one4review | On 22, Aug 2022

I don’t know what they were selling at Monkey Barrel Carnivore last night but a small percentage of the audience must have overindulged as John Hastings took to the stage he was getting heckled about his hat choice, a near domestic in his front row, people thinking it was okay to wander in and out for more drinks, a guy tweeting again from the front row and total disregard to our comedian or other audience members. And this was a Sunday night.
John Hastings has had enough issues recently without dealing with this lunacy, and being sexually objectified by one audience member, but deal with it he did, volubly and firmly, but still managed to get out his story, focusing on his divorce, bedbugs, nearly getting his left arm amputated, the loss of a close friend and soiling himself.
The anecdotes, the funny laugh out loud material, often self-deprecating were of an incredibly high standard, the guy had obviously worked hard on putting it together, yet the interruptions caused the obvious flow to be stalled at times, you can’t blame Hastings though.
He talked about his appearance, his divorce, the incident that caused his injury and the toilet incident. Hot tubs, PTSD, and skate parks, all to great amusement, yet when it came to the loss of his friend Paul Byrne and the last-minute eulogy he had to deliver, he was obviously still raw, grieving and emotional yet powered through.
If I was allowed I would give him a bonus star for the way he dealt with another annoying heckler near the end. I never thought I would see a grown man banished to the corner and actually going as well.
4.5****
Reviewed by Geoff
Monkey Barrel Carnivore 1
20.15 to 21.15
Until 28th