Still in recovery from the Fringe, Edinburgh and the long bus journey south, we’d kept September as a quiet month comedy wise and had only four gigs booked!
First up, on the 10th, Alfie Moore, retired policeman, with The Naked Stun, at the lovely Watermark Theatre in Ivybridge; a show about Alfie’s case where he had to hunt down a flasher. Of course there’s plenty more in the show than rude raincoat wearers, with lots of anecdotes and eye opening stories from the other side of the thin blue line.
Then on the 20th, a gig at Plymouth Uni as part of Freshers Week – a club type gig with the lovely Laura Lexx hosting, George Rigden opening and Jarred Christmas as headliner.
I always feel uncomfortable at uni gigs because we are invariably the oldest people there, standing out from the youngsters like the pair of old wrinklies that we are.
However, the night was good, not a huge crowd, made to look all the smaller for being in a largish marquee and with very poor lighting, (which was pointed out by the comedians themselves whilst on stage) however with Laura bouncing around on stage with her usual energy and verve, George delivering some good musical comedy with his guitar and Jarred bringing the gig home in his own inimitable style, the night was worth the effort. Lots of audience banter from all three and the young punters (and the two older ones) enjoying themselves. What was that about robot whales Laura??
A visit to Honiton on the 24th (via Exmouth for a wander around the shops and cake at Plantbased) for The Birthday Girls (at the Beehive) with their show Shit Hot Party Legends. Handing out shots of peach schnapps at the start of the show (I got two as Dave was driving!) the girls soon had the sedate Beehive punters warmed up and ready for the show. We’ve seen them more times than we’ve got fingers but they’re always worth a viewing for the high energy dancing, hilarious sketch and vegetable based feminism! Rose, Camille and Beattie get our vote every day for sheer good fun.
Rounding up the month at Sterts at Upton Cross on Bodmin Moor on the 30th, a new act for us, Croft and Pearce, a sketch duo made up of Hannah and Fiona; two ladies with some very cleverly written, to the point, sketches telling it how it is from the female side of life. My favourite characters Jean and June bemoaning middle class, first world problems – oh the angst – but there were lots of other parts just as good and the sketches had a thinly connected story line going on in the background too. There was some cheeky audience interaction – enough to delight the women and thoroughly take the mickey out of several male punters.
We weren’t sure if we’d be outside in the canopy covered, wooden bench seated amphitheatre, so we took a thick blanket and cushions for our nether regions, but in the event, we were in the much smaller (and warmer) studio room. The ladies had had transport problems and we wished for a bigger crowd to reward their seven hour train trip but the small audience was very appreciative and we thought the duo were hilarious. Well worth the trip out and the ticket money. Go and see them!
Carole.
Plymouth Ho Ho Ho 