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The
nation was on tenterhooks last night wondering whether or not it would be
a Scotsman – ok British man – who would make it out of the tough side
of the draw and into the Final. The competitors were so nervous that for
the first time you could understand why the place at which the US Open
tennis takes place is called Flushing Meadows. But this was no where near
as trivial as ball game between Rafa & Murray. This was heat five of
SCOTY. A heat that for weeks they had been referring to as the Group of
Death.
The
pressure got a bit too much for one of the favourites who we shall now
refer to as Estonia . Estonia has lots of experience in competitions and
was likely to come either first or second tonight, but he allowed the
three Scots, two Englishmen and an Aussie to have a kick about without
him.
First
to the oche tonight was an unusually nervous Mikey Adams. Mikey has
this strange geeky, non-confrontational charm which audiences warm to. It
took them a while tonight, but after a minute or so Mikey had settled down
and was delivering a competent routine, veering from skewed views on rape
protesters to the new look Gladiators, which the capacity crowd were fully
appreciating. However Mikey’s nerves still showed, making it obvious
that he was all too aware of the fact that he was in a competition and he
didn’t seem to fully relax, especially when he was asking how long he
had left.
Rab
Brown is a big bundle of filthy fun. He’s as confident as he is
wide, he’s as wrong as he is hairy. Girls you would not want this man to
be your boyfriend. That’s not a remark on his looks or size, but on his
sexually twisted mind. He peppers his filth with some fiercely witty lines
and some well chosen voices. If he wants to win SCOTY Rab needs to broaden
his material away from being overly filthy. Although this intimate crowd
loved it, it will get a different response in a much bigger venue with
some very cynical judges.
Another
normally big bundle of fun was Mark Davies, but not tonight. A
relative newcomer to comedy Mark is originally from Bury in Lancashire ,
he’s a Glasgow Taxi Driver and he has a love of Brazilian football.
Tonight just wasn’t his night. He never really engaged with the audience
and he fluffed his lines. He looked really uncomfortable up there
sweating away. It was not until near the end of his set that the audience
enjoyed discovering why he was sweating too much. By then it was too late.
Although
Davey See tried to plumb the depths of depravity that Rab reached
he could not do it with as much class. In fact one line in particular -
about the paralympics - went straight over peoples heads. Like Mikey,
Davey has that geeky student charm. It is fair to say that many of his
observations have been made over and over again by stoned students across
the world. Nice Robotnik gag though.
Charging
next onto the stage was Australian Rowan Campbell. A finalist last
year his performance tonight deserved a place in this year’s final.
Great gags, great stage presence and great audience interaction. His first
minute or so was the same as last year. I feared a blow by blow re-enaction.
Then came six minutes of new, well crafted material that the audience
loved.
Changing
pace Gordon Alexander regaled us with his piss takes of adverts
from Lidl, UFO sightings in the Scotsman and his hatred of Strathclyde
Polis. Gordon is full of confidence on stage, unfortunately it doesn’t
come across too well as he fiddles with his various cuttings, props and
laminates. It is funny stuff but may be better suited to power point,
print or film. Especially if audiences don’t like looking at ugly
comedians.
Like
all over hyped contests this year’s Group of Death never really lived up
to expectations. Two acts were leaps and bounds ahead of the others. They
were Rab Brown & Rowan Campbell. The audience voting was
very, very close – 1 voting slip in it. In last year’s heats Rab Brown
lost out to our final runner up by 2 points. Tonight he lucked out and won
by 1 point, leaving Rowan’s return to the grand final to be either via
the semi final or the gong show.
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