Well, the run up to this show was stressful. For those who don’t know, I was hospitalized a couple of weeks before Monday’s show. While I’d recovered in time for the show, I hadn’t recovered to an extent which I was comfortable MCing, so we had a last minute line-up change that absolutely paid off while I took on tech duties for the night.
Ticket reservations were slow, but we still ended up with a comfortably full room by the time the show kicked off – including many new faces, and the feedback I was overhearing from them was overwhelmingly positive to every single act and the night as a whole.
While I won’t be humble about the years of curation and work that have gone into getting Blizzard to this point, I owe a huge debt of gratitude to this month’s guest MC, James Ross.
James is the brains behind the multi award winning Quantum Leopard in London, a comedy club instrumental in my own development as a comedian, and a huge inspiration to the inception of Blizzard as a whole. From an almost 1:1 ethos at our core, to the sticker interaction system, and my own MCing style taking on a form I like to call “aggressive inclusivity”, very much taking cues from James Ross’ intimidatingly charming stage presence.
It is of no surprise then that James absolutely felt right at home taking the reins from me this month, a sentiment expressed from all our regulars. It was a weirdly emotional moment getting one of my biggest recent influences in comedy to cover for me at my own night, and it was an absolute delight to experience.
James Ross’ hosting style is a perfect blend of wit, whimsey, and wholesome audience uplifting, getting them all fully on board for a game of audience Guess Who with vibes – a fun take on the classic game where instead of physical traits, James asks more abstract questions for the volunteer to answer, with the aim of successfully identifying the person on vibes alone.
Everyone had a lot of fun with this, and we actually had a successful win, which according to James has never happened before when he’s done this game.
In between acts, James delivers tightly crafted fast paced gags, which were as niche as they were accessible somehow. Whether you’re a big nerd with niche hyper fixations or a casual comedy fan who just likes to hear some jokes, you’re going to have a good time with him.
James did a fantastic job, and elevated the already brilliant line-up we’d had booked for month who absolutely did not disappoint.
Opening with Ben Lund-Conlon who performed a mesmerizing 15 minutes deconstructing conceptual flaws of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and the death of Princess Diana.
You might think that Buffy is a bit niche for comedy critique in 2023, and that Princess Diana jokes are a bit hack and dated by now – but somehow he makes them work. Whether you’re familiar with his subject matter or not, Ben is great at poking fun at a franchise he’s clearly spent a lot of time researching and analysing in a way that’ll leave you in hysterics even if you’ve never seen it. Believe it or not, he’s managed to turn a joke topic that has been hack for over a generation into genuinely one of the best and most creative bits of stand-up I’ve ever seen in my life.
If you’re a nerd (and let’s be fair, most of our audience are) this set is almost hand crafted to make you piss yourself laughing. Even if you’re not, Ben is such an expert performer that you’ll find yourself heartily chuckling along, even if you’re not 100% sure what’s going on.
Next, we had misanthropic comedy nihilist Kyle Bedder. Kyle is a brilliantly funny comedian who more than held his own amongst this stacked line-up. Going straight into dark topics, everything from why it should be okay for women to murder men, to how the human race is almost proud about destroying the planet, Kyle had more content warnings than anyone else this evening – but kept everyone on board from start to finish nonetheless.
Few acts can balance dark comedy without mis-stepping into bad faith edgy jokes – and Kyle is definitely one of those acts who nails it. His nihilistic sense of humour was a nice contrast to the wholesome and uplifting content up until this point, and Kyle deserves all the praise for tackling depressing issues without bringing the mood down in the room. Kyle is a personification of cathartic despair, extracting the fun from the depressing, and applying just enough charm to keep all audiences laughing along despite the difficult subject matter.
Next, we had Sam See. I was so excited to have Sam See after hearing he was coming to tour the UK for the first time – and feel slightly bad we couldn’t get him on as a headliner as we already had one booked.
I feel like I’ve used the word charm too much in this write up, but Sam absolutely oozes it. Whether he’s discussing the quirks of British culture as an outside observer, poking fun at the culture of his own country and experiences in as a gay comedian – or more universal material about his relationship, which is admittedly unorthodox in many ways.
Sam is slick, witty and absolutely adorable, which contrasts delightfully with some of the filthier topics he touches upon in his set. The kind of comic who thrives on anecdotes and observations, yet absolutely delights in the odd one-liner/pun that catches you completely off guard. An incredible entertainer, who I feel privileged to watch work. Definitely check him out the next time he’s in the country.
And to close the show we have the triumphant return of Jonathan Mayor. What is there to say about him that you don’t already know? Jonathan is a queer comedy icon with such diverse appeal. If you like sassy and catty drag comedy? He’s an expert. If you like camp, blue anecdotes and observations? One of the best. If you like high energy performance with physicality complimenting uniquely bonkers sets? You’re in for a treat. Do you like niche whimsy referencing pop culture for Britain’s 1960s? OH BOY, DOES HE HAVE YOU COVERED.
Jonathan Mayor is an incredibly versatile entertainer, and is a treat to experience every time. A great way to cap off a surprisingly diverse night of entertainment from Blizzard Comedy’s first over all cis male line-up to date. (Don’t plan on making a habit of that, don’t worry).
What a phenomenal show – left in very capable hands, but I can’t wait to get back to the stage. If you missed this delightful show you can watch it almost in full on twitch.tv/blizzardcomedy until March 6th 2023.
And you can book free tickets to our next show on the 13th March 2023 with Foxdog Studios, Charlotte Cropper, Richard Stott & Katie Gill-Williams here: https://www.outsavvy.com/event/12174/blizzard-comedy-live-featuring-foxdog-studios now!
