It’s a wet and windy Sunday night, mid November in Edinburgh and the question is what to do? Well there is only one answer isn’t there when the Stand Comedy Club is available with another blockbusting bill of comedy talent and it only costs a few quid as well! We were certainly not alone in coming to that conclusion, as the club was packed, including a stag party full of Blackpool policemen and a mixed group from Ireland.

Compere on the night was young Kevin Bridges. We had previously seen Kevin as an up and coming act and thought him brilliant, as this immensely talented Scot proved that he is just as home with the different, but equally demanding, art of compering, even with the stag party front and central. He coped with them and got them with him at once, never letting their potential exuberance get out of control.

First act was Sian Bevan, who tells of her hatred of ‘Children in Need’, not the kids themselves, rather the concept of the office twat who organises the charity fun (?) day. Her material also covers the veritable minefield facing anyone wanting to choose a charity to donate to and an anecdote from ‘another’ job on a confidential telephone help line, and not forgetting the kudos of adopting a young orphan, a la Madge, and how this will develop, as the fad drops down the celebrity ladder.

Next in line was Dougie Munro a native ‘Edinburger’, who describes in almost too much graphic detail, albeit with a very amusing style, the medical tests he faced before marriage. He also touched on the charity aspect, this time the pitfalls facing people wishing to donate items to charity shops, and the highly unhelpful  quality of staff working on the premises.

There followed a short break, back with some more Kevin, before a very entertaining and funny short set from Derek Millar. His material went down well with the crowd, routines on Sir and Lady Macca, certain newspaper allegations and his friend from Dundee who joined the boys in blue, this friends honeymoon and approach from London’s Met went down well with the crowd and the party of policemen in the front row.

The closing act of part two, and the main reason we attended tonight was Paul Kerensa. Geoff has seen Paul several times since seeing him in his self written comedy play 'Spinning Jenny' back in 2002 and he has since watched Paul’s comedy career in its ascendance. This visit to The Stand Comedy Club was my first introduction to this very clever comedian. He celebrates the fact that he is a bit of a carrot top enjoying seeing redheaded families wandering around Edinburgh, the strange resemblance between himself and a famous character from 'Happy Days', also to the most recent nude sooty type person to have been on TV, after which comparison he shaved off his beard. He also covered some material that his two flat mates have opposing views on, one being German, the other Jewish, just a little Churchill, Oh yes yes, yes, no no, no.  I can definitely see the obvious talent in this young man and Geoff might just have a fight on his hands when Paul returns in August for Fringe 2007.

A final short break before Mr Bridges introduces the headline act, Joe Heenan. Although he has obviously been around for a while it was our first time of seeing him. He really got the crowd going with his act, although he claimed he was only having a laugh as he was too drunk to remember his set!!! I don’t know about that, but what I do know is that the guy can certainly work a room and have everyone laughing. I am certainly looking forward to seeing him again in hopefully the near future.

So whatever the weather outside, the comedy is almost inevitably hot at the Stand, go check it out for yourselves. The club is open virtually every day of the year and forthcoming line-ups can be seen at www.thestand.co.uk

Geoff  or  Sheila  at one4review.co.uk