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Going to see comedy in York's only comedy club is a rather intimate
experience. For anyone familiar with the City Screen's basement
bar, the low ceiling and cosy seating means there's nowhere to hide.
Which is a shame, the lack of pillars and dark corners coupled with
the York crowd's timidity results in a distinct lack of hecklers.
That said, the Other Side is always guaranteed to be a good-natured
evening with top acts.
For the Autumn Season, Other Side founder and compere Dan Atkinson
has lured some top acts off the well-beaten comedy touring route
and brought them to York. Tonight's acts were no exception; the
distinctly Mancunian twist to the evening was completely coincidental,
assured Dan. In fact he himself completed the Manchester quartet,
by confessing that he had once been to the city
More info on The Other Side Comedy Club
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Chris'
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The evening kicked off with the rotund cheekiness of Jon Warburton.
He was funny, but in a kind of, 'I really shouldn't be laughing
at this' kind of way. He'd obviously done his homework and identified
Selby as the place lots of Yorkies laugh at. I found his closing
song about apathy a tad depressing, coming so soon after Live8.
But judging by the laughter echoing around me, no-one else did.
I was the only person in the audience to admit to having been on
an anti-war march, so maybe I'm biased (as well as naive it would
seem). His act went down very well with York's apathetic comedy-goers.
The evening's newcomer was Killiam Monsoon (hmmm, not sure about
the name). This metal-head student from Ireland has a strange hybrid
accent, a sort of Irish-American-Manc cross. His student jokes combined
with poking fun at Pocklington got him a good few laughs. The maturity
of the other acts made Killiam's inexperience more obvious than
it probably was. A few stock phrases and returns would have helped
his set, but not bad at all.
A mixture of ultra-depressing realism and random chaotic musing
was to follow, delivered by Mick Ferry. Really very, very funny;
especially his 'Top Tips' inspired by that quality publication,
Take a Break. The audience had loosened up by this time, hardly
surprising given the pitchers of lager being consumed, so there
was a little more interaction and baiting. The world's smallest
bouncer and Aussie accepted the piss being taken with typical York
dignity.
As ever the Other Side is a fine way to spend an evening. My only
beef is with the size of the venue. Obviously moving to a bigger
venue might mean losing the cosy atmosphere that comes with people
having to share tables, play musical chairs and lurk on the staircase.
More room would also leave the Other Side at risk of not being a
sell out. But despite these risks, surely the time is ripe for the
club to expand?
Nick Midgley
| More info: The
Other Side Comedy Club |
When:
alternate Sunday evenings |
Where:
Basement Bar, City Screen Cinema, York |
Contact:
01904 541144
The Other
Side website
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