May 2023 was an historic month for the Country of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, as it was May 2023, specifically the first weekend of May 2023 – when this Country, for reasons best known to itself, decided to fuck up our show plans and force us to have two Blizzard Comedy shows within 2 days of each other.
Now if you’re reading this, you’re probably one of our fans whose core is harder than most, and think that’s a fucking brilliant thing, and wish we did a new fantastic show every single day 24/7. But for the rest of the public, it led to some unfortunately low numbers in our audiences over the weekend. I’m going to blame Charles entirely for this.
But on the bright side, while numbers were low for our second show of the month, the quality more than made up for the lack of quantity. Some of our loudest laughers and dedicated regulars made a room of 3 people + acts feel actually moderately full, and the acts thrived on this and delivered kick-ass performances all around.
Taking over MCing duties was Hannah Platt – and I think she was a large reason why the show was as amazing as it was despite all of the factors outside of our control that messed up our plans.
If you’ve seen Hannah’s act before you could be forgiven for being unsure about her brilliantly dark and heavy deadpan act would translate into a role which is traditionally the opposite of that style. But Hannah took to the stage in her stride immediately, addressed the awkward elephant in the room (metaphorical sadly, otherwise we’d’ve had an extra 25% audience numbers) – and set everyone at ease without compromising what makes her uniquely hysterical as a performer.
Hannah makes compering look easy. She effortlessly kept the room engaged, didn’t try to sell the room as anything more than it was but instilling confidence in everyone that it was going to be a laugh regardless as long as they’re up for it (which they 100% were). We went from a slightly subdued audience welcoming Hannah to the stage, to a warmed-up audience of 3 making more noise than half of the sold-out 20+ seater rooms I’ve performed to in my time.
Hannah took to the role of MC perfectly, and really demonstrated the versatility of her material, being just as capable of getting everyone hyped for an act, as she is deconstructing the weird tropes and rituals of the stand-up showcase format and delivering segments of her trademark mix of mental illness and Daria-esque commentary (affectionate). Truly a juggernaut of a performer, more than capable of holding her own against the all-time industry greats.
Our first act was a comedian who hasn’t performed with us in years and was an absolute treat to behold. Paul Campbell is a lovely man who pulls off socially awkward, low status stand-up better than any of the thousands of open micers I’ve seen over the year trying to emulate Simon Amstell. Unlike them, Paul has really made this style his own, making even that comparison feel tenuous. It’s hard to compare Paul to anyone. If you’re a comedy nerd like me and pull out all the individual components of her persona to analyse to the point of not being fun anymore, on paper he sounds like he could be any number of other comedians – yet combined and executed, he truly is his own enigma.
It helps that his joke writing is genuinely top tier – complimenting his unique stage presence and delivering genuinely brilliant jokes as anti-comedy where it feels like his persona isn’t aware that he’s telling jokes at all, let alone the brilliant ones he comes out with.
Paul consistently keeps me on my toes and surprises me with the weird and wacky turns his anecdotes manoeuvre seamlessly into, making me genuinely unsure whether these are expertly crafted bits or genuine experiences told in complete earnest that happen by coincidence to also be absolutely hysterical.
Earnest is a good word actually. Every word Paul says feels honest to who he is, and he’s made the incredible feat of making himself seem like a real-life comedy caricature of himself. Paul is both naturally hysterical, and an expert in honing his craft to elicit huge roars of laughter from an audience smaller than my last orgy (smaller in numbers, not sizes of body parts – I didn’t get a close enough look to check).
Next, we had a newcomer to Blizzard Comedy and indeed first ever gig in Manchester, Sinead Walsh.
Sinead is another one of those acts that just makes everything look easy and has you loving them because they’re so effortlessly entertaining and hating them because you want to be more like them. Maybe that’s just me, idk, I refuse to examine that.
Sinead oozes coolness in their delivery but drastically undermines that and lowers their own status in a way that really makes you bond with them despite their short set time with us on this occasion. They’re not afraid to poke fun at themselves and unashamedly admits things about themselves that are both delightfully human and hysterical.
Sinead is a friendly presence too and has a warmth that feels uplifting and really makes you feel in on the joke. Comedians have different ways of making people laugh – and Sinead is a pro in making the stand-up format feel just like you’re having a laugh with your mate who you don’t get to see very often and always has brilliant stories and insights on life and brightens up your whole night when you do get to see them. This format which was especially poignant given the small audience numbers, which they really went with and gave those three people a stellar and tight 10 minute stand-up show leaving us wanting more.
Following up we had another first timer for Blizzard, Melina Fiol. Melina, like Sinead, has a lot of stage confidence right out of the gate, and it was a delight to see her adapt to our vibes here and adjust her material accordingly now she doesn’t have to deal with rowdy boys ogling her rather than listening to the jokes she’s telling.
One of my favourite things about this gig is just giving comics a nice space where they can just be themselves and play to a lovely crowd of comedy nerds and queer introverts and break the pace of the rowdier clubs and open mics around the country by letting them just have fun and do the kind of material they want to do without worrying about keeping a room full of mediocre people on side against their natural tendencies.
Melina is a delight to watch perform, she’s an act who has fun on stage and brings us all along with that fun, delivering relatable anecdotes around universal topics in a genuinely engaging voice (in both a literal and metaphorical sense) that keeps you hanging on every word. She has a natural charisma, and really accessible material that is bound to kill in most rooms she performs to. Definitely one to keep an eye on as she progresses through the circuit.
And closing the show we have another of the loveliest men in comedy, Pope Lonergan. Critically acclaimed author of I’ll Die After Bingo, former care home worker, Quaker, and recovering addict, Pope has got to be one of the most empathetic performers I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with, and I don’t think we talk enough about just what an essential trait that is in a comedian.
I know I myself have been guilty of doing comedy solely for me and not really considering the whole point of stand-up is to build those unique temporary connections with an audience and bring them along with you through joy, sometimes thought-provoking ideas, and shared historical trauma, but ultimately joy. Pope really nails that, delivering a tight set full of delightfully absurd comic ideas, deeply personal stories, and stories from his care home days which are as heart-warming as they are heart breaking and as they are hysterical.
Pope is just one of those speakers that speaks with such timidness yet confidence, that he keeps the attention of everyone but absolutely has no intimidation or sense that he is in any way superior to anyone else in the room. This entire line-up was like that, but I don’t think anyone embodies it the way Pope does – in some ways like the best substitute teacher you ever had and wish could take over from the teacher who seemed to irrationally hate you, your entire class, and indeed everyone who has ever been a child – and who you have to stop yourself giving a standing ovation to every time he covers your class.
Pope has had an intense and fascinating life, has the temperament of someone who has no other desire than to make good and joy in the world, and whose overwhelming sense of heart is something we can all learn from.
Wrapped in all of that is a fantastic pro comic in content and delivery, making him one of the greatest performers and speakers of all time full stop, let alone comedy.
Pope applied to open for our show right at the beginning of our life in 2019, and through many unfortunate setbacks we finally got him on, and it was definitely worth the wait. Even just writing about it now gives me a lovely warm feeling inside, and I’m very glad we got to share that with everyone we did, even if the audience size was more modest than usual.
If you missed the show, you can catch the recording on Twitch.tv/blizzardcomedy from Monday 15th May-Sunday 28th May, and if you want to book tickets to see Hannah Platt come back for her Edinburgh preview along with another Blizzard Favourite Cerys Bradley – you can do so here: https://outsavvy.com/event/13043/blizzard-comedy-presents-previews-by-hannah-platt-and-cerys-bradley
