Absolute Beginners, Beehive Inn

Published on Tuesday 21 April 2009 09:44

Absolute Beginners *** Beehive Inn FIGHTING the pull of a rare balmy night in Edinburgh, The Beehive's comedy showcase started about 15 minutes late, but when it finally did get off the ground the audience were treated to a nice pick-and-mix selection of the new, the very new, and the experienced of the comedy scene.

The MC for the proceedings was the fresh-faced and energetic Iain Stirling who did his ringmaster's job with aplomb, keeping the energy going and the crowd upbeat. The only pity being they never got to see his own act.

First up on the night's rota was Tommy McKay, a silver-haired comedy troubadour of the Mitch Benn School, who gave the crowd three tunes – the highlight being his scabrous and witty banker's medley.

Twenty-year-old Hannah Sharp performed her first ever five minutes and it was a genuinely refreshing debut. A surreal ramble, it was received with both bemusement and laughter. If she can stretch her performance over a longer time frame, she will make a welcome contrast to the plethora of joke-smiths on the circuit.

Whilst the room was still pondering what it had just seen, Glaswegian Tony Hilton came on to break the spell. Rude, crude and decidedly near the knuckle, his act sometimes misfired, but he had the material to turn it around.

Jeff O'Boyle, a nervy kinetic Irish comic, ended part one of the evening's entertainment. He was at his best when brilliantly dealing with a group of hecklers and if the same confidence had shown in his written material he would have a much stronger act.

First on after the break was Danny Huntley. An angry spittle-flecked comic full of rage, he grabbed the audience by its collective throat and shook the laughs out of them.

The Sahara-dry Daniel Webster had the task of following on and made a good stab at it. His intelligent one-liners and occasionally groan-worthy punning was well received, even if some of his gags probably didn't click in until the crowd were on the bus home.

Gus Lymburn came on strong, but couldn't sustain it and despite great delivery and timing, he lacked material to match. His final bizarre striptease seemed too much the act of a desperate man.

After a final short break came the headliner of the evening, Marcus Ryan. The Australian comic came with a well-honed act treading familiar comedy ground – relationships, air travel, cultural differences, etc. There might have been nothing spectacularly original in his set, but it was good, solid, funny stuff delivered with a great deal of personality.

Showcases like these are a gamble but a necessity to get new blood into the business. Fortunately, for the most part this gamble paid off. There was a lot of potential on display here and if the weather gets back to its Scottish norm, there should be no difficulty in getting the audiences to match.