Posts Tagged ‘Arts Depot’
Reginald D Hunter – Arts Depot
Saturday 8th May 2010
Having only seen glimpses of Reginald D Hunter, mainly on shows like Have I Got News For You, I was intrigued to see him perform live.
Back at the Arts Depot, but this time in the larger Pentland Theatre. The night began with the support act, Steve Hughes, with his brand of intellectual humour. There were a number of gems, especially the material on Murdoch, but my favourite had to be the ‘straight men, gay men’ routine.
After a short interval, it was time for Reginald D Hunter to take to the floor. Even by his own admission, this wasn’t going to be a continuous laugh out loud stand up routine. In fact, while there were many moments where the audience were in hysterics, this felt far more like a comedy lecture. The Tiger Woods material was exceptionally good. Suffice to say Nelson Mandela and Barrack Obama were not immune from his criticism.
I did feel sorry for poor Rupert, the young teenage Conservative. He was sat a couple of seats away from me, at the front of the stage. Imagine Reginald D Hunter asking who’d just voted Tory in the election, only for a dream stereotype to have the guts to put his hand up. Such an easy picking for the smart comedian and to be fair because of that he let him off lightly.
So there you have it. A comedian who swayed away from normal stand-up and towards a routine with principles presented in a humorous way. I really enjoyed it and would love to see Reginald D Hunter performing again.
Katy Brand – Arts Depot
Friday 16th April 2010
Katy Brand’s hilarious performance on Let’s Dance For Sport Relief increased her profile to new heights. Great timing especially with an impending tour just around the corner.
I managed to get tickets for the pre-tour at the Arts Depot, prior to the announcement of the full Katy Brand’s Big Ass Tour. The Studio Theatre is perfect for any artist requiring instant feedback from a small audience of up to 150 people.
A superb view, almost too close, as Katy Brand entered the stage. I was already in stitches just prior to that, as my mate for some reason or another, thought he was actually going to see Jo Brand!
Katy Brand played a number of different characters on the night, mixed in with parodies from the world of music. The parody of Lady Gaga was mildly entertaining, while the Amy Winehouse drunken wiggle put a huge smile on my face. Her Mariah Carey performance was superb, especially the vocals, while the multiple Lilly Allen impersonations was well written and performed.
The Queen and the half-Greek character were ok, with the footballer’s wife a significant improvement. I didn’t really follow the ongoing Kate Winslett parody, but the standout performances were Army Captain Rosie Fielding and drunken Caroline. These two characters were played superbly, with Captain Fielding also pulling off Beyoncé exceptional Single Ladies.
It was a really fun night out and hopefully for Katy Brand’s sake the laughs increase when she performs at larger venues. I’ve also had to rethink what Lionel Richie’s ‘Three Times A Lady’ is really about!
Mark Thomas – Arts Depot
Thursday 19th February 2009
I’ve enjoyed The Mark Thomas ‘Comedy’ Product for years and have seen him perform live on a few occasions. So it’s always a pleasure when there’s another opportunity to see him in action.
Over the years, Mark Thomas has tackled a number large corporations and institutions who use their immense power to pretty much do whatever they like. The huge number of Nestle internal emails mentioning his name, was proof of how much a nuisance he has become to big business.
On a previous tour, among other things, Mark Thomas examined the likelihood that Santa Claus wears red as a consequence of early Coca Cola adverts, local villages were being drained of water supplies in places Coca Cola had set up factories, and that Fanta Lemon was created during the reign of the Nazi party, as it was not possible to produce Coca Cola locally in the 1930s.
The work in progress nights formed part of the Manifesto tour, where Mark Thomas was able to test some of his material. Audience members that had arrived early were able to write down ideas/policies for inclusion in our very own manifesto. It was a fun experience and pretty amazing to hear some of the stuff the audience had come up with. Some were quite clever, some were completely dismissed (mine included) and some took imagination to a new level.
Once again, the political commentator and comedian performance was enlightening. I consider Mark Thomas an educational comedian, as I always leave an event feeling like I’d just attended a Master Class.
