G&B has had a spectacular start to 2024 with two incredible shows. Monday night was our New Act Competition, which was a stellar line-up of comedy talent, then there was Tuesday night. What a gig! Right from the off it was clear this was going to be a great night. The brilliant Abigail Paul kicked things off. Abigail is from the glorious state of Florida, where the ambulances just circle the block waiting for business. Callum Mackenzie was next with the confession he loves British beaches…mainly for the gratuitous violence they provide. It was then over to Mark Vincent and a cheery New Year message: January is just the bloody worst! After Mark was the musical Barbara Fernandez, who once got trench foot in a Parisian bedroom. Hot on Barbara’s heels was the utterly puntastic Mark Rivlin, the minty fresh comic with a menthol health problem. It was then the turn of The Milky Bar Kid himself, Ben Roberts. Ben took the crowd on a nostalgia trip of sweet, milky chocolate goodness, back to the days of his youthful stardom. Next was Tony Carr and why there’s no crowd work at school nativity plays before Claire Hutchison had us wondering if we’d maybe seen her in a west End play. Paul Little was next with the sad news his birthday is on the worst day of the year for celebration: January 2nd, the international day of lame excuses. Closing the first half was the incredible Darren Delaney (pictured). Now when I say incredible, I mean mindblowingly, jaw-dropping, what-just-happened-there incredible. Darren gave us a demonstration of memory and mind bending calculation that had the room slack-jawed with incredulity. This had to be seen to be believed.
After the break we got off to a great start thanks to the hilarious Marc Salmon and bin sex and cape phases. Next was Martin Bowman and job tips for unemployed ghosts. I’m becoming a bit of a fanboy for Martin’s brand of stupendous silliness. I can’t wait to see where he goes with all this. After Martin was Elle Pea with news that she’s a runner. BTW, did we mention she’s a runner? She doesn’t like to say, but just in case: Elle is a runner. It was then over to Nick Gaughan and why Santa might not be the benevolent dude you think he is before Sam Perry won the game of hipster bingo. We then had Hamish Lloyd Barnes and the #NotMyPrincess hashtag that nearly got him fired. The evening’s penultimate act was the brilliant James Townsend, a man who admits he can sometimes look a bit like an accountant for the EDL. Closing the show was our favourite princess of darkness, the hilarious Emily McQuade and everything from ghost lads and therapy to haunted sex toys and Freud’s joke book.
Well that was a simply brilliant night. We’re back at The Star of Kings on Sunday when Seraj Alijan and Paul Little will be headlining. Hopefully see you then.