Watching Live Comedy
As someone who lives in Bristol, I am surrounded by comedy venues. That’s why I thought this would be an easy task to complete.
As it was I didn’t get this one done until May 2017 – so, basically, not long after my list was officially finished.
But as complete the 40×40‘ is on the new list, this totally counts.
What is comedy?
Something that really annoys me is when someone says “I love (insert comedian)” and then someone replies “They’re rubbish, they’re not even funny”.
What that person actually should say is that they don’t find them funny. Comedy is so subjective, that it can cause all sorts of arguments, to the point that no one is laughing anymore!
We were recently watching a show in which comedians were ranked to find the Top British Comedian.
Personally, I don’t rate anyone who appears in the top 10.
In fact of the whole list of 30 people, I find about 7 of them funny. It would seem all the people in the comments of the article about the list agree with me, with most of them offering their own suggestions and stating how unfunny the others are.
Which comedy show did I see?
So who did I go and see? Well, funnily enough – see what I did there! – I didn’t actually intend to see a comedian at all, that weekend.
The weekend in question saw me camping in a field in West Sussex; ticking off a county and drinking coffee!
While I was attending the BCDO in Winston, I discovered that Tim Vine was performing.
There were a number of us, so we popped up to the marque where he was putting a show on. I appreciate that Tim Vine is an acquired taste, (and a terrible rapper, as we discovered!) but it was a really enjoyable night.
There are so many current comedy acts that rely on being rude and Tim’s set is a very easy listen. You know that no one will be offended, even if most of the jokes get a groan rather than a laugh. And his ‘pen behind the ear’ segment always gets a cheer.
The plan was to get a photo at the end, but he was pretty much mobbed. So instead, I just have a poorly lit selfie, with him in the background. So no evidence that I was there.
More Comedy
Last year, Han and I made a very last-minute booking to see a comedy event at the Colston Hall.
It was hosted by Ed Gamble, and starred Gary Delaney – who is a lot ‘ruder’ when live!- a rapper who made up songs about a girl in the audience, and James Acaster.
James Acaster was the reason for watching the show, as both Hannah and I are big fans; he oddly reminds me of my eldest son.
It all ended very strangely when a member of the audience began a ridiculous heckle and Acaster just left the stage.
There was a moment of awkward silence while we all wondered if this was part of the act; it was all a bit strange, yet everyone seemed to agree it was the fault of the plonker in the audience, who had started shouting abuse for no reason at all.
There are a few other current comedians who we like, but they seem to become so popular that their ticket prices have become a bit too much for us. We have been looking at trying out something a bit different, and I know that Han would really like to visit the Edinburgh Fringe one year.
I really need to encourage her to write a Kettle List… she could add this to it.
All in all – fun was had by all and I can declare another task…
Just as a little catch-up, we have also since seen Stuart Lee, Rhys James twice, and sat in on a live mike at a pub in Bristol.
We’re also hoping to get tickets to James Acasters’ upcoming gig – hopefully, he’ll stay for the whole show this time.