Monday night at the Star of Kings was absolute chaos, in the best possible way. Dylan Almeida kicked things off, having recently moved to London to work in AI, a career choice that didn’t exactly win over the crowd. Charlie Firth followed, delighted to finally be introduced by his actual name after a string of MCs mistakenly calling him Colin Firth. Rob McAlone then took us on a global adventure, recounting how he got stranded in Indonesia thanks to Donald Trump starting a war with his connecting flight. Janet Lynn expressed her love for the phrase “eat the rich,” though she did raise a valid concern about adding Kardashians to our diet and the risk of microplastics. Nick Morey admitted to a peculiar habit of not attending parties he hasn’t been invited to, which could make family events a bit awkward. Tony Carr couldn’t relate to Charlie’s naming woes, mainly because he doesn’t share a surname with anyone remotely famous. Freddie Cornwell spent two years perfecting his Jacob Elordi impression to impress women, only for a group of female teachers to walk in just in time for him to wow them with his impression. Rosie G stepped in with a solution to our increasingly distracted society, generously sharing it with us all. Closing the first half was Nigel Wolfin (pictured), bringing some much-needed intellectual weight with his trademark accounting comedy, though with a name like Nigel, the name comparisons aren’t exactly glamorous.
Opening the second half, Andrew Steel shared tales from his days as a mounted policeman, riding his trusty steed, Dustin Hoofman. Sadly, his career ended when he ran out of superglue and had to improvise. Jake Pemberton burst onto the stage with unstoppable energy, guiding us through the full cast of characters you’ll find at a swimming pool. Evan Henley then fielded completely unprompted questions about his PhD and his impressive (and very niche) award for solving quadratic equations to impress his father. William Mason, who, unfortunately for him, looks like he could be my brother, spoke about the unexpected mental health benefits of taking drugs. Adam Broomfield-Strawn experienced a moment of beautiful irony when the teachers at the back of the room had to be told to keep quiet during his set. Dan Grennan delivered a gripping round of “funny anecdote or child abuse?” based on a story from his mum’s days spent running a pub. Closing the show was Martina O’Sullivan, whose unmistakably Catholic accent carried the subtle undertones of lifelong guilt. She wrapped up the night by educating us all on the joys of communion, sending us home slightly wiser and possibly absolved.
So that was another fantastic night at the Star. See you next week for more of the same!