Knock2Bag – Live review – 16th April 2008
April 19, 2008 – 11:55 am | by Peekay
Another great night of comedy downstairs at Bar FM in Shepherds Bush. The monthly Knock2Bag shows go from strength to strength as punters and comedians alike discover the intimate and friendly venue.
Regular MC Carl Donnelly knows his audience and plays them well, although some of tonights audience are a little weirder than normal (who stands up and apologises when heckling?) he deals with them well. He keeps the momentum going between acts and helps pick out a few individuals that some later acts can refer to – including a punter who describes himself as a “biscuit designer”.
First up is Russell Kane, another in the list of comedy Russells who have appeared on BBC radio and one of the many digital TV channels. Live he is a polished performer with an individual voice and what seems to be a limitless mine of pitch-perfect comedy material.
Andrew Watts comes on stage looking like a banker desperate for love. Luckily he has a deliberate and pointed performance with some great lines that work well with his onstage persona.
Alistair Duggin did a shorter set, but as he himself pointed out, a shorter set for him will actually be a much longer set as he has a stammer. This being only his fourth gig he shows good promise if he can continue to work on personal material. The stammer which at the start can make audiences feel slightly uncomfortable, manages to help draw you in.
Maybe this was an off night for Dr Cocacolamcdonalds but it just didn’t work for me. I could see glimpses of why it should, and maybe it failed due to sound/technical issues, but I felt this was one of the weaker acts tonight.
Quite a few of the crowd had come to see Adam Buxton as Famous Guy, and rightly so. His jump-suit wearing “famous actor” character is nicely rounded and a silly satire on fame
Tony Law, the Canadian headliner was the most polished of them all delivering a blistering, wide-ranging set from start to finish, playing with the audiences expectations of his material and seemingly having fun himself as he meandered through his comedy world.
