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7 September 2007
Scottish Comedian of the Year 2007 Heat 6
Helensburgh
If you travel along the North bank of
the River Clyde on the West coast of
Scotland
you will come to Helensburgh, famed for Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s Hill
House, a view to
Greenock
and the wildest comedy gig in the West(ern world).
The crowd of The Clyde Bar has seen many an accomplished act turn wish the
Earth would open up and swallow them whole. But like a pit bull terrier who is
allegedly great with kids, acts with balls they have taken to their hearts and
worshipped.
With the ground rules firmly set down at the start, the Johnny-less crowd
seemed a little subdued. Martin Gillon was first to test the water.
Having postponed his original heat last weekend due to illness, Martin was
obviously still under the weather and he found it difficult to build a rapport
with the crowd. It wasn’t until half way through, when he acknowledged the
lack of energy in the room, following it up with a killer piece of material
about his woodwork skills at school, that Martin found his feet. Martin looks
unsure of himself which is a pity, he should have much more confidence in his
writing and more personality on stage.
Next up was one of the most experienced acts in the competition, someone
who has more than enough onstage personality, but possibly too much confidence
in their material. Bratchy bounded on and improvised his way into his set
with a nice surreal piece about the backdrop. Then he did material which he can
do on his head whilst asleep after a right good spliff and a shag. He’s been
doing much of this routine for years but it hasn’t moved on and feels far from
fresh. Tonight he should have walked it, unfortunately I think he needs a zimmer
for some of those gags. Coming from me I know many people will be saying pot,
kettle and black.
The first act tonight to really give the audience what they wanted was Jay
Lafferty. It’s a brave thing coming to Helensburgh and tell them that you
are from that depressing looking place directly across the river, which they
have to gaze upon at every day. Since the days of the last
Clyde
built cruise liners
Greenock
as had little to shout about. They should put out the bunting for Jay because
onstage she has more front than
Greenock
, Gourock and Weymss bay put together. In a corset that the good men of Scott
Lithgow would have been proud of, Jay gives a sassy performance which at first
cleverly covers the hack topic of blow jobs from a female perspective, then full
of enthusiasm switches to the world of virtual living.
The audience loved her joy about discovering Bebo, helping her to a very
narrow victory in the vote and thus a place in the Grand Final.
After
the break David Blair got laughs, many he deserved, quite a few he
didn’t. I can’t remember most of them, except an absolute beauty about when
he was “asked to think of a number between 1 & 10”. A typical
Helensburgh audience would have seen this punchline fly over their heads,
Thankfully tonight there were people from
Glasgow
and even
Paisley
in the audience. David is very new to comedy, he still needs to find his own
voice, but given plenty of stage time I am sure he will.
Colin Edwards not only needs to find his own voice but get some style
too – I mean a chocolate brown cord jacket and Next rugby top, come
on! He looked like a middle class character from a Harry Enfield spoof.
As for his material, his routine about sleeping with a sexually
aggressive woman seemed very reminiscent of the one which Teddy performed last
week. Are they being inspired by each other, or are they shagging the same
woman?
They say the most important thing in comedy is timing.
Northern Ireland
’s Elaine Malcolmson started comedy at the turn of the year with the
aid of Viv Gee’s workshops. When
she did her showcase at Easter she had some cracking material about celebrating
religious festivals. Tonight she badly crowbarre this material ito the start of
her set. It is a clever piece if told topically, however this was not the time
for it. Elaine’s dead pan style suits her. You really feel that she is timid
but dangling on the edge. Her writing skills are superb. Give her more time on
stage and confidence to sit back and wait for the laughs then she’s in with a
shout next year.
Rab Brown has it all, hidden underneath
his ill fitting suit, well written gas, great delivery and a fresh approach to
the age old problem with thick Americans. You can imaging Rab sitting in his
room watching hour after hour of Bill Hicks and Alexis Sayle DVDs. The thing he
doesn’t have is a place in the final. Why? Maybe he’s too similar to those
he appears to emulate, but their hey days were 20 years ago. Rab's is yet to
come. He missed outon a place in the final by a mere 2 points. He's in with a
good shout for the best runner up wild card spot, but better still as a
competitor in the gong show.
So the Grand Final has a female. Tonight she was
far from being just a token – she looked a million dollars.
See video clips
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