Midweek Comedy Cabaret, The Stand

Published on Wednesday 29 April 2009 09:53

Midweek Comedy Cabaret *** The Stand A RISQUE mix of sex, swine-flue and sheep – or at least allusions to the unlikely trio – were shepherded across the Stand's stage last night as the early trigger points for laughter at the club's Midweek Comedy Cabaret.

Also shepherded across stage – but with less laughter – was the night's headliner. Jim Muir's comic character creation, the Reverend Obadiah Steppenwolfe III, is usually a dead cert for plenty of that illusive comedy gold.

Not so last night. Maybe Muir's recent run-in with a bunch of politically correct students at Stirling has tempered his act, but there was no sign of the blustering, blistering performance usually associated with the Reverend.

And so to sex – always a good standby for grabbing your audience's attention. So it was only to be expected that a pack of comedians which included a few red raw graduates would have plenty.

It is also a staple to Susan Morrison's routine as compere and warm-up. She brings just the right level of confrontation and good humour to the stage: playing off different couples in the audience, taking the innuendo a shade beyond the comfort zone – before bringing it back into friendly territory.

As a gifted comedian, of course she's woven a few swine-flue references into her set. After all, this was at least 36 hours since it first hit the news.

The joy of seeing Morrison in the supposed supporting role of holding a night together is that she keeps on coming back. And on last night's bill, while she never grabbed the limelight, she was always generous in her creation of a positive vibe for the main acts. It was they who provided the punctuation to her material.

Alan Sharp was the large-bellied bloke from the West Country behind the first flock of sheep. Much to the bemusement of a largely local crowd for whom such references are usually reserved for those from Aberdeenshire. An object lesson of a comedian not doing his homework.

Keeping it surreal, and very much in the deadpan, mannered storytelling mode of Ivor Cutler, Martin McAllister took things well beyond the brink. He too had sheep – in New Zealand this time – but also has the ability to conjure up an image in his audience's mind.

An image that is both self-effacing and almost overwhelmingly vulgar.

Glaswegian Rab Brown has a similar ability, this time with a much more rounded delivery. His descriptions of Hen parties in fire engines were observed with a mixture of bitterness and repulsed fascination, while he also took his audience into the dark recesses of Glasgow's more exotic nightclubs.

Which left the Reverend Obadiah Steppenwolfe III to round the evening off. Fortunately, Susan Morrison was on hand to make sure the audience had the last laughs.

Run ended