Comedy / comedy box
Review: Stephen Grant, The Comedy Box
Ever been on a work night out with someone else’s work? These three comics must have felt like that, performing to a crowd of 50 civil engineers from one company, plus a few locals.
But from the moment our compere, Bristol’s Mark Olver, burst on to the stage there was no doubting who was in charge. Olver’s energetic, rapid-fire approach went down well with this largely male audience. A classic moment had him masterminding a nationwide hunt for men called Richard Foster, a funny idea that brought the room together.
First up, with little preamble, was Londoner James Veitch. Sick and tired of receiving emails asking for money, the comedian has turned his attention to getting the tricksters back. Cue an entertaining and quirky PowerPoint showing emails between him and various online scammers – most memorably Solomon from Nigeria. To outwit him, Veitch engages in a long exchange ending with his own fake website and Solomon’s 36 aborted attempts to log in. It’s a one-trick-pony of an act, but Veitch commits to his material and enjoys its delivery, delighting in his infectiously wicked view of the world.
In contrast, Brighton comic Stephen Grant’s slot is freeform, even rambling in places. There is a light narrative to his act – an unhappy divorce, a happier second marriage, and now, apparently, a long time trying for a baby. Except that, at the end of the show, he tells us that actually he’s not anymore. Old material, apparently.
In between, Grant bounces between audience members, riffing off them down new alleyways, sometimes at the expense of mothers or Australians, but largely about jobs, sex and marriage. His geekier material, like the (tried and tested but still effective) list of nationalities the British use as nouns, such as ‘going for a Chinese’, works well amidst the observational jokes.
He’s not one for messing about is Stephen, and a couple of audience members come in for some pretty firm put-downs that are slightly at odds with his cheeky chappie persona.
These were two very different acts, brought together expertly by the magic Olver glue.
Stephen Grant played the Comedy Box at the Hen & Chicken on Thursday, February 26. For upcoming Comedy Box line-ups, visit www.thecomedybox.co.uk/site/index.asp
Pic: Claes Gellerbrink
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