****

4 Star

The Stand Comedy Club has been running this institution for many years now and on the evidence of the show I attended  it is still as popular with the customers.

The format is simple, one compere, two acts a break then a headliner. Simple but effective.

Compere for the night Martin Mor has been around for ever and is totally at home as MC is spite of some drunken idiots on the front row. He warms up the crowd, sets up targets for the others to latch onto if desired, prior to introducing the opening act, on this occasion Maeve Higgins.

Now Ms Higgins comes with a good reputation from previous work, but I don’t know what happened on the night. Maybe the drunks got to her, maybe she just had a bad day, maybe… who knows,  but I felt she struggled throughout her set.

Mor again, then a shorter, punchier set from Jeff O’Boyle, originally from Northern Ireland, but now based locally. O’Boyle quickly silenced the front row with classy put downs and certainly enhanced his reputation with this performance.

Following on from the interval Martin Mor gathered things together and set things in place for headliner Ian Coppinger to rock the house. At only 5’ 2’’ he is small in stature, but massive in talent. The twenty minutes he delivered were pithy, funny and all over way to soon for all.

The line up for this changes nightly, so it is quite possible, and many do see this showcase more than once.

****

Reviewed by Geoff

Stand III

6 to 29 August

18-05 to 19-20

Fringe Brochure P34