Oh Boy, Comedy! - Oh Boy, what a night!
- Joss B
- Jul 30, 2017
- 3 min read
Hosted by David McIver in the basement of the Rose and Crown (Kentish Town), Oh Boy, Comedy! is one of the increasingly popular alternative mixed bill nights that are springing up around London.
McIver, usually a character comedian and clown, broke character to perform as himself for the night, but was as delightful as ever. His self-proclaimed “poor” crowd work was far from it, rather it was charmingly light-hearted, which warmed the crowd up nicely for the first act, Joz Norris.
Joz Norris, a member of alternative comedy collective Weirdos opened the night. Norris was a great opening act, he delivered a variety of material with an impish delight, from hosting an auction of most herons spotted (the highest number is more than you’d imagine) to working as a magician at a family cafe.
Next on was Weirdos member Matthew Highton, who also proved to be a great addition to the bill. Albeit a bit flustered when he came on (he thought he had a bit more time to prepare), Highton gave a good account of himself as he rambled on about visiting the dentist and the trials of performing stand-up to children. Even when he got lost in his own Sir Mix-a-lot themed riddle, he had the audience laughing along with his own folly.
Helen Duff, a character comedian and Amused Moose finalist, rounded off the first half and what a way to end it. Doing a mini preview for her Edinburgh show, which is all about sex, having (or failing to have) an orgasm and what it means to really be touched, she showcased her skills as a narrator and actress. She kept a wry smile throughout and had to slap herself to keep her track when she got lost in her own giddy thoughts.
McIver returned to the stage to perform and test out material for a stand up competition he was entering, which was just as good as his character-based performances. He spoke about a variety of things, the highlight being his first sexual experience with a calculator. Once again, McIver built up a friendly atmosphere before bringing on the first of two second-half performers.
The first was master of anti-comedy Ed Aczel. With a clumsy, half-arsed style, Aczel opened his set with a number of historic dates none of which turned out to be pertinent to his set, rather he just wanted to get the dates “out there”. He then gave a mini preview of his Edinburgh show, Is Ed Aczel infinite? the highlight of which was him wheeling out a number of statements which were either finite or infinite, stating that the audience could tell him if they felt he was wrong but with each protestation Aczel retorted with an incredulous “fuck off”.
The night’s final act and headliner was the amazing character comedian Alison Thea-Skot. She walked boldly onto the stage dressed as a singing oyster card, heart-broken at its increasing redundancy with the introduction of contactless payment onto public transport. She then changed into a Hollywood actress who gave an acting/improvisation workshop to a semi-willing member of the audience. Bringing on an audience member is always a risk but it really paid off for her, as the scene she set up and his responses were amazing. So much so that she called him a “fucking legend” at the end.
All in all, Oh Boy! Comedy was a great evening with a fantastic bill and definitely worth the trek from other parts of London.
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