Comedy / comedy box
Review: John Hastings/Matt Green/John Robins
Three confident comics and a full house made for happy punters during tonight’s Comedy Box show.
First up, Bristol-born-and-raised John Robins brings his boy-next-door charm to the stage. Where Robins really excels is in his openness to audience suggestions. Such confidence in improvising comes with years of experience on the circuit, but he delivers it with the enjoyment of someone fresh to the stage.
Robins hits comedy gold when he discovers a cigarette marketing man sitting in the front row, and improvises some great lines about the increasing easiness of the man’s job as more and more tobacco promotion becomes illegal.
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Next up is the self-effacing Matt Green. Recently married, his witty observational material focuses on the strangeness of weddings and relationships – most imaginative when he dramatises Henry VIII’s obsession with stag dos. His one liners, too, are successful, and after a pacy start you get the feeling that with a little more energy Green’s material is strong enough to finish on a real high.
In contrast to the other two comics with their quiet fascination with the audience, the final act holds us at a slight distance, enjoying observing the crowd and delivering his stories in a theatrical style. Canadian John Hastings (pictured) finds plenty of contrasts between his home and his adopted land, but his show is cleverer than the usual stereotypes.
He mainly tells us about the challenges of having dyspraxia, from trying to play football as a child to distinguishing left from right as an adult. It’s delivered with a wry charm and charisma that makes Hastings impossible to ignore. His stories go down well, but it’s the colourful descriptions of people like his childhood coach Tom, with their dramatic and often angry monologues, that really bring the set to life.
With a quick pace and elegant turns of phrase, Hastings delivers an assured and funny show that will no doubt win him more than a few Bristol fans. A confident finale to an evening of raw honesty from three talented comedians.
John Hastings, Matt Green and John Robins played the COmedy Box at the Hen and Chicken on Saturdat, November 28. For more Comedy Box lineups, visit www.thecomedybox.co.uk
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