The Verse’s Holly Parkinson headed down to Komedia’s Krater Comedy Club on the 7th January; read on for what she thought in her Krater Comedy Club review…
Set in the cosy environment of the Komedia Studio Room, the small stage was set for an intermit yet buzzing night ahead. Rows and rows of chairs sit around candle lit tables in front the modest stage, which is still set with full lights, mics and all the rest of the normal set up. You might get a slight fright (much like myself) when coming through the venue and seeing a ‘no drinks beyond this point for licencing reasons’ sign, but have no fear, there is a fully stocked bar with very lovely staff awaiting you inside.
Full stage lights flash into action as the heavy upbeat music comes on, indicating the show is about to begin. We are greeted by our host Markus Birdman, whose stage persona gives us a jittery almost nervous vibe to it, but don’t be fooled like the guys were in the front row – he can take your heckles and make you regret them. He quickly settled into, in his words, an unconventional opening to the show by engaging in possibly too much audience interaction, which resulted in one man in the front row sticking his foot in the air to show everyone his half-on socks.
Regardless, he warmed up the crowd successfully, even if he did tend to bank on stereotypical gags. With his dry sense of humour, we get taken through our British awkwardness and the reasons we drink; everyone finds this enjoyable possibly because every person in the room is at least two drinks in already, and who doesn’t love a relatable joke.
Eventually, Birdman introduces our first comedian of the evening Ben Norris, whose stage persona I can only describe as your ‘average nice guy’. His comedy’s point of view seems to come from awkward recalls of things that have happened to him, which most people can identify with – making his comedy relatable and highly entertaining. His biggest hit of the night was bringing to life the comparisons of ‘geezas, blokes, lads and chaps’, getting that callback joke to the heckling ‘geezas’ in the front row.
Allyson June Smith was up next after a perfectly placed interval. This Canadian spent no time playing around and gratefully informed us that she was most definitely not American. The basis of her comedy, like many foreign performers, was to use the misunderstandings of the British slang (though not the first time we’ve come across these kinds of gags they’re still highly amusing). Incorporating singing into her gig worked perfectly and her flow of subject change was seamless.
Finally, our headline act is introduced, and I can safely say not one member of the audience was prepared for how shockingly hysterical it was about to get. The Noise Next Door is a group of 4 quick fire improvisation comedians: they sing, they dance and they’re hilarious, taking audience shout out suggestions and then making up full comedy songs within seconds. We got the (audience influenced) treat of a ‘Gok Wan’s Whore House’ who’s tag line was ‘We’ll make you look good naked’, I mean, come on, that’s funny. The entire crowd loved it! The only thing I’d complain about is their set seemed to be over far too quickly, but I later heard they have a full show coming up at Komedia on the 8th Feb…
All in all, a great night of laughs, and I will be definitely checking out more of the Krater Comedy Club shows in the future!
