Comedy Showcase: Seann Walsh and Marlon Davies (18/07/2012)

I can now announce to the world that I am no longer a live comedy virgin. On the 18^th July 2012 I headed down to Hooga in Chelmsford, with a ticket in my hand for a special Edinburgh Festival preview show, headlined by Seann Walsh, and supported by Marlon Davies.

My previous experiences of comedy had, up until that point, revolved around Michael Mcintyre DVD’s, and the annual Royal Variety Performance. I don’t know much about the industry, and have been somewhat reluctant to go to a comedy gig before. Call me silly, but I pictured wasting my money on a ticket and not finding anything funny, or worse still, being sat in the wrong place and ending up the butt of someone’s joke.

Thankfully neither was true, and as the show began, it didn’t take long for the sell-out crowd to pack the small venue with plenty of laughs. Marlon Davies won the FHM Search For A Standup Hero Competition’ in 2009, and has appeared in the ‘So You Think You’re Funny Competition’. His set was a mix of personal experiences and current news, with a healthy dose of expressive storytelling, and silly voices thrown in. One thing I quickly discovered watching his show, was that he can pack a lot of jokes into an hour, including some toilet humour. Tales of living with mum and dad, hecklers, and an encounter with a keen autograph hunter were also mentioned. Marlon is a slightly cheeky comedian, who you laugh along with, not at, and he went down well with the Hooga crowd.

After a quick break, headliner Seann Walsh took his turn at the mike, proclaiming he was ill, and seeming to expect the worse from his set. This was an Edinburgh preview, or ‘work in progress’ called ‘Seann The Wild’. I didn’t know what to expect from this, so I stood there wondering if it would be messy and not really work. What I got was something much smoother than I expected. The humour and interest came not just from the jokes, but from watching the comedian work out and adapt his routine, and his delight in feeding off the audience, and thinking up something new.

In some ways Seann Walsh has studied at the Michael McIntyre school of comedy, acting out his tales, and embellishing them with accents and actions. He combines this with a youthful (he is still quite young in comedic terms) take on TOWIE, I-Phones, and the obligatory hangover jokes, all of which hit the mark. He may have turned up in Chelmsford ill, but he left feeling a bit better, after a loud response from the crowd, some of whom were converted to the Seann Walsh cause during the course of his set. It was easy to listen to and fun, and something that I hear may just end up being repeated during Edinburgh Festival preview season next year. So if you didn’t get a ticket this time round, keep your eyes open.

It was my first live comedy experience, and I wasn’t used to listening to the same comedian for so long, but the jokes just flew by, the humour was accessible, and I found things to laugh at and relate to.  I know nothing of the comedy circuit, but I am assured it was a coup getting Seann Walsh here, and that can only be a good thing. Hooga could be building up quite a reputation as a small entertainment venue as well!

To find out more about Comedy Showcase, check out my interview with its founder here, or visit www.comedyshowcase.co.uk for details of forthcoming events.

About these ads