one4review | On 09, Aug 2023

Petting Zoo Comedy are performing at The Gilded Balloon Sportsman Bar, it’s basically a showcase for new comedy acts along with random pets supplied by a petting zoo in Motherwell.

It’s quite random, your hosts for the evening are Michael Kandel and Charlie Sosnick and they introduce a selection of acts and animals to the stage.

I’m reliably informed by the guys that the acts and animals are different every night, and there were a couple of really good performers I’d like to see again as a result of seeing them do a 10 minute showcase.

Two that stood out for me were Pierre Novelli (partnered with a black chicken) and Alexis Gay, who did an incredible job while a corn snake was coiling himself around her face most of the time!

Some audience participation involved, some very drunk hecklers and my top tip for anyone volunteering is don’t wear light trousers if you’ve had a bathroom mishap! Please take note, drunk Barry from Melbourne.

The show itself is quite good fun but at times it felt a bit flat. My personal feedback would be to give the petting zoo lady a mic/headset, we couldn’t hear what she was saying so missed some of her input. Don’t put the aircon on in the venue, it was like a jet engine overhead.

It’s quite an enjoyable hour long show that’s still a work in progress, but an easy watch.

3.5***
Reviewed by Gavin
Gilded Balloon Teviot – Sportsmans
22.20 (1hr)
Until 20 Aug