the story, which given its serious nature (Parkinson’s Disease) brought the mood down slightly. Perhaps Simon’s comedy styling isn’t dark or un-PC enough to venture into jokes about this disease, in which case emphasis could have been put on other narrative aspects.

Second to the stage is Jo Darowska who entertained us in telling how she broke every rule of the SMART acronym for e-safety in her Tinder adventure. Jo’s story was enjoyable, punctuated with solid sentences such as ‘Tinder is like Russian Roulette for my ego.’ An adventure with a boy Luca left her still as single as the cheeto on a plate that was served for starters at a student gathering. Jo’s performance felt slightly under-rehearsed, with moments of rambling and stumbling, saved by the hilarity of her story. However, she demonstrated true talent and wit at the end of the show when responding to the audience’s questions on the spot. Jo has a huge amount of potential and natural talent, and I’m sure we’ll be seeing her name again.

Vincent Lynch had a great stage presence, and a clear voice which made his (albeit delusional) story about having an acting role in a film believable. The tale of woe is less Road to Hollywood and more 'Crouching Lecturer, Hidden Security Guard'. Vincent’s story of his 22 takes of fame as an amateur stunt-man, failed punch-taker hit a high note at first, but requires more work on timing.

Alex Green won the night, both in terms of performance and in convincing the audience his lie was true. Delivery was flawless, without a missed beat or stumbled spoken word. He was in with a joke about shitting himself three minutes into the performance. The hero of the tale was Alex’s older, delinquent brother who is now ‘a fat Trump supporter’. Alex was the little brother we love to hate, squealing on his brother’s brief play at spit shining cars, ruining laptops with pop ups before taking off in a high speed bad boy chase in a field – all in one day!! Alex gained consistent, solid laughs from the audience before having them squealing themselves at the end of the hi-jinks! It is possible that Alex’s performance was the most polished and effectively delivered because it was a lie, in which case I suggest he continue lying throughout his stand up career!

Oxford Comedy Festival: Simone Belshaw, Trinity College Beer Cellar, 19th July 2019

Simone Belshaw is a Canadian-born, London-based comedian, currently touring her work-in-progress show Goblin and Fiends. She graced the Trinity College Beer Cellar for Oxford Comedy Festival. Simone’s very entrance to the stage gives a sample of the unexpected comedy stylings to come – insisting the audience boo her and react with fear, dubbing herself the 'controversial, comedy bad boy'.She delighted in standing in this persona, proudly declaring 'I don’t even watch Bake-Off!' Thus beginning her dance of lulling the audience into a false sense of unease before cracking the awkwardness with a quippy one-liner.

Simone’s own joy for stand-up comedy could be seen in her smiles and laughs at audience responses, despite her attempts to maintain a somewhat deadpan approach. She is not afraid to be aggressively feminine, sexually liberated, self-aware and somewhat unstable. Belshaw regaled us with tales of dating in her 30’s, and her less relatable wish to have a fox body.

The main narrative of the show follows when Simone donated her eggs in 2017. Simone pores through the reasons behind her decision, the procedure and people’s reactions – nothing is off limits! This powerful story of claiming her body by giving something of it made away is punctuated by hilarious analogies like 'I can’t claim someone’s urine because I donated a kidney to them!'

Simone skilfully switches between stoic storytelling and manic distortion, which builds to frisson of omelettes, a hot fox body and Danny DeVito dipped in yoghurt, climaxing with a return to her narrative and sticking it in our faces that she is obviously more loving and giving than us to donate her eggs.

The audience loved Belshaw – their reactions rising from steady chuckle to joyful laughter and applause. On the rare occasion her jokes did miss the mark, she was able to reclaim the stage by apologising for puns and admitting to writing the joke on the bus.

Because this performance was a work-in-progress, the audience was delighted to a brief cameo from guest Iona Fortune, a self-proclaimed unicorn who likes organised fun. Her monotone set centred around her role as someone who 'look[s] down on people born with a silver spoon in their mouth', with upper class English values. Fortune provided the audience with business advice for those who already have a lot of money.

Goblins and Fiends offers a big squirt of comedy, topped with an interesting life story, with sprinkles of surrealism, served on a big a plate of sex education! Something for everyone who is into that kind of thing…

Oxford Comedy Festival: Chris Norton-Walker, Trinity College Beer Cellar, 19th July 2019

Chris Norton-Walker visited the rather Oxfordian setting of the Trinity College Beer Cellar on Friday 19th July 2019 for his Oxford Comedy Festival preview. He then unleashed his 'hairy, smelly disco' of relentless one liners, mostly about people who’ve come up to him recently.

Norton-Walker manages to strike the right balance between inflated ego and self-deprecation. He revels in the audience’s discomfort and groans, through pursed lips and smug chuckles – ever promising more boo-able jokes to come.

Chris uses a combination of three approaches of engagement; alternating between his own pun-tastic stream of consciousness, a PowerPoint presentation of Facebook Marketplace traumas, and an audience-involved raffle of numbers which correspond to a menu of jokes. This provided palatable breaks to the constant barrage of sentences ending in unexpected ways one liner comedy can bring. Norton-Walker had the audience craning on the edge of their seats to laugh at his collection of ads for 'Weird Fish Thing,' dentures taken as credit for money owed, and the best pair of jeans I have ever seen. This may not be too novel for internet enthusiasts, as most of the photos were recognisable for us meme-lords, but the audience (who I’m sure are regular people) loved it.

Norton-Walker is not afraid to abuse the audience through his jokes and format of delivery, blaming us for selecting that particular joke from the menu, telling us we should have booed at mean-spirited ones, and chastising us for clapping at jokes made at his own expense: 'don’t clap that it’s hurtful!' Chris has resilience against mixed reactions and awkward silences and in fact seemed to revel in the discomfort of the audience - like some sort of Dad-Joke Sadist - before using the audience reaction to turn another punchline.

As one may have inferred from the title – Unexpected Item in Gagging Area – Chris’ plethora of rapid-fire material left no topic uncovered, opening with religion, and no matter how dark and filthy it had gotten, he promised worse to come throughout the hour. No subject is safe from Norton-Walker, including sexism, ageism, bestiality or his appearance. Whilst there is a softening via being an equal-opportunity insulter, this is not a show for sensitive or politically correct souls. And what’s refreshing about Chris is he doesn’t seem to care.

Throughout the set, there was a solid block of laughter from the audience. However, an hour is a long time for such a high-energy performance, even with the breaks in format. This, combined with the change in the current landscape of more and more subjects being taboo (is sexism the new racism?) meant that there were also a lot of indifferent faces. It seems that acts like Walker-Norton’s may be at a time of flux, trying to continue their role as truth seers, humblers and whimsical sentence-enders in a brave new world which expects more than low blows.

Oxford Comedy Festival: Maria Shehata, Trinity College Beer Cellar, 6th July 2019

Upon taking my seat in Trinity College's Beer Cellar (the only venue where I have ever been able to find cans of Lilt) I prepared myself for another dive into the wonderful world of the Oxford Comedy Festival. The comedian on the bill was Maria Shehata, with her show Hero. The focus here is on the comedian's life as an American living in the UK. Dealing with the heartbreak of a relationship going from long distance bliss to short distance failure, as well as the strange set of events this leads Shehata down, it was a personable, amusing set that has the potential to be tweaked into something great.

A steady stream of quality jokes punctuate Shehata's set, with some of the best material focusing on her Egyptian-American heritage. Is her father overbearing or loving for checking up on her every day at 1pm? Is this something unique to him? There are other moments that go down a storm, like an observation of changing hair styles indicating trouble in a relationship, and Shehata mines her life for a number of well-earned laughs.

Shehata is a brave comedian who is more than comfortable to strike up a conversation with the audience. It works for the show's intimate setting and makes her an endearing presence, almost like she is a friend we haven't seen for a while. And yet there was perhaps a tad too much audience interaction, with the momentum that Shehata's style brings being curtailed by longer exchanges. Her show would have benefitted from these moments being trimmed and the comedian pushing on to the next portion of her routine. There are the components here for a strong hour of stand-up, it just all needs to be tightened and shaped. It also felt like the show came to a halt just as Shehata had found her groove, but such is the limitations of fringe comedy sets.

Oxford Comedy Festival: Glenn Moore, Love Don't Live Here Glenny Moore, The Old Fire Station, 10th July 2019

Glenn Moore's jokes are relentless. Before we've even had time to comprehend the joke we've just heard, Moore moves us on to something new.

There's a hint of James Acaster's tone and turn of phrase in the first half an hour, which is an oddness that doesn't quite suit Moore. Really, he can get away with being quite a bit meaner than Acaster, especially given that the central conceit of his show is that he's just too nice a guy. Probably the best joke of the hour, for its bluntness and unexpectedness, comes out of Moore inhabiting the nastiness he's so quick to rebuke in his own personality. And when that joke is about Nigel Farage, a former work colleague of Moore's(!), who can argue?

Elements of the show have the potential to be excellent, with a stand-out section focusing on Dignitas. It would be fair to think that the subject matter would be the most arresting element of this bit, but what's really boundary-pushing about it is how it messes around with Moore's established form. We go from joke after joke to what feels like minutes of serious set-up. In a way, this actually allowed Moore to gain a greater momentum than the relentless joke-telling did. There was more at stake in these moments and everyone found themselves buying in.

The set was building well when a very loud phone halted proceedings. Moore dealt with this technological heckle (tech-le?) really well, but never quite managed to regain the same energy. This was a shame as there was some strong material post-interruption that would have landed much better if the vibe of the room hadn't been taken out of his hands.

Now Moore has established his baseline form of firing out joke after joke, I hope that this stability in his persona means that he'll be more eager to play around with our expectations. If Moore manages to iron out the kinks over the next three weeks, his finished Edinburgh hour will be well worth a watch.

Oxford Comedy Festival: Adam Hess, My Grandad Has a Fringe, The Old Fire Station, 10th July 2019

Adam Hess is hung up on the idea that his brother is cleverer than him. He's obsessed with it, and with proving that he can be clever too. Even if his mum still isn't impressed with him.

Hess doesn't want to talk about Brexit, or any politics. 'It's not that funny, is it?' he quips early on and he's right. It's really refreshing not to think about it for an hour or so. Instead, his comedy is observational at its core, and Hess is at his best when he's pointing out those odd foibles we all have but haven't clocked are universal habits. 'That's clever too though, isn't it?' he asks us rhetorically again and again about 45 minutes into his set. Working out why we're all the same kind of weird? His mum thinks she could do it. He tells her she can fuck off.

While its been a few years since peak-McIntyre, observational comedy still gets a bad rap from those Hess refers to as 'the clever comedians'. But his observations are of a far more bizarre bent to those you'd see on Mock the Week. The powerpoint he uses to introduce some facts about himself has a kind of shitposting streak to it which lands well with the audience, and his anecdotes often go a few steps further than anyone expects them to. This isn't 'man-drawer' material, this is 'I know exactly how you'd behave if, like me, you accidentally got stuck in your housemate's room while they masturbated' material.

There were points where Hess seemed a bit manic and it was sometimes quite stressful to watch him try and cram all his material into the hour. There's definitely some honing that needs to happen - his callbacks were a couple of edits away from having an impact - but the show's central idea felt present and vital throughout. Highlights were bits about a dude cake (don't ask), his disgust at Marco Pierre White, and the very impressive dictionary work that closed the set. If the work-in-progress is this funny then I strongly recommend you check out Hess's finished show My Grandad Has a Fringe if you happen to be in Edinburgh this year.

Oxford Comedy Festival: Matt Winning & Catherine Bohart, The Old Fire Station, 3rd July 2019

There are times when a good stand-up will make you want to cry. When they will use their platform to highlight issues we really need to be talking about. This is what unifies another great pairing of comedy sets as part of QED Comedy Lab's terrific festival.

First up is (Dr) Matt Winning, who crosses his routine with a conference lecture on climate change. It's The End Of The World As We Know It seeks to answer the three questions around the subject: Must we change? Can we change? Will we change?

Winning is a terrific performer, aided by a likeable, approachable personality, making him almost the perfect messenger for such apocalyptic information. There are the components of a hilarious, terrifying hour of scientific stand-up. At times it is very funny, especially when it tips into the delightfully crude. He often brings the unwieldy subject back to the personal, at one point explains the origins of his comedic career - the combination of a bad break-up, a return to live with his parents, and studying climate change as part of a PhD. These three points of woe led to him (several years later) performing in front of us.

But the parts don't all fit together yet, with Winning often working through the material he has. He isn't aided by a seemingly possessed Powerpoint presentation, set on running away from him. Another issue is the sprawling nature of his subject. Maybe there's too much to say about climate change, too much material to be condensed into a neat, hour-long show. You hope Winning finds the structure he needs, as it has the potential to be one of the most relevant hours at this year's Edinburgh Fringe.

After a short break we were back in our seats for Catherine Bohart. Bohart is a noticeably different comedian to Winning, with her show moving at a furious pace, its star acting as a sort of comedy machine gun, firing out lines at a rapid rate that had an exceptionally high hit rate. Lemon (the inspiration for the title I won't ruin here) explores life as a bisexual, eking out joke after joke about being in a long term relationship and society's (plus her mother's) response to her. Bohart gleefully interacts with the audience, giving her a show a spiky danger. It's wonderfully rude, simmering with a noticeable anger that bubbles under the surface.

As the show reached its finale it was clear we were watching a skilled performer who had honed her craft expertly. And then, in its final moments, the jokes drop away and we are left a gut punch of an ending, one that is deeply moving. It is an unexpected twist for a comedian that had, up until this point, seemed happy to rattle through countless sharp barbs and witty one-liners. The effect this moment has is to elevate Bohart's set from a terrific hour of comedy to something special. She almost apologises that the show doesn't end on a joke, but it instead climaxes on something far more potent. I fought back tears, realising that the combination of the two sets had proven far more emotionally draining than I had expected.

It's strange the art that can move us. With a subject as terrifying as Winning's and an ending as powerful as Bohart's, last night was an example of stand-up's impact on the viewer. Each show had reams of potential and further exemplified the fascination relationship that is quickly built up between a performer and an audience. The Oxford Comedy Festival continues to go from strength to strength, offering moments that pack a punch as well as ones that cause a hearty laugh.

Oxford Comedy Festival: Laura Davies & Jessica Fostekew, Tap Social Movement, 1st July 2019

Swooping in to rescue all Oxford-based stand-up fans from Edinburgh Fringe-induced FOMO blues is the Oxford Comedy Festival, which returns for its sophomore year. Bringing with it a huge number of acts, the festival propelled itself into being a must-attend feast of laugh with two stonkingly good sets from a pair of accomplished performers.

First up was Australian comedian Laura Davies with Better Dead Than a Coward. She kicked off her show by proving the title accurate and daringly asking audiences to rate her as comedian out of 10 before we'd seen any of her act. A raft of 7s and 8s were divvied out, but one audience member landed on a 2 (?!?). Davies used this harsh assessment to propel her show forward, exhibiting a faux-incredulity amusingly well. From here she turned to topics of kinks (hers is getting a terrible haircut), climate protests and the idea of power, with each producing a number of hearty laughs. Throughout her set Davies played the introvert well. Is it an act? Is this the real version of her? It is hard to tell but it makes her a particularly approachable comedian. She comes across as likeable even if there are hints of teeth with the occasional barbed one-liner. There are moments of comedic brilliance in her routine, particularly when she turns her attention to the power struggle at the heart of a moth appreciation Facebook group she is part of. She seems aware of the baggy nature of her set in its current form, but such is the deal with a preview festival. There is the shape of an exemplary Edinburgh show here and Davies is such a likeable presence that at the end of her hour she kept us amused and engaged as she ambled through her topics. One hopes that at the end the punter who gave her a 2 would increase that number greatly.

After a short break we were treated to the second act of the evening, Jessica Fostekew. One of the regular hosts of The Guilty Feminist, Fostekew's set is two-thirds tear-inducing comedic brilliance, one-third material so fresh it's being read from a laptop. There are ideas aplenty here, with the show springing from feminist compliments, to toys for boys, to the pursuit of a 'lovely' birth, all at a whip-smart speed. Maybe it's being a parent, but pretty much any time a comedian talks about handling a toddler I will crack up. There is a particular image that Fostekew brings to life that had me in tears, and one I won't ruin here. She has a marvellous ability to contort her face into the most wonderful expressions. One of the more interesting aspects of Fostekew's style is how it manages to bake political themes into itself, without losing the ability to make you laugh. The material about the dieting industry feels particularly potent and I'd come back and watch her show again, once the mixture has fully set. It is safe to say that this is highly likely to be one of the most talked about shows at the Fringe in August. It feels a real coup for the Oxford Comedy Festival.

Having laughed myself hoarse during a pair of sets from the equally brilliant Davies and Fostekew I left Tap Social Movement eager for more comedy. There are times when Oxford feels underrepresented by the comedy scene, with some of the big hitters passing us by. But not in July, with QED Comedy coming to the rescue. I highly recommend the Oxford Comedy Festival for a much needed injection of laughs. It's really something special.