Capital comedy club celebrated its 7th birthday last Sunday. Seven years on and the club has a loyal following, that much was evident in at least two things throughout the night.
Simon O’Keeffe is the regular MC for the night and was of course there on Sunday. I am a fan of Simon’s but on Sunday night, surrounded by his own regular crowd he came across as being very comfortable, maybe a bit too comfortable? Don’t get me wrong, the man is funny. But throughout the show he mentioned that he had a good few regulars in a few times and if it was my first time to the club and I was sitting in the audience I would have felt excluded.
Robbie Bonham
Robbie Bonham was on stage first. Robbie’s opening prop related jokes had the crowd instantly on his side. His ability to tell a story in such a way that makes your ribs hurt from laughing is in itself a fantastic skill. He almost looked angry throughout his set, though you know that deep down he is a happy person, or at least you like to think he is. The audience even got some compliments from him, I’m sure the fact that everyone loved him had nothing to do with this though…
John Colleary came second in the line-up. John is an extremely funny man and that’s even before he opens his mouth. His ability to mix pun-based jokes with storytelling is simply amazing. John has great stage presence and even when heckled is able to improvise and make it part of his set, a unique ability that most comedians do not possess. There are some things John has issues with, the ad campaign for losing weight for example, which he is not afraid to share with his audience.
The third act for the evening was advertised as Dave McSavage. The third part of the show came around and Simon came on stage, explaining that Dave had not turned up. What happened next was either idiotic or brilliant, depending on what camp you lie in. Simon proceeded to take his phone out and call out Dave’s number to the whole audience not once but four times, telling them to text him at the same time with a message saying something which I will not repeat. I must mention that Simon was being encouraged by a number of people in the audience and it was clear to see that this was not the first time this has happened. As I said, idiotic or brilliant, you decide. For me personally I lie in the idiotic camp.
To be fair to Simon, he had the missing acts problem sorted fairly quickly in the form of Neil Hickey who happened to pop in. Neil is a good comedian and to me it seems like he is still finding his feet. He is entertaining to watch on stage and he does seem to be relaxing each time I see him. Plus it was clear to see that he is working on his material and even had some new stuff tonight.
Totally Wired
We were also treated to the musical comedy act duo Totally Wired in place of Dave. The crowd loved them. They were very good and had fantastic stage presence. With crowd interaction for most of their songs, it felt like the audience was included which made the experience a better one for everyone. They also made the valid point that “Thousands of comedians die on their hole every night”, before being asked to return to the stage for one more song and then finishing with a family-friendly version of Wheels on the bus!
Overall it was a strange night at the Capital. I can see why it is a very successful club and is celebrating its 7th birthday. It was a packed out room tonight which is a testament that the capital does have a loyal fan base, I would imagine it will be around for at least another 7 years.
