Comedy comperes are meant to be unobtrusive, there to heat up the crowd and hype up the talent, not upstage it. The rule book flies away though when Daniel Kitson is MC, as was the case at last night’s fundraiser for radio station Resonance FM.
Most guests were good but the award-winning Yorkshireman made the mightiest impact.
Opener Terry Saunders was so subdued that he was barely there.
His anecdote about temporarily retiring from comedy maybe explained why he seemed amiably rusty. Nathan Penlington’s tantalising tale of discovering a stranger’s diary full of references to bullying, skiving and unrequited love required a better pay-off. Tony Law’s enjoyable surrealism has always reminded me of Harry Hill and his impressive new beard does not quite change that.
Kitson’s improvised contributions, self-deprecating yet arrogant, underlined his verbal versatility. He effortlessly teased the audience, taunted fellow acts and boasted about his new pool table while bemoaning his existential loneliness.
Only Stewart Lee was a match. Lee was testing material for his new show so it would be unfair to review him now. Needless to say he looks like remaining in stand-up’s Premiership. Kitson, however, remains in a league of his own.
A D Ward, Twitter
A D Ward, Twitter
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BBC iPlayer edition of discussion of Stewart Lee on A Good Read
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Aaron, comedy.co.uk
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Lenny Darksphere, Twitter
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Dominic Cavendish, Daily Telegraph
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Birmingham Sunday Mercury