You may remember back in November I visited The Comedy Collective at The Stand Edinburgh and was privileged to see an advanced snippet of  The Good, The Bad and The Downright Ugly, a comedy panel show created for a podcast,presented by Richard Melvin and assorted comedy guests. Initially prior to the recording MC Caulfield did the warm up and explained the ideas behind the concept.

The concept is to take the comics out of their comfort zone and to take them away from their well crafted and honed set material.

The comics going through the wringer on the opening recording were the legendry Jo Caulfield, the inimitable Keir McAlister and the outstanding Graeme Thomas.

Melvin set the ball rolling by ‘getting to know’ the panellists and in doing so causing much hilarity along the way, prior to the ‘serious’ part of the proceedings as two of these comic masters went head to head attempting to get the most laughs and ‘points’, somewhat similar to ‘Argumental’  TV channel Dave. Challenges on The Good, then The Bad, news stories, and other assorted topics took us to the interval and beyond with a variety of ‘debates’ and led to a final round similar in many ways to the ‘Mock the Week’  finale.

Okay it was maybe not as slick as a fully prepared show, but in my opinion anyway, that was a pleasant change. To see these guys flying by the seat of their pants and the genuine enthusiasm they displayed throughout certainly made it the value for money experience that it was. I mentioned in my November review that this show had cult potential, well, I didn’t know I was going to get sucked in. I am supposed to be doing something else for the next recording, but plans are already afoot to reschedule this so I can attend the next performance.

So at the end of the second section that was the recording finished, but was that the end of thing? Not on your life!! Character comedy took over as Jay Lafferty ‘read extracts’ of Victoria’s Diary in the run up to a wedding. I have always rated Jay as a stand-up and her development into a classy character comedian as well makes me even more certain of her talent. It was a well written and presented piece with a lovely twist I hadn’t seen coming and was an added bonus to what had gone before.

And there was more!! Joe Heenan, a stand-up and compere extraordinaire, but Joe the character comedian?? Well he was and an excellent one too!! Fred Nostradamus as a semi-stuntman kept the laughter pot bubbling along well for the duration of his set, a set that was all too short for my liking.

And then there was Lach. How to describe him? Is he a comic? He says no. Is he a raconteur? Well he talks well! Is he a singer and musician? Well certainly if the short burst we saw was anything to go by. This multitalented New Yorker held the crowd rapt for the closing set as he showcased all his talents.

And that was unfortunately all. Until the next time that is. But that is only next week!! Fortunately!!

For the dates and performers of the remaining 5 podcasts check out the website www.edinburghcomedycollective.com or the Stand’s website www.thestand.co.uk and hopefully I’ll see you there.

Reviewed by Geoff