GRRR
manchestercomedy.com just closed down! I just spent 3 hours writing a review for it... sod it, it's going here instead!


Stand Up and Deliver - Salford University Students - 2006
12th December 2006 - Frog and Bucket
By Brainne Edge


The show of nine acts was expertly compered by their tutor for this module, the lovely Jason Manford. He obviously knew this audience and played to them wonderfully, even throwing in references from when he too was at Salford University, which was a nice touch.
The difference to last years show was substantial. All the acts appeared much more confident and with rather interesting material.

First up was Steven Ronstance and his swish jacket. He had some nice lines about masturbating in Tesco’s, as you do, and some fun randomness which raised a mighty giggle. He had a little stumble and seemed to lose the audience slightly in the middle, but over all a good start to the night.

Next was Claire Brookes, who went straight into her set guns blazing. She had some nice material about her mums obsession with fridge magnets, come on, we’ve all been there. Some wonderfully timed silences and pauses, very brave for a first time out. She well deserved the spontaneous rounds of applause she received. Got a little rambling towards the end but didn’t lose focus and was very enjoyable to watch. Hope to see her again.

Up jumped Becky Taylor next. She had an instant confidence, and became a crowd favourite from the outset. Some good use of word play which suited her onstage persona. I would hope Becky will go on to do some more stand up as she has a natural ease to her performance and a lovely delivery. Only one criticism, is know when to stop. Unfortunately as this was an assessment you can’t ride the crowd and leave them on the high you’ve created if you have another minutes worth of stuff you have to perform. Becky reached two such climaxes, and it was a shame she couldn’t have left on the first to the massive applause she was receiving. Really good fun to watch.

Break, I had some nachos.

Next was Fiona Abernathy, self professed “facially attractive”. She had some really nice moments, but seemed a little bit nervous. Loved the stuff about discovering the actual definition of ‘love child’.

Next we saw Jackie Brown. She had a nice gossipy delivery but a lot of her material was rather obvious, which was a shame. She also seemed to lose the thread a couple of times. There is certainly room for improvement here though. Liked her pull back and reveal stuff, although the end of the set just petered out.

Middle section ended with Tom Watson. He was very energetic but this seemed to be the main part of his act. I like his general demeanour but he was a little hard to understand, maybe it was nerves? Liked his skally stuff and he coped well with his own fumbles, would like to see him banter with an audience, I think he’d do well.

Break, I had a J2O.

Opening the last section was Kate Wincup. A few technical problems, like leaving the mike stand at the front of the stage, and not learning her set. That aside, some nice bits, especially with regards to the swing ball that was like a sister to her, “skinny bitch”. Lovely.

Next up was Della. She had a nice conversational delivery, and some great comebacks for heckles! I would say her onstage presence made up for some weak material. Having said that, she kept my attention for the time she was on stage.

The last act of the night was Alfie Noakes. He had a hard job going on last at such a long gig, but his energy and material won the sleepy audience over completely! He played around with conventions of comedy, had some nice word play, and was just a joy to watch. One of the best acts of the night in my opinion. Loved the random tangents he took us on. Hilarious.
And so ended the night, well done one and all, and especially Jason for the amount of work he must have put into this module.

Brainne Edge