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Comic Boom at Komedia really highlights some of the best in up and coming comics of today. Sometimes the content varied in terms of timing as well as subjects raised such as cancer, but despite this, the audience enjoyed every single comic who took to the stage. Even the compere Paul F Taylor kept everyone entertained once he got into the swing of his routine. The interaction with the audience was nicely handled by him, but he could also do with a bit more conviction behind his jokes in order to make them work.

Highlights of the evening included the zany, crazy and bubbly personality of Laura Lexx who kept everyone on their toes with her tales of being single and being from Devon, followed by the classy and mature take on life from comedy festival winner Shannon Sales, whilst the men comics tried to follow suit. Again highlights included the young enthusiasm on current topics from the opening routine of the evening by Nick Dent, and the fusion of English and Turkish culture sophistication from the wonderful Naz Osmanoglu.

But it was the deadpan comic genius of Ginger and Black which really made the evening. Their take on current topics as well as their own unique take on being children’s entertainers literally made everyone keel over in laughter.

Comic Boom was definitely worth seeing. Expect different comics every month.

Komedia, 24 November 2011
Rating:
Sascha Cooper

The incredible Moonbug is the result of photographer Steve Pyke’s 1998 journey to photograph the men who participated in the Apollo space mission. His intimate portraits reveal very real men who happened to be part of something that changed the world. Film-maker Nicola Bruce followed Pyke, commenting as much on the process of photography and capturing a moment in time as on the men who Pyke met. The combination is a fascinating piece of art and history. The film was followed by a question and answer session with Pyke and Bruce, enabling the audience to return to this journey thirteen years later.

Sallis Benney Theatre, 24 November 2011
Rating:
Laura Fernandez-Kayne

Even though their Tamer Animals album has been critically acclaimed and they have just bagged a very prestigious support slot with Radiohead on their US tour, the venue was little more than half full for the visit of the five-piece Americans. Very much in vogue with the current look of beards and hair (except the one female in the group!), the Other Lives otherwordly exploration of alt-indie is hard to pin down; there are the usual Beach Boys, Animal Collective and My Morning Jacket influences, alongside newer acts such as Fleet Foxes, but the structures of the songs are fairly unique, the sound an unlikely combination of rustic and orchestral – the piano largely providing the melody. Composer and singer Jesse Tabish has fashioned a meticulous sound that works well on stage, the band growing in confidence as the set went on, the audience enraptured by their enveloping sound.

Audio, 22 November 2011
Rating:
Jeff Hemmings

Vyvien. Eddie Hitler. A swan. Adrian Edmondson’s career involves trading blows or insults with Rik Mayall. But for this gig he wielded a mandolin rather than a rubberised frying pan and traded licks with a violinist and a man playing a sort of electric bagpipe. The Bad Shepherds play Eighties punk classics in a folk style. And they mesh surprisingly well; perhaps because punk was the folk song of the era, perhaps because the songs arrangements disguise the original until a key lyric or an important hook. There was some great banter between tunes with Ade bemoaning his broken foot, but this was the only hint of slapstick. Until the encore when Rik Mayall leapt onstage and hit him with a frying pan. Okay, that didn’t happen.

Komedia, 24 November 2011
Rating:
Jim Holland