October 12, 2008
Last Friday saw the Oxford leg of the annual Paramount Comedy sponsored, post-Edinburgh Fringe national tour, which is aimed at showcasing the talents of four up and coming comedians. The event was held at the Old Fire Station Studio, which is a surprisingly suitable venue for comedy.
The compere for the evening, Dan Atkinson, seemed poorly prepared and uninspiring. His unsuccessful pot shots at the crowd made for several needlessly awkward moments, and the movement during the interval of a sizeable amount of the front rows towards the back of the unfilled theatre attested to this. Less a "shambolic genius", as the blurb would have us believe, than a shambolic mediocrity.
The first act was Londoner Joe Wilkinson who, despite an affable stage presence and general air of promise, was somewhat lacking in sustainable material and didn't quite master the crowd. The next act, Isy Suttie (recently seen on Channel Four's Peep Show as the character 'Dobbie') offered slightly more by way of laughs with a few musical numbers and her slightly surreal take on rural life. In both appearance and voice the Matlock-born comedienne is reminiscent of a young Victoria Wood. However given the somewhat hit-and-miss nature of her set I remain unconvinced as to how successfully she could sustain a longer routine without floundering.
The headliner for the evening was Canadian expatriate, Glenn Wool, returning to Oxford after a lackluster performance at the Cellar's 'Free Beer Show' in June. This time round, however, his set crackled with energy, having clearly honed his performance at the Edinburgh Fringe. Religion, drugs and immigration were all on Wool's agenda, and the belly laughs came thick and fast, triggered not only by his decent material (especially apparent after the previous acts) but also by the wildly expressionate face of the self-styled 'rock 'n roll' comedian. Wool hinted onstage that he may soon be moving back to Canada, so I would advise you to catch him in England whilst you still have the chance. The tour continues.
The compere for the evening, Dan Atkinson, seemed poorly prepared and uninspiring. His unsuccessful pot shots at the crowd made for several needlessly awkward moments, and the movement during the interval of a sizeable amount of the front rows towards the back of the unfilled theatre attested to this. Less a "shambolic genius", as the blurb would have us believe, than a shambolic mediocrity.
The first act was Londoner Joe Wilkinson who, despite an affable stage presence and general air of promise, was somewhat lacking in sustainable material and didn't quite master the crowd. The next act, Isy Suttie (recently seen on Channel Four's Peep Show as the character 'Dobbie') offered slightly more by way of laughs with a few musical numbers and her slightly surreal take on rural life. In both appearance and voice the Matlock-born comedienne is reminiscent of a young Victoria Wood. However given the somewhat hit-and-miss nature of her set I remain unconvinced as to how successfully she could sustain a longer routine without floundering.
The headliner for the evening was Canadian expatriate, Glenn Wool, returning to Oxford after a lackluster performance at the Cellar's 'Free Beer Show' in June. This time round, however, his set crackled with energy, having clearly honed his performance at the Edinburgh Fringe. Religion, drugs and immigration were all on Wool's agenda, and the belly laughs came thick and fast, triggered not only by his decent material (especially apparent after the previous acts) but also by the wildly expressionate face of the self-styled 'rock 'n roll' comedian. Wool hinted onstage that he may soon be moving back to Canada, so I would advise you to catch him in England whilst you still have the chance. The tour continues.