Another month, another excellent show for Manchester most underrated comedy club run by me.
After a month off in March due to last minute venue issues, we found a temporary home across the road in the Castle Hotel. Despite the less familiar location, the love and energy in the room was still unmistakably that of our incredible community of artists and supporters alike.
Opening our first show back is one of the biggest stalwarts of modern alternative comedy, Leslie Ewing Burgesse. Been excited to see her live for some time now, the co-runner of the excellent Troy Club in London, and long time collaborator with Blizzard fave Katie Mitchell.
Leslie was everything I hoped for and more. From bonkers one liner gags/skits – to intricately woven whimsical concepts, Leslie has super versatile comedy skill, and just when you think you’ve got a handle of her act, she pulls it around and will have you in stitches with how unexpected many of her best punchlines are, placed perfectly to ensure maximum hilarity. A master in her craft for sure.
After the interval was the return of the magnificent Ava Liversidge. Last time Ava was on our stage was just before Covid hit, and even then she stood out as an immensely creative performer, selling some of the most innovative comedy ideas with complete deadpan earnestness that heightens the already ridiculous set.
Over 3 years later, she’s turned it up to 11. The highlight of her set was her AI comedy show premise – giving the audience control over the type of comedy, creating a nonsensical cacophony of noise and conflicting skits/styles unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. Intertwined with that was some genuinely fantastic gags and deconstructions of comedy that put Stewart Lee to shame. Ava is one of the most creative acts going on the circuit today, and will make you completely re-assess what comedy can be. A true innovator.
Next we had Eddie French, who is just such a natural professional you could almost feel the envy and jealousy of every act in the room.
I don’t want to do the hack thing of comparing a gender non-conforming person to another famous person widely known by the same first name – but Eddie’s character and skit work is comparable to some of the most timeless Izzard clips. From the core concept, to the character work, to the seamless integration of ad-libbing being indistinguishable from the planned set that just feels so free and spontaneous.
Eddie French spent the majority of their set doing an incredible satire of NFT’s – that has lived rent free in my head all week, packed full of genuinely compelling silly narrative beats, gripping characters, and stretching a comedic concept well past the point it has any right to be funny, but somehow making it work.
Eddie might just be one of the best entertainers going today, and you’d be a fool to miss them if you get a chance to see them.
And closing the show we had a returning headliner all the way back from our 4th ever show. What is there to say about Randolph Tempest that you wouldn’t already know? This line-up has been full of bonkers, alternative acts, and our headliner was no different.
Randolph, creation of Peter Slater, is a thespian entertainer in the vein of Stephen Toast – except much more delightfully silly. Your average Randolph set features improvised bongo renditions of popular songs, including “God Save This Fucking Shitehouse” as our new national anthem, a gameshow where someone won an Easter Egg and had an existential crisis about the lack of ethical consumption under capitalism, and about 50 jokes about Keanu Reeves.
If this doesn’t sound like your cup of tea, then you’re wrong. Randolph is a wonderful creation from a world class entertainer, and if you can set through a set without cracking a smile then I don’t understand you.
hat a damn good show – and only our first this month! Tickets for our birthday show on the 18th have already sold out, but if you’d like to book tickets to our shows in May, including our first preview shows – have a look at our upcoming shows on Outsavvy: https://www.outsavvy.com/organiser/blizzard-comedy
And watch the video of this show on Twitch.tv/blizzardcomedy up until Monday May 1st.
