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Who
would have thought that all the energy from the CERN project would somehow
leak into the heating system of the Stags Head in South Queensferry,
making it the hottest place in Europe. I have not perspired as much before
a gig. I think I lost about 2 stones in sweat.
Ulsterman
Jeff O'Boyle went against the grain of perceived wisdom when doing
comedy competitions - he started his set with an improvisation about a
sign in the bar. The experienced comics in the room thought he was going
to blow it all right at the start. Thank god he had a fantastic punchline.
It was a nervy start but Jeff eased the crowd into his stories, his
handling of his props and bits of paper could be slicker, but he was
forgiven that for the quality of his material.
Some
of the best written gags of the night, if not the competition, came
from Derek Miller. The Perth based comic is prolific. His stage
craft has improved a lot since last year's comp, however he still needs to
refine it if it is to meet the high quality of his writing.
Escaping
the floods of Northern England, Geordie John Whale had just arrived
back in Scotland to continue his studies at Edinburgh yoonie. Like a
continental footballer playing his first game in the Premiership you could
see he had the skills but he wasn't match fit or up to pace. John didn't
have a great gig, it wasn't a poor gig, it just didn't spark the
imagination of the crowd.
Someone
who did spark that imagination of the crowd - and those in the font bar -
and those on the street - and the conductor on the train crossing the
Forth Bridge - was Toulouse Lautrec, otherwise known as Jim Hobbit.
I think it is fair to say that Jim not only sparked the imagination but he
captured it and then made the entire audience feel dirty. The audience
laughed, more in shock than at humour. Before the show they had watched
this bizarre little man wander back and forth around the hotel. They were
unsure of him and now he was on stage even more so. For comedy
afficienado's this was the Hobbit Unplugged - nay kazoo's, rubber guitars
or silent suzis. Just the man himself. Comedy from time to
time needs characters, Hobbit is a character, this was his time and
hopefully now it has passed.
Sanity
and intelligence was what was required after the Hobbit and this year's So
You Think Your Funny Semi Finalist Alan Sharp was just the man to
do it. Unfortunately he was feeling nervy, he stumbled over his first few
opening lines, he was unsure of himself and the audience were unsure of
him. Thankfully he slowly recovered with a nice wee bit of self
deprecating material about being from Gloucester but actually having grown
up in a family from Fife. Like his feelings towards her cooking we soon
became bored of Alan's mum's mince and tatties. Alan's continual brushing
of his hair from his face becomes more than a little off putting and takes
away from your focus on his subtle writing.
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