Blizzard Comedy is back!
It hadn’t gone anywhere, but I’m running out of ways to start these write ups, and that felt natural.
Our first show post preview season was a fun one, as always, with a modestly full room and a delightfully stacked line-up.
Opening the show we had Tony Basnett, a comic I’ve long looked up to since first seeing Trapdoor comedy like 8 years ago. Tony is a naturally funny man with a real sharp wit and an expert grasp of crafting anecdotes in a comedy setting. Every section, whether he’s talking about his previous jobs in call centres or dicking about in Ikea has a superbly polished arc and hits all the beats that the greatest storytellers do.
Tony is the kind of comic who you just naturally bond with as you listen to him, and you’re bound to have a great time whatever he decides to talk about on any given day.
Next, we had a first timer to Blizzard Emer McGinnity – who had the audience in the palm of their hand before they’d even uttered their first word (on stage that is, I’m fairly confident they had spoken at some point before the beginning of their set).
Emer had a deadpan delivery style full of whimsy and cutting punchlines. I don’t want to fall into the stereotype of comparing the Irish comic to Dylan Moran, but if you are a fan of his work, you will absolutely adore Emer. Think the comic stylings of Moran with the delivery of a Milton Jones.
That being said, halfway through the set they completely switch gears with a musical number about a bus no one in the room would have even heard of let alone ever gotten on, so really Emer is a comic enigma with no equal, and I’d be very surprised if big things aren’t coming their way soon.
Next, we had Kieran Lawless, who’s been one of my favourite acts to work with on our livestreams ever since his first appearance in January of last year. It was a delight to finally get him on our live stage, and boy he did not disappoint.
Kieran is kind of manic but in an accessible friendly way and brings an energy of pure joy to his sets no matter the content. From deconstructing the culture and conversation around blowjobs to revelling in self-depreciative humour, Kieran manages to combine some of the worst parts of typical cishet male stand-up and actually give it a unique spin and make it all work to this room of degenerate queer leftists.
Kieran is the kind of act that can smash whatever room he’s in, and I’m still crying from his punchlines a week later. A phenomenal talent and absolute asset to the local scene.
Closing the show, another favourite from our livestreams, Laura Monmoth. Laura is an act who absolutely thrived during the transition to virtual shows and livestreams over Covid and beyond. In fact, she is much more active there than on stage as of late, but she still puts on an absolutely incredible live show.
Laura’s talent for livestream and visual PowerPoint based comedy is second to none, with 400+ slides of the musings, experiences, dated references and incredible visual gags, half an hour with Laura has the audience absolutely falling about, laughing out loud, some of them even may have lost their asses in the process due to how hard they were laughing.
A true clown, Laura appears to be having so much fun on stage with silly smutty gags, rickrolling, and a masterpiece of Facebook karaoke to iconic rock and pop hits of the last half a century. Laura’s is an act that has to be seen to be believed and seen again once you do believe it because it is just that slick, chaotic and hysterical. This is an experience you can’t get anywhere else, and whether you’re tuning into her obnoxiously hard speedruns, showcase of the worst retro games micro computers had to offer, or seeing her live on stage, Laura is an entertainer who you never want to miss.
A very good start to a new season of Blizzard Comedy live shows, and not even the last one of the month! Book your tickets to our free pride show fundraiser for Sparkle on the 24th here: https://www.outsavvy.com/organiser/blizzard-comedy
And tune in to Twitch.tv/blizzardcomedy to watch this show on the 21st of August, right up until the end of the month, and catch all the other wonderful things we sometimes do online.
