Tag: comedy

Alfred & Marc: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

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We were at the Baxter last night to see the Alfred & Marc comedy show:

Popular SA comedians Alfred Adriaan and Marc Lottering join forces to bring you their best material as performed over the last few years. Both comics have been packing out theatres locally and abroad, and their respective fans can expect to be treated to two hours of sheer hilarity.

And it was very good fun. So you should know that they were very happy to announce to us that they have extended the run until the 11th January next year.

As ever, I’m all about complete honesty in my reviews of things and stuff, so I’ve compiled the best bits, the ok bits and the could-do-better bits of the evening into a quick three-way guide, inspired by a Western movie from the mid-1960s.

The Good

The Show. It was really funny. Sure, I know that I wasn’t absolutely the target demographic, but I still enjoyed it. And the house was PACKED with a lot of people (who mainly were the target demographic) having a great time, which, with all the crap going on in the world (including while we were in there), was just really heartwarming.

We’d seen some of Marc Lottering’s act before at his show in Camps Bay back in October (we’d been warned that this was a repeat of past material see the blurb above), but there was plenty of fresh stuff and plenty of comment on current affairs as well.
Alfred Adriaan was new to me, but his refreshing honesty and clever observational comedy on SA and relationships was very funny and very… well… relatable, despite our rather different backgrounds (the similarity between all of us actually being one of the points he made throughout his act).

It was all hugely energetic and really enjoyable.

Add to that the very nice food in the foyer – thank you, Prashad Cafe – the availability of Castle Milk Stout at the bar (YES BOYS!), and the early 90s dance soundtrack on the way in, and I was already in a good mood before I even saw anyone on stage.

The Bad

“Bad”? This seems harsh, in the same way that not describing “The Good” as “Great” seems harsh, but then I didn’t name the cowboy movie, did I?

So ok: not “Bad”, but just… “not Great”.

It was a bit long.

(That’s what she said) (sorry)

Maybe a bit of a personal thing, because my Afrikaans isn’t all that it could be (number of Afrikaans lessons I’ve ever been in = zero), but it was hard work trying to pick up all the very fast, very regular Afrikaans asides and punchlines. Remembering that they well delivered in full Coloured dialect as well.

That said, I reckon that I got nearly all of Lottering’s stuff, and probably about 80% of Adriaan’s. But man, into the second half I was tired, and I was losing concentration and – yikes – maybe a bit of enjoyment with it. 2 hours (plus a 20 minute interval) was really more than enough. Absolutely no disrespect to the comedians, because they kept going and going full pelt, but I was struggling to keep up by the end.

And honestly, I don’t think most of the rest of the audience had the same issue.

The Ugly

If “The Good” should have been “Great” and “The Bad” was better described as just “Not Great”, then this is still “Really Ugly”.

The seats in the Baxter Concert Hall. Who decided on them?

SO DAMN UNCOMFORTABLE.

Cramped front to back and side to side. Once you’d been in there for a hour, you were broken.
And then you had to go back and do another hour.

Thank goodness for the naughty humour – which hasn’t rubbed off on me (careful now) – at all.

Nowhere to put your legs, your knees around the ears of the guy in front of you (stop it), and just really distracting and off-putting. I woke up so stiff this morning (no) because of it. How bad was it? Well, when looking at future performances, I’d seriously consider not going for a long one (oi) if I found out that it was in that auditorium.

Very disappointing.

BUT… that was really the only downside of a really good evening, and so if these guys are your thing (and it’s not like their style will be unknown to you, is it?), then you should go along and have a good laugh.

Just maybe book a yoga class for the next morning, so you can really stretch it out (ooer!).

Rocket Science (2)

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“Rocket Science. It’s not Brain Surgery. But that’s for another post.” I recently blogged.

Congratulations: you’ve found that post.

And here’s the video which I am reminded of each and every time either of those two career options is mentioned – especially when someone is belittling  – or attempting to belittle – some achievement or other.

Comic genius. I am very surprised I haven’t shared this on here before.

Anyway. It speaks for itself, I feel. Which means I don’t have to speak for it.

See you again tomorrow.

A single baked potato

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Busy day today, so here’s a bit of light relief. It’s Welsh comedian Rhod Gilbert trying to buy a single baked potato.
And it’s proving harder than he thought.

[dailymotion id=x2nt6bp]

Apologies for the quality of the image. I do recognise that it’s not great.
Still, it’s more the narration that you’re after. Give yourself a few minutes and chill out with a few laughs.

It’ll do you good.

Ableist humour

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I was sent this joke by an acquaintance, who is an amputee.

I saw my mate Charlie this morning, he’s only got one arm, bless him.
I shouted, “Where you off to, Charlie?”
He said, “I’m off to change a light bulb.”
Well, I just cracked up – couldn’t stop laughing. “That’s gonna be a bit awkward, innit?”
“Not really,” he said, “I still have the receipt, you insensitive bastard.”

Yes, it’s mildly offensive, I guess, especially in this age of overt political correctness and eggshell tiptoe-age. But then there’s the point that it pokes fun at the assumptions of the apparently ableist joke teller. There’s a lesson in there, I think.

And then add the fact that it was sent from someone who has a similar disability – albeit that he is missing a bit of leg, rather than an arm. Does that make it more acceptable? Is he ‘allowed’ to tell it, but me, not?
It’s an interesting question

I remember once going to the Jongleurs Comedy Club in Oxford. One of the acts that evening was a guy in a wheelchair. He had to be lifted onto the stage. Once there, he began his set with a plethora of jokes about people in wheelchairs. It was initially awkward, and then it was very, very funny. You could almost watch the crowd thinking, “Wow. That’s a bit harsh. But then… hey – if he’s in a wheelchair and he thinks it’s funny, why shouldn’t we laugh at it too?”
And then, suddenly, he told a joke about a blind football team, and it immediately all went very awkward again. But he was completely prepared for it. I recall him using the audience’s discomfort as if he’d just done some sort of social experiment – that it was ok for him to ridicule those with the same disability as him, but that he had seemingly crossed a line when he joked about a different affliction. He was absolutely right in his observations of our reaction.

It speaks volumes to me that it’s those aspects of the evening that I remember, rather than the actual jokes – although I do seem to remember that they were funny and it was an enjoyable night out.

Obviously, I hope that I never lose an arm like Charlie, nor the use of my legs like the comedian. But if I ever did, I’d like to think that I’d somehow still be able to appreciate this sort of humour.

As for the lightbulb joke above – I think it’s very amusing.

Moone Boy

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I found Moone Boy on one (or more) of my trips to the UK this year. Not strictly in the UK, but on the Emirates flights there, and, quite possibly, back. It’s Irish, it’s original and it’s really funny. Not Emirates. Emirates is Emirati, works to a mildly innovative, but otherwise unremarkable basic international carrier business plan and is less amusing.
No, it’s Moone Boy which is Irish, original and really funny. And rather surreal in parts. I’m going to stick my neck out here and suggest that it might even be this generation’s Father Ted. Yes. It’s that good.

Here’s Martin starting “big school”:

Chris O’Dowd plays the imaginary friend of Martin Moone. No-one can see or hear him apart from Martin (this elaboration just in case you weren’t aware of how imaginary friends work), and – through the magic of TV – the viewers. It’s a semi-autobiographical account of O’Dowd’s own childhood in late 1980’s Ireland. It has the infamous Sultans Of Ping FC 1993 track Where’s Me Jumper as the theme music and it’s properly amusing.

So – why am I telling you this? Well, because it’s coming to SA next month. With DSTV having revised and improved its BBC offerings with the addition of BBC First (featuring programmes like Doctor Who and the latest drama from Benedict Thunderbeagle), there’s more space for other stuff on BBC Entertainment, which is now BBC Brit and will feature this… er… Irish comedy.

If you have a vaguely twisted sense of humour, and you’re willing to give it a couple of half hour episodes to learn a little more about the characters (and yes, I’m aware that people on long haul flights in and out of Dubai have considerably more spare time at their immediate disposal), you’re going to really enjoy this.

It starts next week. Please give it a go.