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6 September 2008 |
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Dunfermline Heat 3 Review
Tonight was the first visit for The Scottish
Comedian of the Year competition to the Kingdom of Fife. Listening to the
radio as we drove there, through the wind and the torrential rain, we
discovered several points of note. 1. England was once again flooded. 2.
Dunfermline is actually a city. 3. It takes 2 hours to get from Glasgow to
Fife during Friday evening rush hour. 4. They think they have
developed a vaccine against all forms of flu - bird flu included - so
never again will we need to worry about crossing the Kincardine
Bridge. 5. This muppet left his camcorder in the house. and finally
6. With a bit of tweaking we have found an absolute gem of a room for
comedy.
The back room in Collective, where we held tonight's
Dunfermline SCOTY heat, is the right size, right shape and has all the
right gear. It looked great. Unfortunately it has lots of mirrors, bare
walls and solid floors meaning that the sound bounced all over the place.
Likewise music leaked downstairs from the main bar and through the heavy
velvet curtains. This wasn't too much of an issue for most of the acts.
However since the sound check had been done earlier in the day, when there
was no music in the main bar, it meant we had to continually tweak with
the levels during the first act's set. Jonathon Stanley was never
able to fully engage with the audience due to either not being able to be
heard or the annoying feedback which frequently interrupted his flow. For
that reason it is felt that he deserves a second bite at the cherry. With
all the remaining heats full to bursting Ha Ha Comedy is giving him a
place in the semi final.
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All the way through Jonathon's set our
next act was probably panicking, because like all musical acts if the
sound is too lively you're fucked and there is no hiding from it. With
guitar in hand Tommy McKay resolutely took to the Dunfermline stage
with a commanding presence. Thankfully the sound was much improved. Unlike many musical acts Tommy didn't hide his
comedy behind his songs. In his prose he had nice lines which a regular
stand up would cherish. His ditties were witty, topical, sharp and catchy.
Since his entry in last year's competition Tommy has reduced the length of
each song, tightened up his set and peppered it with a higher ratio of
punchlines. Job well done.
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| Raising the bar after Tommy was this
year's most experienced act, a finalist last year, Teddy. Like
Andrew Carnegie, Teddy is a Dunfermliner who went off to the big city (ok
Maryhill) to make a name for himself. Like AC he hasn't forgotten his
roots, although instead of building up the cultural expectations of his
kinsmen, Teddy chose to tear them down, doing so with great effect. Teddy
easily excited this evening's crowd with barbed jibes at the local
hostelries and education establishments. The majority of his set was taken
on a more well trodden path, which he seemed utterly at ease with and
which the crowd enjoyed. |
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| Contrasting hugely with
Teddy's slick approach was Daniel Webster. If I were a betting man
I would say that Daniel has watched a lot of Emo Philips videos, he
probably knows every line off by heart and that is the reason he got into
comedy. Tonight he took forever getting to the stage, getting the mic stand sorted
and then actually speaking into the mic. His oversized shades, his stoop
and his manic hair all added to the stoner impression that he wanted to
put across. Nervous giggles filled the room in anticipation of what was to
come. It came, but after a while he was on his own. There were other
people there, but Daniel never quite took them with him. He was on his
own. Daniel's story of an old man on a bus was just like Glasgow's number
89 bus. It trundles through some lovely places then some not lovely places
and goes on and on and on on its circular route. Daniel shows a lot of
promise, his theatrical approach will endear him to many audiences,
however he needs more solidly written, well edited material to back it up.
Tonight's youngest competitor and Edinburgh Fringe
So You Think You're Funny finalist Daniel Sloss was tonight's
penultimate act. It was a slow and nervy start from Daniel, he played up
his Fife routes and his Fife roots, he played up his youth, he played up
his inexperience and he tapped into the comedy of reminiscence - except
for him it isn't. It's NOW. The older ladies in the audience warmed
to him. As he got used to the room he grew more charming and more full of
beans - even although he was talking about all things sexual, but in a
manner you would get away with on Radio 4. I think it was also because in
the second half of his routine he was using material he seemed much more
confident about. There was a different swagger to his second half. The
writing was more polished. There was not a single wasted word. The
punchlines were layered on top of each other with some well placed call
backs. It was good material. Possibly too good.
And then there was one. Mike Cassidy had the
honours of closing the show. Like Daniel Webster, Mike fumbled his
entrance, pulling the cable out the mic, getting it caught around the
stand. It was a clumsy start. Unlike Daniel though it wasn't intended. It
flumoxed Mike and he never recovered. Not once did he attempt eye contact
with the audience, he was either looking at his feet or his reflection in
one of the many mirrors.
Teddy's performance tonight ensured there
would be at least one of last year's beaten finalists in this year's
final, however for Mr Nelson's Tote there was a big shock for second place
and a spot in the semi. That honour went to Tommy McKay. With Mr
Mackie already in the final could 2008 be the year of the grumpy old men.
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