| Line up: | Compere: Sally-Ann Haywood Karen Bayley
Robin Goodfellow
Paul Sinhar |
I have to say that the crowd in the Purple Monkey are a nice bunch if not a bit slow in warming up to things. There's a good mix of people and despite the compere struggling to warm the crowd up for the first act, they gave her time and the benefit of the doubt. The tables were almost turned as the first act, Karen Bayley, took on the cold, almost to the point of dead and ungiving audience, and warmed them up for the compere. She did a fantastic job and was undeterred by the audience's slow start. She was full of confidence and rightly so. Her material was strong and she pulled the audience in with her happy Brummy style. A bit rough and crude around the edges but that added to the laughs. Although many comics are talking about 'sat-nav' at the moment, how many can pull it in to a monologue on masturbation? She covered the female ground without excluding the men in the audience. A good solid act with good solid material. And relax... Back to our compere, Sally-Ann Haywood, who is now feeling more relaxed. She's lovely but not that funny as a compere to be honest. I have seen her before doing a standard set as opposed to comparing and she was clearly much happier delivering her normal stand-up set rather than struggling to ad-lib with the audience and be a confident compere. Then came the open spot. I always have an internal wince when the new acts come on. It can be a bit hit and miss with new acts, and I wrongly assumed that this would be a miss. Robin Goodfellow was his name and he did a really enjoyable 10 minutes.
Although clearly still pinning down exactly where he is coming from in his style and delivery, he has the delivery and ability to make the audience laugh. More gigs under his belt and he will be getting bookings for sure. The main event So far, three big ticks then; for the venue, the opening act and the open spot. Now the big test – the headline act: Paul Sinhar. Not someone I admit to seeing before but that always makes it more interesting. Unfortunately I didn't manage to take any notes as I was too busy listening to his barrage of cracking gags. His experience really shone through. He was slick and polished. Gay, but not as we know it, a doctor but don't let that put you off and also he's English-Asian. Imagine all the material you can pull from that comedy CV! He really did fill the room and take control. How he remembers all his material without stopping to think is thanks to his doctor's brain I reckon!
He did a good 30 minutes if not longer. I have to admit that I lost track of time. He really is relentless but unlike the master of relentless: Mr Bill Hicks, I don't think Paul Sinhar could offend anyone if he tried, not even a homophobe! The Purple Monkey Comedy Club at The Black Cat Jazz Cafe Bar in Northampton takes place on the last Wednesday of every month. | 
