Which stand up comedians would you pay to go see in the UK ?

[ian]

I do like Ross Noble, he's genuinely quite surreal and not in a forced way, and he's made me laugh hard enough to require several underpant transplants. A couple of years back I saw two dates on the same tour, only a few days apart, and it pretty amazing how much he was essentially making up, other than a few reference points, most of the show was pretty much him riffing off whatever the audience fed him. Thoroughly nice chap too. I can see it not working so well on TV, he's not a quick one liner, some of his jokes literally take an entire show to conclude.

I saw Bill Bailey the other week and he was on top form. Normally, he's a bit whimsical and you come away feel like you've had a good smile, but this time my ribs ached.

[citoyen]

Just bought tickets to see Richard Herring in Canterbury in March. Alas, Stewart Lee isn't coming down this way, the fucking idiot, so had to make do. And I had to pay more than a pound.

[Nuncio]

[Incredulously] More than a pound?

[citoyen]

Went to see Marcus Brigstocke last night, and we're going to see Mark Steel on Sunday - both part of the Canterbury Festival which is on at the moment.

Marcus Brigstocke is not someone I would normally make an effort to see but my wife bought the tickets and I'm glad she did - it was a good show. It's in two parts, the first half mainly consisting of him venting his rage at the EU referendum, the Tories and UKIP - the gaps in the audience after the interval showed that it was a bit too close to the bone for some people. Maybe they've never seen him on telly before or never heard him on the radio, so weren't aware where his political sympathies lie. And this is my only problem with an act like his - the audience is self-selecting so he's largely preaching to the choir. But it's a nicely cathartic experience. The second half is generally much more positive in tone, being all about how to find happiness in this rotten world, and while it is still amusing it lacked the bite of the first half. He is a very strong stage performer though - this doesn't really come across when you see him on TV, but he has great stage presence and is entirely fearless in front of an audience. I would go and see him again.

[citoyen]

Just bought tickets to see Richard Herring in Canterbury in March.

He was brilliant, of course. Very funny. The only criticism I would have is that he recycles a lot of his material, so I've heard quite large chunks of it before, but it's still funny.

[ian]

I enjoyed Marcus Brigstocke - no one ran away at the interval, but it was that bastion of liberalism Blackheath 'Village'. I also saw him last time he was in town, partly by accident, also not a comedian I'd paid much attention to previously, but he's very sharp and funny and definitely worth seeing.

Saw Ross Noble (again) at the weekend. Surprisingly for someone who's normally completely lost in his own surreal domain, he also covered Brexit. Admittedly his own take, but pant-wettingly funny and surprisingly vicious and a little brave considering he's probably not guaranteed the big softee liberal audience of many comedians (and this was Sheffield, not London). Mind you, he's one of the best when closing down heckles.

[Nuncio]

I saw Mark Steel last week in Pontardawe and enjoyed it much more than I was expecting. It was more at the level of 'Mark Steel Goes to Town' than the scathing irony of his Independent columns (well, the 2 I have read, including the one on Toby Young and Daniel Blake). It was an extended  personal story so was inevitably gentler, I suppose.

We're seeing Ross Noble next month.  I saw him a few years back and though he was brilliant. The whole show it looked as if he was riffing off audience interactions and I thought it was totally off the cuff. Then I saw a bit of his stage show on the tele and it was much the same material.  That's the skill, I suppose.  I heard him say that as he's walking on stage he hasn't a clue what he's going to say. Hmm.

Before that Nina Conti, again. Looking forward to it. Last time, my cuffs were damp after wiping away the tears of laughter.  I wasn't sure I could  endure a couple of hours of ventriloquism, but it wasn't a problem. Lets see if the novelty has worn off.

And a couple of weeks ago John Robins and Elis James. Mildly amusing if a bit shambolic.  Maybe I'm not their target demographic.

[Ian H]

Henning Wehn was in Exeter t'other day.  He was funny as well as scathing.

Milton Keynes Jones, some time ago in a London pub, was quite funny.

Shappi Khorsandi, in Scotland, several years ago, was good.

We may have missed Ross Noble's appearance locally.

[mattc]

Went to see Marcus Brigstocke last night, and we're going to see Mark Steel on Sunday - both part of the Canterbury Festival which is on at the moment.

Marcus Brigstocke is not someone I would normally make an effort to see but my wife bought the tickets and I'm glad she did - it was a good show. It's in two parts, the first half mainly consisting of him venting his rage at the EU referendum, the Tories and UKIP - the gaps in the audience after the interval showed that it was a bit too close to the bone for some people. Maybe they've never seen him on telly before or never heard him on the radio, so weren't aware where his political sympathies lie. And this is my only problem with an act like his - the audience is self-selecting so he's largely preaching to the choir. But it's a nicely cathartic experience. The second half is generally much more positive in tone, being all about how to find happiness in this rotten world, and while it is still amusing it lacked the bite of the first half. He is a very strong stage performer though - this doesn't really come across when you see him on TV, but he has great stage presence and is entirely fearless in front of an audience. I would go and see him again.

Probably not surprising from an ex-club-cagedancer!!!

I love Marcus. The show I saw was a little different as the theme was religion. He took a very balanced approach, so hopefully no-one would completely take against him.

Would see again.

[ian]

We're seeing Ross Noble next month.  I saw him a few years back and though he was brilliant. The whole show it looked as if he was riffing off audience interactions and I thought it was totally off the cuff. Then I saw a bit of his stage show on the tele and it was much the same material.  That's the skill, I suppose.  I heard him say that as he's walking on stage he hasn't a clue what he's going to say. Hmm.

As mentioned, he has routines and basically extemporizes them. Sometimes he goes completely off piste. He must have been gleefully happy when it turned out that there, on the first row, was a woman whose hand was bandaged in two big thumbs up. Because it turned out she'd stabbed herself through her hand with a carving knife. Trying to open the packaging for a egg slicer.

Also, don't wear furry accoutrements to your outfit when sitting in the front row.

Best bit was Brexit because he was obviously genuinely angry. Or possibly the triangular grandma ghosts.

I'm off to see Rich Hall at the weekend. Never too sure about him, tbh.

(Stewart Lee, many many years ago at the Edinburgh festival, once tried to capture the affections of a lady friend of mine with the terrible line 'oh, you might have seen me on TV' to which she withering replied 'what, on Crimewatch?'. I presume he found more fertile pastures elsewhere in the bar.)

[citoyen]

Probably not surprising from an ex-club-cagedancer!!!

He's had quite a colourful life from the sound of it. He first came to my attention with Giles Wemmbley Hogg on the radio, and The Savages on telly, neither of which really hinted at what had gone before.

I liked The Savages. Shame it was canned after only one series.

[citoyen]

Went to see Josie Long (again) last week. The new show is called 'Something Better' and it's mostly about trying to take a positive approach to dealing with Brexit etc, rather than just getting angry about it. There was a brilliant bit she did based around To Kill A Mockingbird, which wouldn't sound funny if I tried to describe it but it had me crying with laughter at the time. Also, she was on stage setting up when they opened the doors to let the audience in, so she did a bit of impromptu pre-show karaoke-plus-commentary on the Pina Colada song (https://youtu.be/_WkR2Tv4dq4) which was a lot of fun. On the whole, though, it felt a bit lacking in freshness - she's been doing this 'lefty in a rightwing world' shtick for a few years now and this show is essentially a rehash of stuff she's said before. Possibly because it was the first night of her tour with a new show, so the material wasn't quite as polished as it might have been, but in any case, I find her a totally engaging performer even when she's just rambling.

Support act was a chap called Tez Ilyas who is a rising star of the stand-up scene by all accounts (apparently he has been on the One Show and has had his own R4 series). Much of his material is based around being a Pakistan-born Brit, which is a rich seam to mine in the current political climate. He had some great gags but I found his material a bit patchy.