Review: My stomach ached from laughing at Jimmy Carr

Sorry guys, this review is a bit late, but I’m sure you will have seen there have been lots of important topics to blog on this week and I wanted time to do this review justice. I’ll start by holding my hands up and admitting – I WAS WRONG! Last week I wrote a preview of Jimmy Carr’s upcoming show at Lynn’s Corn Exchange, and to say the least I was a little unsure of what to expect. I love comedians and I love seeing them live – they are sarcastic, bitter, light-hearted and scathing all at the same time and I love this. But I’ll be honest, with Jimmy Carr, having only seen him as a presenter and never performing stand-up, I didn’t have high expectations. In fact, I half expected to hate his show and to dislike him even more. I’m not sure why exactly I disliked him before, I guess it is because he does go so close to the knuckle and perhaps in panels shows it is difficult to find this as funny because it just comes across as unnecessarily nasty.

Actually I’m quite glad to have completely lowered my expectations because I think it made the night even more hilarious by the end. We were seeing the late show, which I’m glad of because I think it gave everyone a chance to really warm up, the audience was a little drunk and the comedian was ready for action after a hilarious earlier show by all accounts. We popped in a nearby restaurant for dessert and wine as we watched the crowds leaving the theatre from the earlier show. We found ourselves laughing at the 18-year-olds who were tarted up to the nines (and I swear to God I actually saw a girl wearing a crop top and knickers for a night out) staggering into the pub nearby. Dead on 10pm we walked over and found our seats, which were amazing by the way! We were sitting up on the side balconies, first time, and we loved it! We had a fantastic view, we had plenty of space, and it was a heck of a lot cooler up there than it is sitting up at the back.

When we arrived, Jimmy had a notice up on the screen with a phone number, and he was asking for people to text it with comments, feedback and heckles, so obviously we were all getting involved! He came bouncing on stage and launched straight into his act. Now I’m not giving away any spoilers or any of the jokes, because it will only ruin it for you. But I was crying with laughter from the start. It was a fantastic show and it was refreshing to see a comedian who is halfway between the storytellers like Michael Mcintyre and the one-liners like Milton Jones and Stuart Francis. Jimmy’s short and snappy jokes gave you just enough time to recover between bouts of laughter and each joke was on point. I think it was the first time I have seen a comedian and genuinely laughed my head off at every single joke. Normally I, and most others I have asked, have those lulls where they are getting almost bored of laughing, but this never once happened during the two hours.

I was also incredibly impressed that he had successfully mocked and made jokes about the Norfolk and King’s Lynn people, bringing up the webbed feet, the fact that no-one ever leaves and the incest but in fresh new ways and completely unexpectedly. I have seen a lot of comedians in Lynn and Norwich and yet have never seen another comedian do this with such ease, they normally stumble across this part and walk into jokes that the audience makes. This impressed me because he has clearly remembered things from the earlier show, from previous performances and just does his research. He didn’t seem to treat the Lynn gigs like they were just a warm-up for his larger venues, this was clearly a top notch show and he was giving us his best material. A couple of highlights for me have to be the use of two words that are most definitely wheedling their way into my vocabulary – “cunt-grunt” and “twinkle-cave”. The second half certainly was a lot ruder, but we didn’t go there for a PG-13 performance and it was exactly what the audience were after.

If you ever get a chance to see Jimmy Carr live, whether you think you like him or not, snap it up. Trust me, you may well change your mind like I did. He was most definitely the best comedian I have seen live and I have no doubt you would enjoy his stuff too. Have you seen Jimmy Carr live, or did you catch him in King’s Lynn? What do you think of his material?

Preview: Jimmy Carr on tour

Mixed reviews. That’s what I’m expecting to be the opening line of my review of Jimmy Carr’s latest tour – Funny Business – which I was given tickets to go and see live for Christmas. My boyfriend and I are going this Saturday night and I’m not sure what to expect, or even whether I will find him funny or not. Don’t get me wrong, I love 8 out of 10 cats, although mainly for Jimmy Carr’s laugh and the banter between the comedians. But whenever I have seen him do any stand-up, I have always been less impressed by him as I find he tends to descend into sarcasm and bitchiness rather than actual humour, and quite quickly as well. Now I like a bit of sarcasm as much as the next person, but my point is that I don’t necessarily find it very intelligent.

Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit, but the highest form of intelligence. (Oscar Wilde)

Sorry Oscar – I’m not sure I agree. making snide comments at someone is not at all intelligent, it’s just that sarcasm sometimes goes straight over some peoples’ heads. Does that mean they are stupid? Or does that mean you are just trying to insult them indirectly and they just haven’t noticed? I’m hoping that when I see him live at the weekend, that I won’t notice these things quite so much and that he will actually be quite sharp and funny with his comments. Either way, I’m looking forward to seeing another comedian live and you guys will be getting a review next week!

Have you guys seen Jimmy Carr live before? Or have you got any other comedians line-up to see?

Review: Sarah Millican Home Bird tour

It’s always got my goat a little that there just don’t seem to be as many female comedians around. I love going to see comedians live and watching them on television because I think the two give you very different experiences of a comedian and can often leave you with very differing impressions of their work. For instance, I know someone who loves all of Jack Dee’s stuff on television but when she saw him live she was very disappointed. Likewise, I am not usually very keen on Jimmy Carr, but will be seeing him live in a couple of weeks and am looking forward to seeing if I prefer his stuff live. In Sarah Millican’s case, I have always loved her stuff but have never seen her do a huge amount of stand-up on television. I have seen more of her on her chat show and when she has appeared on other shows, and was interested to see what she would be like live and when she wasn’t tied to the watershed.

My boyfriend got us and his parents tickets for Christmas to see her Home Bird tour at Cambridge Corn Exchange on Tuesday night and we were all looking forward to it. Particularly because none of the four of us had ever seen a female comedian live and going back to my opening line, this is something that has annoyed me. Over the years of snatching up tickets to see comedians in Lynn, Norwich and Cambridge, I have seen countless male comedians including Milton Jones, Stewart Francis, Daniel Sloss and Russell Howard. But where are the women? Their gigs just don’t crop up as much because a) there are less of them and b) those that exist just don’t seem to reach the same level of fame! I just can’t understand why when Sarah Millican’s two shows were packed out and everybody clearly loved both the main act and her support act – Sally-Anne Hayward.

I was so impressed by Sally-Anne’s set after having only seen only small clips of her before. She kept the audience guessing with her hilarious tales that never went in quite the direction you were expecting and caught us completely off guard with her saucy comments leaving the audience in hysterics. The bits about her mum’s relationship advice really made it for me and I’ll definitely be looking out for her work in future.

She welcomed Sarah Millican on to the stage and instantly I was struck by how little she actually is and how at home she would look sitting on your sofa with a mug of tea and a cat. I’ve always loved the way she is just the kind of woman who would fit perfectly into my group of friends – she is filthy, funny and doesn’t give a f***. Starting your set off with an anal sex joke definitely sets the tone and the audience loved it, with all ages enjoying the show equally. Sarah gave a perfect example of how we all find the same gross things funny and of how we’re actually all equally mad and just think we’re the only one. It was very refreshing it was to hear a woman talking about women’s things – jokes about lady parts, nana’s swearing as they cough and the entertainment of living with a man. All topics that are just as funny as the standard grumpy young or old man that seems to be taking over the comedy world.

She gave a great gig and we all left the show with a smile on our faces. If that’s not the telling of a good comedian, I don’t know what is. I would really recommend you try and catch her Home Bird tour because it is just brilliant and I can’t imagine anyone not enjoying it. I don’t think I have ever seen such a varied audience at a comedy show and everyone was joining in and chuckling along. I would definitely say that Sarah Millican is doing it for the girls when it comes to comedy – her style is fantastic. Who is your favourite comedian – male or female? Have you seen this tour – what did you think?

How Miles Jupp put me off kids for a very long time…

I’ll be honest, I don’t often get excited about seeing comedians, rather I tend to go along with little to no expectations but I think this is by far the best way to see them. With so many different styles of comedy, and now with so many panel shows and “Live at the Apollo” types where you get to see snippets of their acts beforehand – it is all too easy to form an opinion of the comedian, and their act, without any real idea of what they do. However, going to see comedians hit the stages in my home town can often backfire slightly because I end up having to write stories about them before they arrive, giving me insight into their style and jokes.

Friday night saw me heading to the Arts Centre to watch Miles Jupp (the tickets were a Christmas present) after already having written a story earlier in the week about his work. I was left intrigued to say the least, having not previously seen many, if any, of his television appearances and realising that not only was he a multi-award-winning comedian, but that he had actually sold out the venue and several others along his tour. I was impressed and curious to know just how he would be entertaining the crowd that night, particularly after being told he focuses on everything from domestic imprisonment, fatherhood and hot drinks, to the government, the ageing process and other people’s pants!

We arrived a little early to meet the others for a drink and found out that Miles was running late and was stuck in traffic – we hoped he would make it on time, but mentally I was running over all the cracker jokes I learnt at Christmas just in case. Thankfully he made it on time and the show actually only started a minute late, but it was worth that short wait and he more than made up for it with a fantastic show. I will dive right in now and state that Jupp was officially the best comedian I have seen live in Lynn, and I have seen quite a few over  the years. His first half was brilliant, focusing on life through the eyes of a parent to FOUR children, all aged under four!! His stories about dealing with local youths, his dishwasher and his family life had the audience in fits of laughter throughout. As probably the only two in the audience without children, we watched on and laughed partly through horror at some of his tales about dealing with having four children and all so young. Certainly put me off a) having so many and b) having any number of kiddies any time soon!

After a quick break for ice cream and people-watching in the audience, it was time for round two which was just as good. I often find when watching comedians that the second half tends to drag slightly – usually the theatre is too warm, the seat is too hard, there is someone coughing behind me or I’m just waiting for that big last punchline. This was possibly the first time that none of these things have bothered me. Jupp’s fast-paced comedy, and equally fast-paced speech, kept me hanging on his every word, often taking a second to catch up with the punchline while he had already moved on to the next quip. I loved his observations of real life and his way of taking something so simple (like the previously mentioned dishwasher) and turning it into something truly dramatic and hilarious. I’m not one for spoilers, and certainly don’t want to ruin the show for those yet to see it, but his big finish was a side-splitter and saw him finish to riotous applause from the audience who had been hanging on his every word from the second he walked on stage.

I was very impressed with his set and would really recommend you get along to one of his shows if you can, or check out some of his TV appearances. Click here to go to his website. 

Lots to look forward to this March

Swan Lake

Any of my readers will know I had a pretty terrible start to the year and that all of this drama has carried on throughout the last few weeks – but thankfully I’m starting to reach the other side of things. You know how it is, when you are in a situation you often struggle to see beyond it and to put things in perspective until suddenly, one day, you start to realise that things will sort themselves out.

With everything going on, I haven’t really been in the mood to do the usual of going out for meals, to gigs and the like, so you may have noticed the lack of reviews over the past two months. I will soon be changing that, because I have suddenly realised quite how many things I have lined up for March – it’s going to be a busy month for shows, theatre and music, which will be great to really get back to normal. Here are some of the fantastic shows I have coming up:

Ella Eyre

I will be seeing the English Youth Ballet performing Swan Lake at Norwich Theatre Royal to start with –  this I am very excited about having not been to the ballet for several years. I absolutely adore the story of the white and black swan and am really looking forward to seeing a national touring company perform live on stage – especially since the tickets are official review ones thanks to a huge entertainments feature I wrote about the show.

Comedian Miles Jupp is also on the list for a night of hilarity at the Arts Centre in my home town – the tickets were a Christmas present and I am looking forward to seeing another comedian because it has been a while since the last one. I haven’t seen any of Jupp before now, so am intrigued to see what kind of set he will be doing. From the blurb on the website, it seems he discusses everything from fatherhood to other people’s pants!

Jim Cartwright’s Two will take me back to the gorgeous Westacre Theatre with my family for a night. All of the productions at this theatre are of fantastic quality and I always look forward to reviewing any of the shows because they are just so easy to write about! I’m looking forward to this one because it is so different to any I have seen before – mixing business and marriage with a lot of oddball characters.

Back to XOYO London for another amazing gig – Ella Eyre tickets were another Christmas present and I am so excited to see her perform live, especially after the BRITS! She has such an incredible voice and I loved seeing her perform with Rudimental but it will be totally different seeing her perform on her own. And do I even have to say, I have incredible hair envy of her locks.

Finally, my Christmas present to my Grandad was tickets for the whole family to go and see West End show, Dreamboats and Petticoats, on tour in my home town. He absolutely loves the music from the shows and we buy him a CD every Christmas, so when I heard the show was coming to us, I just had to get him tickets. Looking forward to a nice family evening out.

Dreamboats and Petticoats

I will review all of these shows for you guys and I can’t wait to share these with you all. I’m also really excited to have so much lined up for next month – it will be nice to have some fun after a tough few months. After a few gorgeous sunny days, it seems like spring is well and truly on the way so I see it as a good time to put things in the past and move on to summer fun.

Have you seen any of these shows – what did you think? What else have you guys got planned for March?

Don’t tell me it’s over!

I absolutely love this programme – Him & Her. It is a fantastic comedy based around a couple and the flat they live in, their lives, relationship and friends. It is absolutely hilarious and really helps to show what real couple are like, or at least a lot of what my relationship is like.

It was so refreshing when I came across this series, after the finish of Gavin and Stacey I was looking for something that would fill the gap left in my life. It is rare that I get attached to a TV series because I am so often missing episodes and forced to catch up because of working late or other commitments. But this one instantly sucked me in, the simplicity of the comedy, the peering into real life and fly-on-the-wall type of comedy is brilliant and the characters are so realistic and endearing – they really are someone that you know in real life. This is something that I think if so important for me to really find comedy actually funny – if I can’t imagine bumping into these people on the street or link them with someone I already know, it is too far away from reality to find funny – that is where I fell out with the Mighty Boosh.

I absolutely adore Sarah Solemani and Russell Tovey in everything they do, but I also love the character of Dan in the programme. He is brilliant to watch, especially when he thinks no-one is watching him. I particularly love the moments when he is alone in the room and starts picking things up or trying to eat things. One of my favourite episodes has to be the one where Shelley finally stood up to Laura – just to see the look on Laura’s face was priceless!

I’m so looking forward to the final series – but so upset that it has to end. Now I guess I better start looking out for a replacement series! Any suggestions? Which TV series’ have had you hooked from the beginning, and why?

‘Him & Her’ final series: The stars talk weddings, sex and being cool

Him & Her: ‘It’s rare to find a sitcom where the couple get on’ – video interview