 Another Thursday, another comedy show. The 26th
saw Sheila and I back at The Stand for yet another bumper line-up of
some of the best comedy talent available.
With the weather defying the spring season and
harking back to winter, we were pleased to see that the club was going
to be packed and this together with the excellent food soon raised the
temperature and prepared one and all for the night ahead.
The fare kicked off as usual at 9-00pm with the
effervescent Joe Heenan as the man in charge of proceedings. Heenan is a
fine MC and got the ball rolling as only he can, gagging, chatting with
the crowd, packed as it was with a whole host of comedy gifts, an office
night out, a bunch of bankers and most unlikely perhaps a collection of
gynaecologists on a night out. All gold to Heenan and boy did he make
use of it before introducing the acts.
Self confessed middle-class comedian Chris Neal
was the opening act of the night. Both Sheila and I have seen him
perform over the last couple of Fringes and enjoyed his quirky style.
Neal is a favourite of Radio and this is a medium were he really excels.
That is taking nothing away from his live performances however, he
quickly got into his stride and delivered a very competent and funny
set. Having seen his 2008 Fringe show I remembered some of his material,
however a vast majority of this were experiencing him for the first time
so all was new to them.
After the first interval Joe, having whipped up
the crowd into a state of frenzy, unleashed ‘The Wee Man’ onto a
generally unsuspecting crowd. Sheila and I have seen this character
creation numerous times as recently as last week, but the YouTube
favourite had a vastly different set this time. Some of the old
favourites were still there I’m pleased to say, and this ‘Ned’,
the Glasgow equivalent of a ‘Chav’ really went down well with the
crowd, well maybe Paul, called upon to be his assistant, may disagree,
but I doubt it.
 The closing act of part two was Scottish based
Aussie Ro Campbell. This was the first time either of us had seen him
perform, strange given the number of shows we attend, but he certainly
hit the ground running. His confident delivery style and quality
material kept up the momentum that had been previously created. With
belly-laughs throughout, even allowing for some quite dark subjects at
times, Campbell certainly enhanced his already good reputation. There is something about his Aussie accent that is funny in
itself and coupled with his content I’m sure he’ll go far. Watch out
fellow countrymen Brendan and Adam perhaps!!
 Immediately after the second interval and prize
draw headline act Simon Munnery took to the stage as only he could. I
have been aware of this cult-comic for quite a while now, originally
seeing him on a Channel 4 series Edinburgh or Bust when he was ‘The
League Against Tedium’, but this was the first time I’d seen him
live. Always an Edinburgh and Stand favourite Munnery has a huge and
loyal following no matter where his humour takes him. I can understand
this, however speaking personally while
I really loved parts of his act, I generally prefer my comedy
less random and surreal, and a bit more structured. That is just my
opinion however and as previously stated many think he is ‘it’.
All too soon for most he was off, and Joe closed the evenings
proceedings.
This same line up is on offer both Friday and
Saturday this week so if you are quick you can check them out for
yourself too. For this and all forthcoming events at both Stand venues
visit their website on www.thestand.co.uk
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