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This is a premise that should be adopted far and wide and shakes up the moves of comics well practised in the art of delivering their own set. Roger Monkhouse, Markus Birdman, Dan Nightingale and Stephen Grant ducked on and off the stage, exchanging positions and cherry-picking from their vast orchards of comedic gold. As well as living off their wits they found themselves marooned in the spotlight.
Taking established comics with more talent than ego and each with differing styles pays the dividends of a cracking night out. Well done Stephen Grant for succeeding in this popular monthly experiment.
Komedia, 8 January
5/5
Victoria Nangle

Having an audience with Glastonbury festival organiser, Michael Eavis is a bit like having a boisterous child on your hands: the kidology, the infectious laughter and all the stories locked up in that shiny noggin. From Bowie to Bolan, we zoom through the early years stopping only briefly with the mid-80s convoys and questions you’d expect from Brighton hippie-dom “Did the arrival of police on the site spoil things?” “Not at all, much better now.” “Did you see Kings of Leon, weren’t they brilliant?”
And he hits back at the corporatisation carp saying he eschews the sponsorship-millions offered and still gives £2million to charity each year. On before, ex-Shameless actress Maxine Peake proved a refreshing and guileless entrée.
Latest MusicBar, 6 January
3/5
Jan Goodey

The Goonies in seven seconds, the president, the first lady and a dog heading into space. If you have not experienced improvised comedy then I would seriously suggest you do so soon, and there is no better place than the Brunswick.
It is almost impossible to describe the sheer joy of watching a group that perform so well together, so I won’t even try. I’ll simply say that Off The Cuff is improv at its best, and you are guaranteed never to see the same show twice!
The Brunswick, 7 January
4/5
Robert Marsh

Victoria Nangle looks at how jokes belong to the comedian’s soul and how you might remember them

There was a point, about a year or so ago, when I just knew I’d watched loads of live comedy. Chiefly because it was my first instance of recognising someone’s material before I recognised them. Let me explain.
A lovely lady comedian from London contacted me asking about guesting on the radio show I used to have on Radio Reverb. I’d get loads of comics on if I could and was happy to oblige, but our schedules clashed and it never happened. So when I found out she was playing at the Komedia I made a concerted effort to go along and see her. My friends who had seen her act were raving about it; I was looking forward to seeing it – we were all set. And then she stepped out on stage.
She was good, don’t get me wrong, but it took me a good five minutes of her material déjå vuing around my brain like a ping pong ball in a small space before I realised I’d seen her show before. In fact I’d seen an entire hour-long show from her six months previously and written up a review on the show. It wasn’t forgettable. It was just that the material rang a bell with me more than the name or the face.
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