The city of Glasgow was yesterday divided by what
some might call a bitter rivalry. They came from all corners of the nation
to cheer, boo, chant and sing. Really it was just all about who would win.
Who had the most desire, who had the most skill and who wouldn't lose
their head in the heat of battle. I'm not talking about something as
trivial as yesterday afternoon's first Old Firm match of the season - no
this was a hell of a lot more serious - would Bratchy make it into the
SCOTY final for a second year, would Graham Mackie bring ASBO, would Chris
Forbes be second in his heat for the 3rd consecutive year?
The crowd started arriving a full hour before the
doors were due to open, by half an hour before show time the room was full
to bursting with people clambering into and onto every vantage
point.
Hamilton's David Gilchrist was first up. Last
year when David took part in SCOTY it was only his second ever gig,
however you would not have realised it because he was so confident on
stage. This year he was far from confident, never acknowledging the
audience or making eye contact he looked towards the floor and shuffled
from foot to foot very much aware of the high expectations in the crowd.
It's never easy being first up but with David's nicely written material
about watching tennis should have made easier work of it.
Gus Lymburn
was up next and what a contrast he was to the first act. With his cheeky
chappie smile and piss taking of his native Edinburgh Gus immediately got
the crowd on side. He was full of energy, well crafted one liners and some
wonderful adlibs. Gus' take on family life in the Jordon & Peter Andre
household is wrong but funny. Even more so his new tag line for Bacardi
Breezer. The crowd loved him, but would they love him enough to win
.
After the break two times
Grand Gong show winner and last year Scoty finalist, Bratchy took
to the stage full of passion and vitrol. Imagine Jeremy Hardy on cocaine
and you might get close to the idea. Bratchy's experience shone through,
his rallying call against drama schools got one of the biggest cheers of
the night. Last year he made it into the final via the gong show back
door. Tonight good though he was, there was still some big hitters to come.
Would it be gong show time for him again?
One of those big hitters is Neilston's
very own Santa Claus, Graham Mackie. A techy teacher in Castlemilk
by day, Graham is the oldest and most experienced act competing tonight
and his years performing at the roughest gigs in Scotland and in front of
ned filled classrooms were were put to good use tonight as he worked the
now becoming boisterous crowd. Graham's routine about this daughter
leaving the tele on at night led to one of the audience describing him as
being a "sick fuck". But a "sick fuck" that this crowd
loved. The cheer he received on finishing his set was huge and one vocal
member of the audience remarked that there was "nae way he'd be
beaten". However little did he know who was next up.
Having to follow the
previous act would have put the wind up many a contestant, not Chris
Forbes. He was calm and self assured and instinctively surfed the wave
of laughter that Graham had created. Chris has the stage skills, the
persona and the material to justify a place in the final. He's not
flustered by heckles, he can read a crowd and he has a bank of stories
which you yearn to hear more of, especially the one concerning his twisted
brother when he was in hospital getting his appendix removed. The crowd
loved him and he loved the crowd. But would it be enough?
.
After the break we had a
couple of acts from Clydebank. Tom Brogan was the first of the two.
For the past five years Tom has been one of the mainstays of the
successful Glasgow sketch group "You owe me Glue". Tom normally
revels in being a deadpan droll. Tonight the high energy in the room was
infectious and Tom came on stage full of gusto, slagging off his hometown
hero Marti Pellow and peppering his first minute or so with some faithful
one liners which got a great response. Unfortunately tonight Tom didn't
have the stamina to keep the laughs going for the full seven
minutes.
Our last act from Clydebank, in
fact our final act of the night was 16 year old Barry McGinlay.
Wearing his dad's clothes and with a hairstyle from A Flock of Seagulls,
Barry played up his youth and revelled in the glow of the spot light,
however rather than playing to the crowd he played to his teachers (many
of whom were in the room) to such an extent that it seemed that all he was
interested in was saying rude words in front of them or slagging Rangers
fans. Barry has got the confidence and the stage presence, in a couple of
years, with a bit of maturity to his writing, he has the potential to do
big things in comedy.
In the end it was a
close run thing between Graham Mackie and Chris Forbes, with honourable
mentions to Gus Lymburn and Bratchy. It was Mr Mackie who secured
the place in the final, meaning that for a third year Chris has came
second in his heat. Like all second placed acts he gets through to the
semi final on Saturday 13th September. Good luck
Please
note: Most comedians are lazy incompetent sods, who can't read a train
timetable, or would pay 30 pieces of silver to appear on a pilot for a radio
panel show. Thus all line ups are subject to change.
Please check with the venue 24hrs prior
to the show for confirmation of line ups.
