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Reviews
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Can't believe we are writing our own reviews - come on guys, send some in! In the meantime, here's some we made earlier... The mood was set at Big Jacks Laughter club on the 10th June by our very own Big Jack, we were thin on the ground but everyone was in a good mood. First up was Janice Phayre who has performed before at Big Jacks, she started her set by flirting with the audience with her jumper over her head. She took a shine to ‘Jeff’. Janice was a little shocked to see quite a few of the same faces which threw her a little. Janice finished up in her vagina costume, which is just so bizarre you have to laugh. You have got to see it to believe it!! Russ Powell was next to the pallet, he looked a little like Dom Jolly and he started with a comedy barometer to gauge the audience, and this told him his dirty jokes would work! Russ is an only child and he believes that this meant when he was growing up he had no point of reference, so he is weird because he didn’t have a brother or sister to tell him he was! He finished by posing an interesting question, “do you know what your name would have been if you had of been born the opposite sex?” Next up Spencer Owen, he told neat and precise jokes, making the audience chuckle. He filled us in on his theories on Jesus, being a young ‘un and being a man. He went down well with the comedy clubs audience who were now pretty chilled. Paul Kerensa, out headline act, came to the comedy club straight from France!! His jokes were fresh, new, very topical and from everywhere!. He was a really nice guy, recently married and expecting his first child. We really felt like we got to know him during his set. We even know that he doesn’t have a belly button, again you have to see it to believe it. All in all a good night, but we hope to see more of you on July 8th! ****** Big
Jacks Laughter Club was busy on Thursday 8th April. ***** Thurs 14th January 2010 The first Big Jacks Laughter Club of the decade, it promised to be a good night and we had quite a few in even with the snow and the enforced detox January sometimes brings. This evening it was my turn to introduce our compere for the night ‘Mr Big Jack Lin’. Craig Deeley was the first comedian up, Craig is a charming chap gay vegetarian from Birmingham. Craig told very observant and topical jokes. He was very friendly and our audience responded well to his humour. One quick quip followed another and a another. Craig was complete with props and articles so his set was very engaging and imaginative! I took to the stage to introduce the next set and fell off the pallet! Not my finest hour but I got a laugh! Alex Maple was next up, the very quick witted chap started by asking us if it was wrong to strip in front of a blind person! Alex had a very entertaining deliver style, his mannerisms and stage presence was funny in itself. Next James Mcaster took to the pallet, describing the comedy club as a cosy log cabin, high praise indeed (we like James). James is from Kettering, the land of Weetabix and went down well at the club. During his set he even crept around the stage in complete silence for what felt like 5 mins while the audience watched avidly. We were in a full swing now, giggling, joining in and heckling. Then to our headliner, Wil Hodgson from Chippenham with bright pink hair, he described himself as an old boy George! Wil entertained us with one continuous sentence, no punctuation and no pausing for breath. Very funny, clever and full of attitude. **** The audience was rather thin on the ground on 10th December at the Afroba, but it didn’t stop us having a cracking night. Rather than the uproarious atmosphere sometimes found at Big Jack’s, the December event had a more chilled out vibe. First up was Luke Benson, who had the somewhat difficult task of warming up a small audience on an absolutely freezing December night. He rose to the challenge heroically. At 6’7”, Geordie Luke’s head almost reached the ceiling beams, but he assured us that he is ‘quit e small in the giant realm’. Luke had some great material and a nice ponderous delivery; if the laughter was a little stilted on occasion, it was due more to the small numbers than Luke’s comedic skills. We hope to see Luke again when we’ve got a few more behinds on seats. Big Jack’s regular Mary Bourke came along to practice some material that she had prepared for an appearance on BBC Radio 2 this week. She treated us to the unedited script that she had submitted and it was fun guessing which parts the beeb had accepted and which parts had been deemed unsuitable and thus censored. We love Mary and are always delighted to see her on the Big Jack’s stage. Managing to be both acidic and chatty, as ever, Mary’s material covered her feelings on the town of Hull, the best Tiger Woods joke in the world and her mission to eradicate rape jokes one d**k at a time! Compere Big Jack himself was on top form, interacting brilliantly with the audience; his improvised banter raising even more laughs than his prepared material. Jim Richard, who runs the comedy night at Reading University, was our third act of the night. His confident delivery belied the fact that this was only his second ever gig; if he hadn’t told us, we would never have guessed! Jim’s material showed potential and his act finished nicely, circling back to an earlier story. Keep up the good work Jim! Big Jack’s regular James Mason, who had only popped in for a quiet drink, stood in and stood up when our booked middle act didn’t show. Sporting a very dapper coat, rather than his usual leather jacket, James took to the stage and showed us all why he was crowned Reading’s Best Newcomer last year. Despite having absolutely no time to prepare, James delivered a cracking set, including a rape joke that might even have forced a chuckle out of Mary Bourke. Scottish comedy veteran Brian Higgins had dashed over from his gig at Jongleurs to be our headliner and soon got the small audience laughing with the ease and volume of a much bigger crowd; the sign of a true professional. Brian kept the laughter flowing brilliantly until the end of another very enjoyable night at the Laughter Club. ***** The Edinburgh fringe festival came to the Afroba this month, well our very own version called the Reading-Burgh festival! The first of our four nights was Wednesday 7th October and the club was packed. First up was our very own James Mason, who drew on a previous review and referred to himself as ’mildly outrageous’! Surely an impossible thing to be, but James warmed the audience up well with his usual monotone, sultry, quiet style. Jeff Steele was our next support act up; a spiky haired, slightly portly, young fella. Who had a couple of strong jokes, mostly about porn, the audience seemed to like him. Wendy Thomson followed, a short, kind lady with very mild and subtle humour and when she used the word ‘cock’ she seemed to shock the audience! Wendy finished with some real life nursery rhymes and she received a big round of applause. Ben Addington completed our support act section, Ben’s set was short and sweet and he seemed slightly nervous, he told a couple of cute jokes and quickly rushed back to his seat. Then it was time for the headliner, Ashley Frieze, the self proclaimed ‘Big Musical Comedian’. Man he can hold a note. Ashley held his guitar proudly and his ‘career gig’ J was in full swing! At one point he was so enthusiastic he nearly fell of the back of the stage! Ashley LOVES his facts and his grammar, so it was really intelligent comedy. One song followed another which followed another; the audience was falling off their seats with laughter. My personal favourite was the children’s TV show Rainbow’s rendition of ‘Hit me Baby One More time’. Zippy and George impressions were just perfect. All in all a cracking evening. ******* The second of our four gigs was Thursday 8th October, which unfortunately I didn’t attend, stupid cold. We welcomed Yianni Agioulsou to the stage who performed his acclaimed 1-hour Edinburgh show. We were light on numbers but I heard it was a great night. ****** The third of our four gigs was Wednesday 14th October, and in Big Jack’s words we started the night with premature heckulation!! It was going to be a lively night, with a few keen hecklers at the front preparing for the show. The club was packed; our headline act had pulled in the crowds. First up was Jonathan Elston; a big jolly fella, in a tweed jacket, curly hair and very giggly. Most of Jonathan’s jokes were fat jokes and he had an innocent charm, very likeable. Chris Barry followed a smart back guy from Oxford. And boy does Chris love porn; every single joke featured his ‘hobby’! His calm jokes, rolled off the tongue and his set was short and to the point. Tom Goodliffe followed Chris; Tom was the last of our three support acts. He was an enormous guy, 6’6” who in his own words says he spends his life reaching porn down from the top shelf for young children! Tom was a very, very funny ‘rapping’ accountant, complete with props (self help books on ‘How to Pull Girls’) and my favourite support act of the night. Then it was the turn of our headliner, Zoe Lyons. Zoe has a quick, clever style and described herself as the 81st most influential gay person in Britain, as seen in the Times! (Tongue in cheek of course). Zoe is edgy and quirky, in her signature flat shoes! What I love about Zoe is her jokes are different, all about every day things but so observant also she has performed in our club quite a few times and we never hear the same joke twice. Zoe was also complete with props this time, all celebrity perfumes. Don’t forget to look up ‘P Diddy’s ‘I am King’ perfume advert, very funny! Zoe was on our stage (well pallet) for over an hour and the time flew past. An excellent, well rounded, well executed, hilarious set. The last of our four gigs, Thursday 15th October. The club was busy, not packed but it had a nice atmosphere. Jack kicked things off with a few jokes to welcome the audience and then we made a start. First up was Rosie Wilby. I loved Rosie; she delivered a perfectly rehearsed, 10 minute set. Rosie’s delivery was excellent, her voice sounded amazing in the club. Her very posh, husky tones from Peckham really commanded the audience’s attention. Rosie really tickled us with the trials and tribulations of long term partners and amusing relationship stories. She went down a storm, having whipped herself up into a crescendo at the end of her set she left the stage to a big round of applause. Next up, Manos the Greek. I understand Manos to be the only Greek stand-up comedian; he is a truly unique act and with this he brings different, rather unusual jokes. Manos is a Greek waiter who moved to England to move up a gear, so he is a head waiter in this country! Manos told us that he is popular with the ladies and with the homosexuals. Really really entertaining a delight to watch! We also welcomed Adam Tempest & Jim Smallman (our headlining act) to the stage, a guest review to follow.... ***** Thursday 10th September It was a very busy night at the comedy club; it was packed by 8:30, standing room only. Our compere for the night Juliet Myers kicked us off, describing the night as a Mormon convention when no one wanted to admit to being in a couple, presumably thinking bringing attention to themselves early on is not a good idea!…there was a large group at the front of the club, colleagues of mine from Microsoft! They had been drinking and were really going to get into the spirit of things down here, one of the guys declared that the next big thing to come out will be ‘Arse book!’ Our first act, Marlon Davis came to the stage; he was expecting a club full of Afros! But he found a club half full of Microsoft people. Marlon was quiet but really made people laugh, in his new ‘Yankee’ jacket. He told Barack Obama jokes commenting on the irony of the white house! He too followed suit and poked fun at the Microsoft people and Arse book! Marlon likes Reading, especially junction 11! Marlon had really warmed up our audience and he left us with the question, is rap music really to blame for all violence, you don’t get a free gun with every CD! Next up, Nick Hill, calling himself a ‘ginger nut’. He retold stories of Reading festival and said he would like for once to do a gig when he is taller than the mic stand! He finished off with a height measuring contest with one of my colleagues! Luke Graves followed Nick, from Hastings, starting with a Bag for life, is a big commitment that he is not sure he is ready for! Luke was very cheerful, and the audience was in full swing when he finished. Keith Platt was our headline act, ‘Comedy Gold’! Also, taking the piss out of the Microsoft paper clip himself. Keith had a gruff Yorkshire accent, complete with Grandad cardigan, moustache and flat cap. ‘Super, smashing, great’. Keith was AWSOME, easily the best act we have had at the comedy club in my time as club secretary. He ranted on for nearly an hour and the audience loved him, his Yorkshire voice must have been sore. Keith commented on the club, being like any good loft, complete with weed! Keith shared suggestions for TV shows, for example ‘Twat in the Attic!’ He finished with a song ‘we are the champions’ it was so funny, excellent. A great night all in all. ***** Thursday 9th July was a very busy night at the laughter club and a lot of eager beavers arrived early for a good seat, it promised to be a good night. James Mason was first to our stage, he had a quiet start but seemed very confident and with his sarcastic tone and his straight face he got quite a few titters from the audience. His jokes were peppered with comments on his surroundings and he built up a good rapport with the audience. James's jokes were warming up the audience well and the Gary Glitter references made it crack up. ‘Comedy Gold’. James was at his funniest with his one liners and quick put downs. We think he will be well received in Edinburgh. Michal Grobelny's show was ingeniousness, he came onto the stage confidently. Having read other reviews on Michal, he seems to have changed his style, Michal was more the joke telling comedian on Thursday rather than his old “no punchline” show. I would describe it as "free form comedy", which is apt. He doesn't rely on the audience (much) to feed him, unlike most improvisational comedians. Instead, thoughts seem to go straight from brain to mouth with very little processing in between. The results are both confounding and amusing. He is one of the more unpredictable comedians I have seen at the club & he went down a storm. Luke Toulson didn't cut
deeply, but he did
manage to find enough of a new angle to keep his topics fresh.
More crucially, he had an irresistibly appealing communicating style, with
brisk, lively delivery and heaps of likeable charm. He used to be a
supply teacher, which might have helped him find such an ease with
the more difficult of audiences and the Afroba audience definitely
tested him, his set had started late and everybody was getting tired
(or drunk!).
Luke bounced off invited contributions from the audience
effortlessly, bringing an energy and fluidity to his material.
His new hour set was well put-together, witty jokes and stories pushing
the stand-up forward. It’s difficult to talk for so long without a
driving narrative, but all in all the set went down well. The
extended set slumped in the last 15 minutes or so, mainly because he
was running out of time and we were running out of steam, but I would
like to see him again and again and next time watch the un-rushed set. ******** The sun was shining and it was promising to be a great night at the AfroBa. Jack pulled the curtains and covered the windows to bring a moody atmospheric feel to the club. The audience started pouring in and it was the busiest the laughter club has seen so far this year. Janice Phayre was first to the stage and she started her act by showing us her arse and announcing she was up for the crack! Janice told jokes about love and relationships; her style was very cynical and hilariously bitter. Janice laid in to smug relationship types prompting me to tell the whole bar that I am recently engaged after cheering when she asked who is in love. At the end of her sketch she announced that she had knitted a virgina, everyone looked puzzled and she wiped out a full length knitted vagina suit. It was HYSTERICAL! The audience was nicely warmed up and we were off to a great start. Next up, Prince Abdi from Somalia, now living in a posh area of London…Brixton! Prince started off quietly, but as the audience warmed to him he got louder and very funny indeed. Prince was extremely observant and told very risky jokes about Al Qaeda, bombs and cockneys in airports. Prince described himself as looking more like a gangster than a terrorist. His act was very abstract act and he got a warm reception from the laughter club, he explained he is a standup comedian by night and a B&Q employee by day; he bizarrely ended his set explaining how he was once bullied by a goat. A second interval followed and then we welcomed on our head liner. Charlie Baker flew on to the stage carrying a pint of a cider and Devon’s flag. Describing himself as too fat to wear a cardigan and told us how he is waiting for Jack Black to die. (They do both look very similar). Charlie is from Newton Abbott in Devon, or down town N.A as he calls it. You say potato and he says pasty!! Charlie covered amateur dramatics, his three standard dance moves and he recreated a meat auction with the audience amongst other things. He was really funny and the audience was ALL in stitches, Charlie went down a storm, a real class act. Charlie did the big finish, singing, dancing and then he stripped!! Down to his shorts and finished his act in sweat bands and a muscle vest.!!! An awesome night at Big Jack’s Laughter Club, roll on the 9th July. Big Jack’s secretary…Fran **** Act 1 – Paul Redwood A really strong act to start the night and left a difficult trail to follow, as soon as he came to the stage he seemed to own it, with a confident set. Paul was current with jokes about Reading football club and his home towns team of Southampton. He performed a good gag about what can he do with a mix tape: this seemed to get a good reaction from the crowd. The main problem he had was the crowd was a little bit subdued, but he seemed undaunted and fought on. Paul did an excellent scissor stone paper joke, and seemed to be more at home on the stage after this. Spattered through his material were several poems with different levels of success and as he relied on them seemed to kill of any momentum he was starting to build, any banter he had with the crowd he owned with no one beating him. Towards the end of his set the jokes became faster slicker and dirtier which seemed to be what the crowd wanted. A really good start the night. Act 2 – Jan Jacks The second comedian up was Jan Jacks, a sultry, mature, whispering comedian. Jan held court with her bluesy voice and dirty humour. Her act was a little stilted to start and she seemed unsure of where she wanted to go. Her jokes about her mother and the oxford road were wicked, she then headed down the road of anti-man jokes. Jan held her own, and provided a good set. Act 3 - Broderick Chow The half Philippine/half Chinese, Canadian came in with a set that was warm and funny with a drop of camp thrown in. That act seemed better than the set he was able give. Broderick's first joke about football and Ice hockey was ok. The dog joke for me was the funniest of the night. He explained his culture and growing up and things he was told to believe. The only problem he had was he could not sustain the momentum he was making, because he was being heckled through out by turning to the heckler he lost the rest of the audience and when he came back the act was cold. Broderick finished the setact by explaining the greatness of Sophie Concella. All in all a good set. Your guest reviewer Chris Hogben Act 4 - Iszi Lawrence Iszi is an engaging, conversational comic with a healthy penchant for the spoken word and an unhealthy one for Alan Rickman. She entertained the audience by covering a wide range of topics such as youngsters and how she can make cats sick. We were educated us on how cats hunt and finally we were treated to a rant of random puns. Iszi controlled the stage well, putting the hecklers firmly down in the first few minutes, allowing her to complete her set at her own pace and style. You can find out more by listening to her podcast the ‘Sunday supplement’. Your guest reviewer Gary Bishop ***** Thursday 9th April – Big Jacks Laughter Club Easter Special So the beginning of the long Easter weekend, it promised to be a great night and Jack stumped up a 20% Easter discount, so it was only £4 on the door! James Mason was MC’ing the night; he warmed up the audience nicely with topical jokes. He included how ridiculous it is that contestants on the apprentice are effectively being fired from a job interview! Our first act was Mike Manara who we welcomed back to Reading after 7 years. Mike had an amazing American accent and told warm tales of weddings and unwanted football strips that he could wear to the gym, only twice a year then! Mike got the audience to reenact the Spanish civil war; I think this went well with parts of the audience and not so well with others. The club was full of people milling around and swapping seats, Mike ended his set by sitting down in the audience! An interval followed Mike when more people turned up and the place had a buzz about it. Stephen Nelson was up next, ‘our one liner guy’. Stephen described himself as not really a ‘mourning’ person, therefore didn’t attend funerals! He was quiet but commanding, his subtle jokes worked well and there was lots of chuckling in the audience. Stephen left us with the idea that we should never ever rattle a rattle snake. Our very own Big Jack stood up and did the next spot. We love Jack; he entertained the audience with Northern, theorist, rampant rabbit and Viagra jokes. His set was short and sweet and ended with everyone’s favourite, a poo gag. Next our headliner: Ashley Frieze who is born and bred in Reading. Ashley stood up, with his guitar and proceeded to play with an evil laugh and he had the audience howling with laughter. Ashley described himself as a fat Barry from Eastenders! Ashley judged the curious audience well with his excellent sense of humour and included Rainbow’s version of ‘Hit me baby one more time’, the impression of Zippy and George was perfect. I will leave you with the quote of the night “The cleanest building in New York surely must be the Hoover building”….your comedy helper, Fran. ***** Big Jack’s Laughter Club – Comedy Night on the 12th March 2009 The club had a friendly relaxed atmosphere, groups of people drinking beer and chatting. We welcomed quite a few new faces to the club and we would love to see them return J First to the stage was veteran comedian, Andrew Roper sporting his new hair do, His interesting style meant he picked on the guests at the back of the club!! They thought their positioning was wise…they were wrong. Andrew had a laugh with our audience, he conjured up images of the Afroba being a fire trap with all that hair, ha ha ha . Andrew made a couple of risqué jokes and we had one or two hecklers in who gave as good as they got! Thank you Andrew! Second up was Elliot Potter who had come all the way from Portsmouth. Elliot had a quick slightly cockney start and was warmly received; we weren’t entirely sure how long he had on stage but the audience loved him. He entertained us with jokes about naked women and the audience became well and truly warmed up. Our third comedian of the night was Nick Hodder who had a warm reception to our stage, Nick was really engaging, his style pulled on events that had happened to him in his life and his entertaining expressions and gesticulations made the audience howl. Last up was Wendy Wason, who many recognized from the hit show Titty Titty Bang Bang on BBC 3. Wendy described entertaining our audience was at least better than the housework!! Wendy was very interactive and had a very friendly, giggly style. We heard mumsy, baby changing jokes together with filthy dirty porn, a great mix, something very everyone, thanks Wendy! The club was filled with laughter and the night certainly ended on a high. ********* It was a busy Afro bar for February’s Big Jacks Laughter club. We welcomed Mary Bourke as our compere; she opened with Valentine’s Day greeting card jokes. Our first comedian up was Joanne Lau who was warmly welcomed to the stage by the full club. Joanne likes her men like she likes her tea, slightly weak with the bag still in! Joanne continued to entertain the audience with random jokes about ninja squirrels, pandas, Muji and T-Rex. Mary warmed the audience up again after the interval, tackling the drunken heckler head on with extracts from her diary. Darren Philips then came to the stage like a “Fat out of hell” describing himself as a fat Moby! With jokes and a tiny guitar, he entertained the audience with songs about his Gran. The audience howled with laughter he went down a storm. Rob Coleman was next up telling Reading to not worry we haven’t been hijacked by a Geography teacher. Rob told pun after pun, this guy has got an amazing memory and his cracks impressed the audience he got a HUGE round of applause. There was a great atmosphere in the Afro Bar. Zoe Lyons finished the night off, thanking Jack for inviting her to perform here; topical jokes included thanking the recession for the reduced showings of Relocation Relocation Relocation. Blue Tack and Smurf’s came up! Zoe was a hit with the audience she got lots of laughs and a massive round of applause, we were really raising the roof. Jack thanked the audience and he will back in March to MC the night. It was great to see so many of you turn up on this snowy/wet/cold night. We look forward to another successful night in March....your new comedy assistant Fran ********* Please give a very warm welcome to Big Jack's new 'Laughter Assistant In Chief' Fran, who will be taking over the review writing, ticket money collecting and website updating now that Beth is preparing for her round-the-world travels. Over to Fran for her very first review ..... A very cold night in Reading saw the first Big Jack's Laughter Club comedy night of the year, quite a few ventured out and the Afro Bar had a very chilled atmosphere. Richard Coughlin was the first act up; he started by reminiscing of gigs gone by, his loud voice and mic-stand physique got an instant laugh. ‘The David Beckham of stand up comedy’ was temperature obsessed (it was a freezing night). He told the audience that always being skint was a good thing because he was prepared for the credit crunch. He described his look as ‘Aids victim chic’ with fantastic boots or a gothic version of Woody from Toy story! His amazing enthusiasm went down well with the audience and we are told we can find him on You Tube. A break followed and a few brave souls ventured outside for a cigarette. Three comedians then took the stage, Matt Dyson who discussed the doom and gloom of going back to work but made the audience laugh with his Dolphin suicide story. Mick Durham told a few topical jokes and the audience chuckled then Matthew Baylis finished off, he covered contraception, Jeremy Kyle and how his son has wiped his bum on the corner of his house! The last comedian up was the eagerly anticipated Liam Mullone. He took to the stage with his crazy spiky hair and amused the audience with tales of his last visit to Reading....good. The audience howled with laughter whilst hearing his stories about: jelly fish in Mexico, his blue lunchbox and nose picking. He finished with a statement on his carbon footprint... he believes if he doesn’t have children he should be entitled to burn car tyres in his garden. It was a good night, and we are expecting more at the next event in February. ********** The twilight zone came to Big Jack's on 11th December. Audience numbers were down, due to almost the entire working population being on their work Christmas do. Those who did turn up had just come from an afternoon of drinking with their colleagues, so were already at the same-day-hangover stage on arrival at the Afroba. This led to an extremely strange atmosphere; it was as if everyone was going to turn into zombies at any minute. The front two tables comprised a group of sozzled crisp-munching estate agents and a group of trolleyed incurable gossips, whose own drunken conversations were so fascinating that they just would not SHUT UP. Our comedians certainly had their work cut out for them. First up was chirpy Aussie Richard Brophy. The spiky haired cheeky chappie had some great material and a very likeable stage persona. He did his absolute best to engage the audience and at any other Big Jack's night he would have gone down an absolute storm, but on this particular evening it was like trying to appeal to sacks of cement. After a battle to make people laugh that was nothing short of valiant, Richard looked a little less chirpy on his way back from the stage. Big Jack's regulars James Mason and Jane Hill were our second and third acts of the evening. Both delivered great sets, as they always do but, again, were let down by the audience's indifference. By the time our headliner, Helmut (a.k.a. Marc Blake), took to the stage the two tables at the front had left, leaving less than ten people in the room, including the bar staff. Helmut showed his status as a true pro and achieved the near impossible by creating waves of comfortable laughter in one of the smallest audiences ever seen at Big Jack's. Helmut, we salute you! The Afroba was absolutely packed on November 13th, with lots of new faces in the audience. In fact it was one of those rare evenings when we used every single chair in the building. The audience was not only strong in numbers but in voice too. Luckily, our opening act Matthew Crosby is an absolute pro at dealing with rowdiness. In fact the funniest part of his act was completely spontaneous and started with a heckle that likened Matthew to Rolf Harris in appearance. Rather than firing off a quick come-back and getting back to his prepared material, Matthew relished the audience interaction (the sign of a great comic) and turned it into a 'who else does Matthew Crosby look like' game. With his hirsute 70's style, the winning suggestions were 'Jim Royle's son' and 'Jesus with qualifications'. November 13th was also one of those Big Jack's evenings when the reviewer lets her hair down somewhat, so the usual diligent note-taking went somewhat awry. Apologies to our other acts: Matthew was great, but only gets the longest review due to the relative sobriety of the reviewer at the start of the evening. Next up was Californian comic and film-maker Scott Calonico, who kept the laughter going nicely for our third act, Catie Wilkins. Catie's material veered between traditional filth and well crafted jokes about semantics. It was an absolute pleasure to see our headliner, Chris McCausland, back on the Big Jack's pallet after an all-too-long absence of nearly 18 months. His act was the icing on a marvellous comedy cake of an evening. With his chatty style and evident enjoyment of his craft, Chris is a delight to watch. His material on a certain recent murder case proved that it's acceptable to make jokes about anything, as long as you're funny. We were lucky enough to have a pint with Chris after the show and he is as lovely a fella off the stage as he is on it. We hope he will come back sooner next time. The October 9th Big Jack's show was part of two weeks of comedy at the Afroba, our contribution to the Reading Comedy Festival. Audience numbers had been a wee bit thin on the ground for the five 'Fringe Magnets' nights, so it was brilliant for the acts to be playing to a packed house for Big Jack's Laughter Club. Big Jack's regular Juliet Meyers can always be relied on to get the evening off to a cracking start, and this was no exception. Juliet relied somewhat on old material, but considering the number of times we've seen her recently, it is not surprising that we'd heard a good deal of her material before. it didn't seem to matter however; she generated the kind of easy laughter that we love to hear at the start of the evening, and her audience interaction was brilliant as usual. Next up was cheeky chappie Ben Briggs. Ben got the audience on side immediately and kept it that way. Somewhat reminiscent of The Office's Mackenzie Crook, Ben was so likeable that he made you want to laugh, a great trait for a comedian to have! Matthew Whiteley was our third act of the evening and had some nice material on the potential mis-use of the defibrillators at train stations and had a great come back when his act was interrupted by the sound of crashing bottles from the bar! Headliner Andrew O'Neill last graced the Big Jack's stage back on Valentine's Day and it was an absolute pleasure to welcome him back. Like Juliet, Andrew relied on some old material but, again, it didn't really matter because the material was fantastic! Andrew got some great laughs out of describing rude boy reactions to his transvestism, mixing this kind of anecdotal material with some lovely surreal moments. Andrew obviously takes great enjoyment in what he does and this makes him all the funnier. Despite being totally sober, the reviewer was in stitches during Andrew's set, surely the mark of a great comedian! We hope Andrew comes back again soon. It was good to be back at Big Jack’s on September 11th after a break in August. First up was ex-teacher Paul Ricketts. Paul’s slow and almost ponderous delivery suited the chilled out atmosphere in the Afroba, where the laughs were plenty but the atmosphere was not as raucous as it often is. Paul got the evening off to a great start full of comfortable laughter, quite an achievement when the audience was slightly thin on the ground and still relatively sober. His description of himself as a suburban, rather than urban, black person was lovely: “I brought a knife to school aged 13 … but it was for making apple crumble”. He painted an accurate picture of comedy audience dynamics, with the people sat at the front as the ‘comedy cannon fodder’ and the anonymous hecklers at the back as the ‘comedy snipers’. Next up was Jonathan Elston, who showed amazing confidence for someone just out of his teens. Paul’s material was self deprecating to say the least and he won the audience over brilliantly. His material about accidentally buying ‘Lynx Nice Guy’ instead of the swoon-inducing ‘Lynx Africa’ was great.Big Jack’s regular Mary Bourke used us as her willing comedy guinea pigs as she tested out her new material. We love Mary; she does not hesitate to use her razor sharp tongue on hapless members of the audience! Sorry Hungarian people, we are sure you are very interesting really! The fantastic Paddy Lennox was our headliner, managing to be simultaneously affable and slightly manic. His material covered everything from the pointless water-confiscating security measures at airports (‘what, is the pilot a gremlin?’) to his theory that the IRA have stopped hostilities because Al Quaeda have raised the terrorist stakes (‘you want me to do WHAT?’). His brilliant audience interaction peaked when one of the aforementioned Hungarians uttered the classic line: “I’m not Jewish, I’m just tired”. All in all, another cracking night at Big Jack's! We only had three acts in the line up on 10th July, but what acts they were! First up was the fabulous Mary Bourke, a class act and our headliner back in February. We were privileged to be Mary's comedic guinea pigs as she tested out her brand spanking new material, highlights of which were her ideas on a new emoticon for use in emails, and a hilarious story of her experience doing stand up to a room full of US Marines in New York. It's difficult to describe our middle act, Imran Yusuf, who is, in the reviewer's opinion, the most exciting and original act to grace the Big Jack's stage in a while. His lightning quick patter was mind boggling, veering crazily between different subjects and accents and demanding pop-eyed attention from start to finish. Definitely one to watch. Our headliner was opinionated Brummie Karen Bayley. Karen delivered some great laughs and her bold, no nonsense style went down a treat. However, slightly miffed by Karen's comments on vegetarians, the herbivorous reviewer stopped taking notes at that point, so the review stops there. After a couple of months of dwindling audience numbers, it was a triumphant return to cracking form at Big Jack’s on 12th June. The acts this month were all about the Js, with a Juliet, THREE Jameses and er … a Liam. We were delighted to welcome back the fabulous Juliet Meyers as our opening act. Juliet, who delivered a fantastic set back in November, certainly did not disappoint. Juliet’s set was mostly new material, including a great story of an imaginary accountant husband called Tim, who Juliet was forced to invent by declaring herself a ‘Mrs’ to the plumbing company. The old stuff went down just as well, with a piece about the arrogance of kosher sausages makers (“we answer to a higher authority”) leading to a very amusing audience discussion about the content of said sausages. Next up was the extremely enthusiastic James Acaster, who gave Rob (of Rob & Skatz fame) a run for his money in the ‘tallest bloke to throw shapes on the pallet’ competition. James’ act was short but sweet and centred mainly on the dangerous repercussions of the ‘I love you/I love you more’ game. A promising new talent we think. Contrasting deliciously with James no.2 was our very own deadpan star Mr Mason (also James), who never fails to deliver and had some great new material. Topics included the evil that is ‘The Apprentice’ and a reading of James’ own CV (the honest version). Keep up the good work James! James no.3 was Mr Mullinger, a half-Polish, all-charming chap from Surrey. Hugely entertaining and a thoroughly nice bloke, James got great mileage from his Eastern European heritage. James battled valiantly against a strange mumbling heckler and emerged triumphant. Headliner Liam Mullone brought the evening to a storming finish. Who would have imagined that a ten-minute piece on washing powder would be side splitting? Who else noticed that washing powder and weapons are graded in the same way: biological, automatic and machine? Scruffy and surprisingly well spoken, Liam’s set was sprinkled with surreal flights of intellectual fancy that left us in stitches. His audience interaction was fantastic, leading to some brilliant improvisations – the sign of a first class act. Mr Mullone, we salute you! Summer’s sudden arrival meant that just about everyone in Reading had congregated in the town’s beer gardens on Thursday 8th May, leaving the Big Jack’s audience somewhat thin on the ground. The non lemmings and Big Jack’s faithful followers were to be found in the Afroba, with a lot more room to stretch out than usual! ‘Jimmy Somerville/Desperate Dan/Phil Mitchell’ lookalike Pat Gallagher was first up. He had a tough job due to the small crowd, but battled valiantly on with a nice set that included some well aimed swipes at the Afroba’s décor (“looks like the feng shui was done by Tracey Emin on magic mushrooms”) and the Big Jack’s audience (“lager lager meets saga saga”). He also had some great material on a subject close to the reviewer’s heart: the complete morons who believe that Harry Potter is the devil’s work. Katie Wilkins was our second act of the evening. Her set was short but sweet with some beautifully crafted jokes on anti semantic jokes contrasting nicely with some more basic material about the dangers of having a sarcastic voice when talking dirty. Andrew Watts, winner of the ‘Reading New Act Competition’ 2006, delivered a good set with some nice material on email kiss inflation (you had to be there) and the all purpose answer when faced with any question from a woman about fashion (“yes, but what about the accessories!”). Cornish comic Anna Keirle was our headline act and won the audience over straight away with her lively, chatty style. Her descriptions of her ‘pirate hangovers’ were brilliant and the drinkers amongst the audience (that will be everyone then) sympathised with stumbling through the door in the early hours and being fascinated by whatever rubbish is on the TV, when you can hardly keep your eyes open. Come on folks, the Afroba’s as good as a pub garden with the windows open and the fans on – and staying out of the sun is good for you! April 11th: Just a short piece this month: the reviewer was on the sambucas last night and is feeling (in the words of Paris Hilton after she was pictured falling out of a taxi with no pants on) "a bit tired and emotional". It was back to the bad old days of the ailing sound system at Big Jack's last night, but all four acts valiantly battled on. First up was Matt Rudge, a likeable cheeky chappie with an eye for the laydeez. With some great material on "chuggers" (charity muggers), coach surfing Australians and the sinister side of 80's game 'Guess Who!', Matt got the evening off to a cracking start. Next up were two last minute heroes who stepped up when our booked acts couldn't make it: huge thanks to slick London boy Luke McQueen (a.k.a. Luke Hmmm Queen) and mud wrestling Buddhist Paul T. Eyres (a.k.a. "that Gareth Gates has put a bit of weight on"). Some pretty funny stuff about rohypnol and Phil Collins vaguely come to mind from headliner Terry Saunders' set, but at this stage the reviewer's notes descend into scribbles and sambuca-sticky doodles, so we'll sign off there to spend the rest of the day eating crisps and watching Columbo (at a low volume). A record breaking crowd and four fabulous acts meant that the March 13th event was arguably the best ever at Big Jack's! First up was the very dapper and folically challenged east London comic Gary Colman, who got the evening off to a storming start. There were lots of lovely moments in Gary's set, including his theory that the advice issued in Canada on what to do when attacked by a bear (play dead for one minute, lying on your front with your hands covering your neck) was the work of a crazed gay man in a bear suit. He got some great laughs out of his resemblance to Lord Voldemort and a self deprecating anecdote on being a 'have-a-go hero'. Next up was David Trent, who gave us a critique of the 'community art projects' (i.e. filthy graffiti) found in his local infant play park. David's act was totally original and included some excellent audience participation, wickedly led astray by Jon, a.k.a. the tw*t in the hat. Hannah Dunleavy was our third act of the evening and showed us why she won the Newbury Comedy Festival competition with some great gags about her first experience of watching porn and the difficulties of communicating with hairdressers. Headliners Rob & Skatz were extremely eagerly anticipated, having delivered possibly the best received set ever at Big Jack's a year ago, and certainly lived up to all expectations. The fabulous musical duo with a killer set of songs on the seedy side of life claim to be sent out by Social Services to 'make people better' by providing 'vital education on the dangers on drugs and death'. Their hilarious new song 'Jihad Love Song' was an awesome addition to the catalogue of old favourites, including 'Amphetamines' and 'Viagra'. In their words: 'you can't go wrong with a good nob song'! We discovered that the Big Jack’s audience is mostly comprised of unromantic cynics as a record number of you turned up to laugh in the face of Valentine’s Day. The Afroba was absolutely packed! Tony Cowards got the evening off to an uproarious start, with our loudest crowd ever. Tony’s laddish, low-key, relaxed story telling style went down a treat. Anecdotes about living with his mum were a highlight (“my mum is twice divorced: once from my Dad, once from reality”) and got us all wondering about whether there really is an age limit for the ‘mother and child’ parking spaces at Tesco. We all learned something we’d rather not know when IBS sufferer Tony described the intricacies of the ‘Bristol Stool Form Scale’. Also a football fan, Tony shared his favourite headline with us, which followed a goalkeeper change in the England team: “Keegan Fills Schmeichel Gap With Seamen” – whoever thought that one up deserves a medal. Next up was newcomer and local boy Ben Harrington, returning to Big Jack’s after a nice set back in October. Ben struggled a bit with his new material, but the old favourites about life in Pangbourne and his interesting definition of ‘gay straight’ went down well. Ben kept the laughter going nicely for our third act of the night, Tyson Boyce, who hit the nail on the head when he described himself as a ‘psychotic Orlando Bloom’. Aussie Tyson’s freaky on stage persona was in great contrast with the previous acts’ straight talking style and was set off nicely by his wild hair and staring eyes. Tyson dealt well with an increasingly drunken crowd by threatening to follow the worst offenders home after the show. His act was original and had some great moments, including an interesting take on ‘show and tell’ and a bit about the pros and cons of hanging out with Goths (“you can hide the sunscreen and watch them panic as they slowly start to tan”). Headliner Mary Bourke was a class act, with some killer put downs for hecklers. Mary’s act was intelligent, savvy and well received by everyone. Reminiscent of Big Jack’s regular Jane Hill, Mary’s low key delivery belied the sting in the tail of her material. There were lots of brilliant moments, including a description of what her mother’s voice mail should say (“press 1 for a loony conversation that will leave you a bit angry and guilty; press 2 for advice you didn’t ask for; press 3 to talk about people you’ve never heard about; etc) vs what her dad’s should say (“press 1 to speak to your mum”). Mary’s swipes at celebrities were perfectly aimed: her theory that Richard is sucking the life out of Judy rang strangely true and she finished with a hilarious summary of Colleen McLoughlin’s autobiography. All in all, another fab night at Big Jack’s. On January 10th, the stars aligned to produce a magic night at Big Jack’s. Five stonking comedians and the biggest, loveliest audience we’ve seen in a while made it a night to remember. We were worried you’d all stay at home eating broccoli and doing exercise DVDs, but it seems that you Big Jack audience members have more important things on your minds than New Year’s resolutions – like seeing some great comedy. And you weren’t disappointed! Our opening act was the brilliant Richard Coughlan, who got the evening off to a fantastic start. A hugely likeable guy, Richard’s set was inventive, controversial, self-effacing, filthy and hilarious. Despite covering such topics as the possible ramifications of Sweden’s lax incest laws, Richard’s material was so funny and well delivered that even your gran might have forgiven him …. hmmm, maybe not quite. Next up was Kurt Driver, whose quirky material and cheeky delivery went down well and kept the laughter going for our third act, Ed Hands. With his dapper tweeds, measured delivery and unusual material, Ed’s set was a breath of fresh air. Local rising star James Mason was the fourth act of the evening and treated us to some great new material in his deadpan style. It’s always a pleasure to watch James at work. Well, what can we say about headliner Andrew O’Neill? We loved him! Mixing the anecdotal with the totally absurd to brilliant effect, Andrew’s set was an absolute delight from start to finish. Surreal, hugely imaginative and totally at ease on stage, Andrew cooked up a veritable feast of comedy. Mr O’Neill, we salute you!
It was a very cold outside on December 13th and unfortunately not much warmer in the Afroba! We kept telling people that the tables at the front were the nearest the radiator, but for some reason people were happier to huddle together at the back! With Big Jack struck down with man flu, we had a change of compere for the evening, in the shape of ‘Reading New Act of the Year’ winner James Mason, usually our resident sound engineer. James adapted brilliantly to compering, which is quite a different skill to delivering a well-practiced set. Nice one James! Our first act of the night was Paul Redwood, who used props to great effect and got the evening off to a cracking start. Paul’s gags covered everything from the dangers of casting the kid with Tourette’s in the school nativity play; to the unexpected downsides of the smoking ban (finding out what geriatric bingo players really smell of!). Paul ended his set on a very well received game of ‘Celebrity Drug Taking Play Your Cards Right’ (the question of whether Kate Moss is higher or lower than River Phoenix sparking an interesting philosophical debate: is being dead the ultimate high, or does being six feet under mean that River is in fact lower than Kate?). Next up was Aussie comic Matt Grantham, whose deadpan delivery and imaginative material went down a storm. Matt had some lovely ideas, covering such diverse topics as cow terrorists; the negative economical impact of people spending their time making and burning effigies; and the relative safety of the adder, Britain's only venomous snake (you know a snake isn’t very poisonous when the anti-venom is more likely to kill you!). Our next acts kindly agreed to stand in at the last minute when two of our original line up pulled out. Many thanks to Nick Page and Matt Price, our heroes! As host of BBC’s daytime show ‘Escape to the Country’, Nick Page is, in his own words “Britain’s Least Famous Celebrity”. Nick’s anecdotal style went down well, his material mostly about the unexpected benefits of community service! Our headliner, Matt Price, had a surprisingly gentle delivery for an ex-boxer. Cornish-born Cardiff-resident Matt interacted brilliantly with the audience, getting everyone on side straight away, so that when he asked the audience to imitate camp fires, even those huddling at the back were waving their arms in the air in no time! "First up on 8th November was the fabulous Juliet Meyers, whose set was a real joy and got the evening off to a stonking start. Cheese eating, bad vegan, anti-Facebook Juliet has some pretty alternative views on life but had the carnivorous virtual friend-inviters in the audience laughing as much as those who shared her views - quite a skill. Confident, energetic and likeable, Juliet covered some wonderful topics, including the unfairness of a Jehovah’s witness approaching the homeless; plus an imagined battle between Al Quaeda and the Great British Slag. Next up was Bobby Carroll, whose extremely blue act generated quite a bit of that “shouldn’t really find that funny but I can’t help it” kind of laughter. Many thanks to Okse, who kindly agreed to fill our third spot at the last minute and whose amiable style and mixture of anecdotal and observational humour went down an absolute treat. Our headliner was Yorkshire lass Debra-Jane Appelby , who delivered a great set that was both clever and straight talking". "First up with the exciting news, for those of you, like me, who prefer their beverages pint-size: the Afroba is now serving draft beer! Now that the important stuff is out of the way, on with the comedy reviews! First up on October 11th was Wendy Wason. Wendy’s sparkling stage presence and mischievous personality won the audience over straight away. With her lively, chatty manner, Wendy had the air of someone sharing some fabulous gossip, rather than delivering a series of one-liners. Not to say she wasn’t funny, because she was – very. Her set covered a variety of topics, from George Bush being the ultimate victim of pushy parents, to the fanciability of Osama Bin Laden - and she went down a storm. Next up was Ben Harrington, who delivered a nice set, and on his birthday as well. Belated happy birthday wishes to you Ben! Ben managed to make us laugh and expand our vocabulary: I’ve been itching to slip “pogonophobia” (a fear of beards) into the conversation ever since Ben mentioned it. Lou Armstrong was our third act of the night. Lou’s set was endearingly self-deprecating and highlighted the advantages and disadvantages of being small with a lisp and glasses. Lou also had some nice observations about the Reading dating scene! Local rising star James Mason was our penultimate act, and well worth waiting for. I’ve seen James appear a few times over the past year and he just gets better and better. James has really found his own, deadpan style that works for him and uses comedy pauses to great effect. It’s an over used phrase, but James is definitely “one to watch”, a view that was shared by the judges in the ‘Reading Comedy Festival New Act Competition’ when they crowned him the winner a couple of days after his appearance at Big Jack’s. Congratulations James! Headliner Marlon Davies responded to the laid back atmosphere of Big Jack’s by adopting an understated, anecdotal style that contained some real comedy gems. Marlon is a really likeable chap and had some very funny stories about living with his dad. Lastly, thanks must go to Ian Wilmot, organiser of the Reading Comedy Festival, who provided such a great prize for the winners of the caption competition" "On 14th June, a packed-to-the-rafters Afroba was treated to an eclectic array of five comedians. First up was Australian Greek Yianni Agisilaou, who treated us to some quick witted observational humour and an insight into the male psyche, by way of introducing his inner Frenchman, Pierre! Yianni battled heroically with the cranky sound system before abandoning the mike entirely, obviously no stranger to voice projection. After an extended break to coax the sound system back to life, James Mason showed us all why he recently achieved semi-finalist status in the Laughing Horse competition, delivering a brilliant deadpan set that contrasted nicely with Yianni’s bounding enthusiasm. Definitely one to watch. Next up was Helen Huscroft, who delivered some witty observations on life in the classroom and brought a massive fan club with her – nice one Helen! Many thanks to Nick Hodder, who kindly agreed to stand in at the last minute, delivering a nice middle session and giving us all a new perspective on the new Olympics logo. Chris McCausland’s lovely headlining set was the icing on the cake. Chris is a comedian who obviously enjoys his work and his infectious giggles alone got everyone laughing. His ability to laugh at himself and the pickles he has found himself in made for a superbly funny set. Everyone agreed with Jasper Carrott that Chris is ‘comedy brilliance’". "Thursday 10th May was one of those nights when everything goes smoothly; all four comedians and compere Jack were on cracking form and contrasted wonderfully with each other. The British weather was at its worst, so the audience was a little thin on the ground, but there were enough people to create a satisfying swell of laughter and those that were there were in for a treat. Opener and self confessed geek Matthew Crosby did a storming job of getting the laughter started, interacting brilliantly with the audience and including a memorable and totally convincing impression of a manga security guard. Next up was relative newcomer Holly Walsh, who won the audience over straight away and went on to deliver an excellent set – one in the eye for all those guys who groan when they see a female comedian on the line up. Neil Cole made a startling first impression by crashing into the back of the stage, then went on to create quite a different kind of impression altogether – suffice to say that none of us will listen to the Can Can in quite the same way ever again!. Headliner Helmut, a.k.a. Marc Blake, was just the kind of act we like to end with, creating the kind of easy waves of laughter we love to hear at Big Jack’s. All those people who stayed in because of the rain – shame on you!" "The show on 12th April got off to a nailbiting start, with the sound system throwing a wobbly as the clock ticked ever closer to the 20:30 kick off time. Big Jack was explaining to the acts that they 'may have to speak up a bit’ when the dulcet tones of James ‘the mixer’ Mason echoed across the room: “I fink it’s workin’ now.” After that nerve wracking start, the evening went without a hitch, with four fab sets. Chris Martin got the night off to a kicking start by exposing a Big Jack’s regular as a ferret keeper! A great opener sets the mood for the rest of the evening and Chris certainly did an excellent job. Next up was the charming Vikki Stone, who dragged graphic artist Leigh up on stage and felt his thigh muscles – making a change from his collar (only joshing, Leigh)! Rounding off the middle section was Shazia Mirza, whose images adorned the front page of that evening’s Reading Chronicle arts guide. The wonderful Shazia was booked to do a 20-25 minute spot, but treated us to an extended set as she tried out new material for her Edinburgh show. What can you say about headliner Sully O’Sullivan? He was an absolute knock-out. Had the audience in stitches while discovering their sexual peccadillos (you know who you are!)". Wow, we have our first review not written by ourselves! The following is courtesy one of our comedians, Jane Hill, who delivered a fantastic set back in February 2007 "A snowy Thursday, with more snow and ice forecast, and I drove to Reading to do a ten minute spot at a club called Big Jack's Laughter Club. I had no idea what to expect, but I assumed that very few people would bother to venture out on such a cold night. I was relieved it was only a 90 minute drive for me - virtually a hometown gig. I wasn't particularly looking forward to it. It turned out to be a fantastic night at a very friendly little club. Big Jack is a top bloke and there was a really good-sized audience - maybe fifty people, good mix of ages, all up for a good night out. It was also good to meet up with two comedians I've met before at gigs, Andrew Roper and Steve Day.
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