Glee Club 1st September. Desi Central Comedy, Feat Patrick Monahan, Mickey Sharma + more

Never got to see Ray Kins, or take any photos of my own (cameras forbidden)

Since it was my birthday after my and my parents decided to go to the glee club. We didn't know anything about the night other than it was comedy, so being among the few white people in the audience we were a little surprised to see we were at an event by a group called 'Desi Central' and a little confused as to what we might have booked tickets for (we had no idea). Which is why it was so funny when Mickey Sharma, the headlining comedian spotted us white folks and completely understood our confusion.  Mickey made a great headliner, his style being an Asians take on black comedians such as Chris Rock. But more on him later.

 'Show Me The Funny' Winner Patrick Monahan was the compere on this night.  Hes a very funny comedian who works perfectly as a Compere because of his ability to improvise and interact with audiences. I met him between sets and when i told him that I'm a Barista who had to work at Starbucks the next day despite it being my 21st  he hastily wrote it down on a scrap of paper, and bought it up on stage later. Patrick was able to create even more entertainment this night by dragging a Bollywood star who happened to be in the audience as well as a world champion kickboxer and got them to act out his scenarios on stage. We also had a guy who came on and sung a song for us too a song which they said was actually a hit in the (presumably) Asian charts.

Annette Fagon was the first act of the night. She's a loud fast talking girl from Handsworth, who's material is rude and crudely funny. With plenty of jokes about saggy tits and basically just being a slag. Her material was absolutely hilarious and she got the night of to a great start.

Afterwards we got Sid Singh, who made me laugh a couple of times, but maybe i was just being polite, it made me sad yet oddly proud to see an American comedian completely die on stage in front of a homegrown brummie audience. He was just too nice, and not as rude or as edgy as this audience wanted, as he pointed out he got paid either way, but  i feel that  we produce the best comedians in Britain because our comedians endure the most critical audiences. after a while the audience, particularly the very strongly brummie accented lads at the back. The moment it turned bad seemed to be when some guy at the front started singing in Hindi for no reason whatsoever. I've seen amateur comedians die on stage at open mics, but a professional at a paid for comedy night was new to me.

http://www.raymondandmrtimpkins.co.uk

This was followed by one of the funniest things I've ever seen: a duo of eccentrically dressed old men**, more specially smart yet eccentric wear, jumpers blazers etc, who had a mysterious cabinet. the show was mimed along to a playlist of great songs, guilty pleasures from all eras as everything from Franz Ferdinand to Kylie Minogue was played.  Its hard to explain and hard to make sense of while watching, but the jokes mainly came from perfect comic timing and words. They were called 'The Fantastic Raymond and Mr Timpkins Revue' and i loved them. So for example one might hold up two 'I's and  then another might hold up a big 'U' they'll point to these letters when they're said in the song and then the 'I's will stick on to the 'U' - the next song will be 'Can't take my eyes off you'. 

Its comedy that's timed to perfection and has clearly both been rehearsed and allowed to evolve over time. It'll make more sense if you watch it. 

 

It was always going to take a lot of effort to top a show like that. But the aforementioned Micky Sharma pulled it off with ease. Mainly by being ruder and cruder than anyone we had seen on stage before. Now i don't know of you've ever been at a live comedy gig with jokes about sex and a great act about the right types of music to do it to, but it is very awkward. Like i said before mickey had the rudeness and brash confidence  that is typically found in black american comedians, yet he gave it his own twist.

It was nice finally visiting the Glee club and seeing what all the fuss is about. Its an odd venue, as it's a small room with tables and chairs and you can order full meals to eat while watching the acts. It felt more like a corporate event than a comedy club.  But overall it was a nice relaxed atmosphere and a good night out.

 

P.S. I've been having a few technical difficulties that delayed this blog post a bit. I'll try and get this sorted and be back to regular blogs.