Comedy: Funny Bones

The hard work that’s gone in to make comedy so ‘effortless’…

Years ago someone told me; “A dirty mind is a joy forever.” I would like to subvert that to simply,
“A funny mind is a joy forever.” Anyone who has ever seen a top comedian’s work-in-progress will know the marvel that is a funny and well-toned mind feeling their way to the gags, and the delight at the discovery of a brand new funny – most especially in a place they never thought to find it. Some people are blessed that every show has them seemingly stumbling upon comedy gold as frequently as those who first started the myth that London’s streets were made of the shiny stuff. Those shows are just magic bubbles in time where the imagination is unleashed, and are not to be missed. One’s coming to town this weekend.

Ross Noble is great. The title of his show says it all – ‘Tangentleman’. With a loose idea of where he’s going thematically at the start of the night, and a willingness to abandon the map completely should another more interesting adventure present itself, the natural creativity and bare loopiness is a joy to behold. And he’s not alone with this gift.

April sees the marvellous Dylan Moran come to town who, upon a previous visit, had me in hysterics when his random ambling gait saw him hit with a sudden realisation that his feet had been slipping slowly apart sideways with the weight of his body and his torso had fallen so low he was going to have difficulty righting himself. A total tangent that simply presented itself and took over a good 20 minutes of show time.

Dara O’Briain (playing at Eastbourne’s Congress Theatre in May) also gives the impression at his live shows that everything he’s serving up is coming straight from you, as he banters with the audience and reacts directly to them.

Comedian Dan Antopolski once told me about the exercising of the comedy muscle. It’s something every professional comedian works on and sharpens. If you don’t write and perform regularly it gets saggy from lack of use, but a truly toned comedy muscle sees the punchlines wherever they might present themselves and acts accordingly. This is why truly good comperes, like Krater’s Stephen Grant, are so compelling. There is that danger that anything can happen and still be made funny, still be a part of the show. And it can. Because a good comedy brain can see it.

So, in conclusion, if you want to see magic in words and free your mind with laughter, there are some great shows to go and see to do just that. There’s a reason some people are said to be at the top of their game. These are the comedy marathon runners.

Ross Noble – Tangentleman, Concert Hall, Brighton Dome, 31 January & 1 February 2015, 8pm, £26, brightondome.org

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