January has turned out to be a great month of comedy at G&B. We’ve seen some truly inspiring new acts hit the stage and some of our regulars up their games and this is just January! 2024 is off to a cracking start. Well, Monday night at The Star of Kings was no different. What a show we had. First to the mic was David Robinson, who did a plug for Amazon and their fast delivery of, well, “plugs”. It was then over to the hilarious and greasy John Pape, the man whose desk bed is in high demand it seems. Orderly queues around the block are recommended. It was then over to G&B’s spiritual guru, grand master of ASMR, His excellence Yogie Belle (aka Michael Yanny). Yogie reached out and touched our chakras and realigned our inner balance, leaving us charmed, chilled and cheered. Next was Mark Vincent, the man on whom Saville Row has an injunction. Mark took us through the creative process of his sartorial styling. After Mark was the fabulously funny Sophie Bing who openly admits she might lack something in the volume control department when it comes to subtle club chat-ups. It was then the turn of Thomas Jones whom upon leaving the Shetlands did not turn to stone, so times are indeed a changing. It was then over to Martin Ashworth who after a battle with glue eating as a kick, is sticking to his more responsible diet. Closing the first half was the prop comedy punnery and slapstick chaos of Neil Ben (pictured). With gags and one-liners flying across the stage, Neil had the room in stitches…almost literally.
After the break, and a bit of magic that had people on the edge of their seats, we got off to a great start thanks to Neil McFarlane and some tips on how to ruin a teenager’s GCSe’s with nothing more than a pair of brogues. Alex Gogarty then told us of his gene pool which could potentially compete with that of Genghis Ghan. Zara Sal then reminded everyone why dating another comic is always best avoided before The Average Russian (aka Luke Harrower) confessed to still being snubbed at Eurovision. The Slack Janets (aka Sallyann Fellowes & Martin Dixon) then gave us some sketch comedy and a little insight into Horizon software demands. Recent New Act winner, Kwami Odoom was the evening’s penultimate act and he left us all wondering if The Oppression Olympics might indeed be the greatest sporting event imaginable. Closing the show was the simply brilliant Caroline Madds. Back in the summer of 1983 I saw Victoria Wood do a one woman show in the back of a pub in Islington. There’s something about Caroline that reminds me of her. It’s her naturalistic authenticity that creates a real feel good vibe has a room hanging on her every word, eager for more. And if more of Caroline is what you want, she’s doing a 20 spot at The Star of Kings on Sunday, March 3rd.
So that was Monday night at The Star of Kings. It was a busy, fun night of some really great comedy. Next Monday is G&B Comedy’s Monthly New Act Competition when you can see last month’s winner, Kwami Odoom, return to do his guest spot.