Monday night was the blockbuster JUICE-A-Nanny show in which we celebrated eight years of being in the comedy world, and the J-blog has got a full gig-report for you!
For the first time ever the show was hosted by both Neil Reading & Rob Halden doing dual MC’ing. This meant the hosting of the show had a lot in common with their weekly radio show on Stafford FM. It was so much fun we can’t think why they haven’t done it before. Rob and Neil will be the first to admit that they’re not the best Comperes in the world, and whilst they did stumble down a couple of blind alleys and let the energy in the room drop from time to time, there was some great natural banter between them and a lot of laughs were had with the two of them on stage together (which is more than can be said for when they Compere on their own…just saying, guys!).
With the new start time of 8 pm, not all comedians could arrive in time for the start of the show. This meant that the running order of comics could not be fully fleshed out beforehand. We had to arrange the first section of the show based around whoever was in the building, and then leave the rest of the planning for when the other acts had arrived. Usually when booking the New Act/New Material Show we have to pay special attention to which acts are a bit wet behind the ears and make sure they are complimented on the bill by the more seasoned performers, making sure that a section opens with confidence (to set up the section for all the other acts) and then ends with a bang (to make sure the punters come back after the break). But with this line-up of really great comedians it was difficult to place them in a running order, because they were all so good!
Paul Savage took the bullet and went on first. He carried a lot of nice energy with him on the stage and immediately carried out some good audience interraction with a blue-haired girl in the front row called Siobhan (more on her later). When Paul allows himself to slip into his “angry rant at the world” mode, he is truly brilliant and funny and it makes you wish he did it more. Paul’s new material really found some gold with his bit on Post Apocalypse Observational Comedy. Yes, it’s as crazy as it sounds but it’s beautiful, funny stuff that the audience loved! Paul was worried that this material would only appeal to comedians, but a number of audience members said it was their favourite part of the night.
Harriet Dyer’s new material was more embarrassing-yet-true stories from her life, which included being egged by a stag party on the streets of Manchester. Whilst Harriet herself is a zany and anarchic performer, she manages to convey the truth in her stories that connect with the audience and make the stories funny. Harriet made numerous spontaneous tangents from her set to interact with the audience, which did, unfortuneately distract from the flow and the narrative.
Next up was Dr. Josephine…we mean Joseph Ettrick-Hogg, who is definitely a man. Jo’s got a really entertaining character which allows her to be both filthy and sexist whilst subverting the concepts and mindsets of those who’d both tell and enjoy such jokes. Wonderfully, there were several occasions where you could see Jo breaking character and laughing at some of the spontaneous moments with the audience, which was really nice.
The first section was closed by the eccentric Billy McGuire who’s been a stalwart of the JUICE-A-Nanny shows for a number of years now. Billy gruff exterior quickly melts away with the pleasant lilt of his voice and the whimsy of his delivery and set. He brought out all the old Billy Favourites and took us into the break very nicely.
During the break we had a surge of comedians arriving, allowing us to wipe our collective brows. There was plenty of cake to be passed around, including some delicious homemade treats from Billy’s excellent wife Yolanda.
Dave Dinsdale has recently made a return to comedy after a brief, and successful, sojourn into the world of theatre. The JUICE-A-Nanny marked Dave’s return to JUICE, so it was great to have him open the second part of the show. Dave seems to have gained a renewed enthusiasm for stand-up, and he threw himself into this performance with aplomb. He also had some very nice new jokes in with all the classics.
Phill Pagett took the audience on a ride through his wonderful one-liners and threw out some new material in the mix as well. Phil’s got confidence and excellent delivery, but also possesses great gags. In short, he’s got everything a comedian needs. Pagett did come up against one of Stafford’s idiosyncrasies, as this appeared to be an audience not overly fond of dark material. Sometimes this is because there’s a higher percentage of women in the audience (which there was at the show) but not always. Some of Phil’s gags that would absolutely kill in most areas of the country, were met with some cautious “ooh”s and embarrassed laughter. Yet this didn’t knock Phil’s pace and he delivered a very funny routine.
When introducing Lou Chawner, Rob Halden decided to have a little fun (mainly because he’d been on the booze) and said to the audience “if you weren’t fond of some of Phil Pagett’s dark jokes…you’re fucked now! Here’s Lou Chawner!” and this was probably not the best way to introduce an act. Lou was trying out some new material, and a lot of the jokes were quite dark, but the audience had already been put in a particular mind-set by Rob’s introduction. The gag about “spastics” probably didn’t help either. Lou got laughs and entertained everyone, but the material would no doubt have received better from a different audience. After the gig, Lou was eager to point out that his set was not actually that dark and when he performs a full routine there are just as many light moments of levity as there are juicy dark gags. He’s right, but that didn’t stop us from chanting “spastic” at him.
The final section of the show saw Michael J. Dolan make his first appearance for JUICE. It’s unusual for us to book a new act on the end-of-year show, as we generally reserve it for our favourite acts. But the wonderful Kiri Pritchard-McLean had asked a favour of us in booking Michael before the end of the year. And we love Kiri so we got him on the show and ended up being very glad that we did. Michael’s performance is full of hate, but is not an angry or shouty act. Michael’s hate is targeted largely at himself, with also some healthy shots taken at the general public. There’s a lot of entertaining, rambling introspection in this set. There were quite a few stops & starts to the routine, but this was down to the set being quite new. But Michael impressed us all and JUICE looks forward to having him back in 2013.
Next up was Wudwud, whose routine involves deliberately contrived puns being drawn out over time to squeeze laughs out of the crowd. Once the audience gets into the act, there are some very nice laughs to be had as Wudwud takes you all-round-the-houses to get to a very simple bit of word-play.
The show ended with the frustratingly versatile Tom Allsopp. Tom performs each and every month at our New Material Show, and not only is every performance brand new material, but it virtually never fails to be hilarious. All the other comedians hate him. This show was no different, as Tom delivered a great monologue/story about swimming as a child. A great way to close the show and, indeed, to end the year.
During the night we also held the annual JUICE Comedy Awards. This year we awarded Performer Of The Year to . . .
Harriet Dyer! Harriet has had a brilliant year and really improved and honed her abilities on the circuit, as well as doing some excellent work for JUICE. We’re very proud to name her the JUICE Comedy Performer Of The Year 2012
Much like last year, we decided to create a second award for one of our regular performers. We called this award the Comedian’s Comedian Award as we were giving it to a grizzled veteran of the stand-up circuit . . .
Billy McGuire! Billy is a comedian who has been with JUICE since nearly the very beginning, playing some of our best, and worst, venues. Earlier this year he had a triumph of a performance at our show in The Gatehouse Theatre. Virtually every audience member who spoke to us after the gig said that Billy was their favourite act, and that was no mean feat on a bill with some top pro-comics.
Oh, and Rob Halden also decided to name Siobhan With The Blue Hair as the best audience member of the night. Rob’s reasons for this included Siobhan having good audience interaction with most of the comics on the show, having blue hair, and finally “being dead fit”. We here at JUICE Comedy would like to point out that this was in no way an official award, and Rob’s opinions do no necessarily reflect the opinions of JUICE or our parent company (Reading/Halden Industries) . . . however, in this instance, Siobhan was dead fit.
It was a great, fun show all-round and we hope you can join us next year as we celebrate a frankly-baffling 9 years of JUICE!
Every week JUICE Chat interviews some of the best talents from the comedy world. This week we sat down with Tom Allsopp.
Tom began his comedy career at the New Act / New Material show that JUICE runs in Stafford. His first stand-up performance went against the grain of comedy-first-times and was startling good. Since then Tom has grown in both skill and experience, crafting a unique set that has entertained audiences all over the country.
JUICE: How would you describe your comedy?
Tom: I’m a storyteller by nature and that is how my act has always had its roots really. I also write funny poetry that is a bit rude, or rude poetry that’s a bit funny depending on who you ask.
JUICE: How did you start out in stand-up?
Tom: I was always told by friends and the like that I was funny and I’d always enjoyed comedy as a member of the audience. I got fairly drunk on a new year’s eve and dared myself to do a single open spot to see what it was like. That just happened to be with the wonderful wizards of JUICE and I have never looked back.
JUICE: What’s been your most memorable gig to date?
Tom: I suppose that you never forget the feeling of the first time you go out on stage, especially with an art form as personal and viceral as standup. Other than that, I think being heckled by a gentleman with a prosthetic arm at Stafford Rangers FC is going to stay with me for a very long time!
JUICE: Where’s your favourite venue to perform?
Tom: Joxer Brady’s will always be home because it is where I started, it has also got that cool, new material, everyone forging their act out of nothing feeling to it that I’ve not found elsewhere. I’m really looking forward to playing The MET Studio and seeing how it feels in that big, cabaret environment.
JUICE: Who’s your favourite circuit comedian at the moment?
Tom: Crikey, this one’s tough. My first thought is Johnny Sorrow because he is unique and a force of nature and a genuinely lovely man all at the same time. I also had the privilege of sharing the stage with Stephen Carlin and I was in total awe of him as a perfomer and as a writer.
JUICE: Who’s the best in the world, Louis CK or Daniel Kitson?
Tom: I think I’d have to say Daniel Kitson. I love Louis CK but there is something mesmeric about Kitson that draws you in and steals your heart.
JUICE: Do you have any influences or comedy heroes?
Tom: My heroes are Spike Milligan because he took silly and elevated it to a near religion. I also love Stewart Lee (‘If you prefer a milder comedian…’ is a must watch if you ask me) because he is fearless and thoughtful and makes you think as much as he makes you laugh. My influences start with my family really. I grew up in a family of storytellers, especially my dad and my grandad, and my mom is a great mimic. When she tells a story about her day, she acts out all of the people in it! After them, I would say people like Dave Allen and Murray Lachlan Young would be direct influences on me and what I do.
JUICE: What’s the worst part of the comedy world at the moment?
Tom: I think the worst part of the industry is lazy thinking. There are too many performers who are aiming for controversy. I think the masters aim for something thoughtful and then find out it’s a controversy.
JUICE: What’s the best part of the comedy world at the moment?
Tom: I think the best thing about the circuit is that there is such diversity. People should go and see live comedy and see that it’s not like TV. It’s not just the people who bullied you at school bellowing down a camera at you in ripped jeans.
JUICE: What are your goals in the world of comedy? What would you like to achieve?
Tom: I saw Seinfeld say that all he wanted was to be “one of those guys”, to be able to say ‘I am a comedian’ and mean it is a really important thing. I’d like to make lots of people laugh, some people think, and keep my tortoise in fresh vegetables while I’m at it.
JUICE: Where can people find out more about you?
Tom: You can follow me on twitter @tommytalltales
You can see Tom Allsopp performing live on Friday 6th July at The MET Studio in The Gatehouse Theatre. Visit the Box Office for tickets.