Once again AltLinc ventured to the Zing comedy night, as they so frequently do on Mondays.

The night kicked off with MC Nicky Wilkinson, who’s friendly, conversational humour earned a few laughs and the odd smattering of light applause. She put the audience at ease very quickly – which is something that previous MC’s have been less successful at.

Me: I’ve made a friend in #Agadir Me: He’s a tour guide, he’ll make friends with anyone. Me: Shut up! He likes me for who I am.

— Nicky Wilkinson (@WilkinsonNicky) February 23, 2014

 

 

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The first of the scheduled six comedians to take to the stage was the loud and energetic American Russell Higgs. Extremely vocal, Higgs first loudly declared his Americanism, and then spent some time riffing on Canada, maple syrup and people’s perceptions of Americans. His next bit hinged on the events roster at the Engine Shed, more specifically the appearance of the Banana’s in Pyjama’s later in the year. The Banana’s and Pyjamas gags were a recurring theme throughout the set, which unfortunately fizzled out towards the end – although it’s certainly one of the best starts to a comedy night that we’ve seen at the Club.

 

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The next comedian was Mr Tim Weeks. Certainly a blast from the past, his short set consisted of witty one-liners, classic “how many [blank] does it take to change a light bulb?” jokes and even a few snippets of songs – altered for comedic effect, of course. His set was generally well received but, unfortunately, some of his witty remarks and references sailed over the audience’s heads. He was certainly a well-read and learned comedian with the right material, but unfortunately not the right audience.

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Dave Rivers was next up delivering another short set. His material related to the student population, including assorted japery based on the topics of pot noodles and such like. Anecdotal to a point, his comedic stylings were more based around musings on an idea. He garnered a few laughs from his set, but it wound down towards the end.

Twins are God’s own respawn glitch

— Dave Rivers (@DaveRiversUK) March 15, 2014

 

 

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Paul Mutagejja – a familiar face at the comedy club – had a brief 10 minute set to try out some new material. A few ripples of laughter were heard, but that was really all that the new material warranted. Amusing but not particularly memorable, if he’d worked his new material into a previous “tried and tested” set, it may have come off slightly better.

 

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The final act before the headliner was Nick Root. His set was very well constructed, with separate sections that flowed seamlessly into each other, as well as a running joke to consolidate the routine. His comedy was derived from topics such as being sacked from jobs, bravery (or the lack of bravery) and going on the pull in Blackpool. Some of his material was a bit tongue in cheek and only managed to coax a few nervous titters out of the audience.

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The headline act was Lenny Peters. He was immediately comfortable on stage and wasted no time in launching into his set. He spoke about meeting in Spanish girlfriend in a crowded nightclub in Ibiza, and the hilarious communication faux pas that occurred when she first visited him in the UK. It turns out that “constipado” is Spanish for “cold”, as opposed to the apparently obvious answer. I’ll let you figure out what happened next. He went on to talk about living in Brixton, including a very funny bit about how an electricity bill written by a London chav might sound. The audience laughed harder than they had all night. In a word, Brilliant.

Bunch of f-ers

— Lenny Peters (@lpscooby13) November 25, 2012

Hope you’re not talking about us there @lpscooby13

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