May Comedy Night

May's night was long anticipated by the Fox Crew. MC Alan had been sweating on getting one particular comedian for a good while now and had actually booked him a couple of times only to have circumstances conspire against him. Well finally we were going to see the legend that Alan had built up for us - Ian Cognito. The danger with building someone up like this is that invariably you get a slight sense of disappointment when they actually appear and you wonder what the fuss was about. Did this happen at the May Comedy Night? Well, first things first.

We were treated first to the perfect warm-up act in the shape of Ray Kane who looks like Alexander Litvinyenko or Jade Goody at the end (as he gleefully informed us). Ray's quips were top notch and he had a great little song where he accompanied himself on guitar. He also had a novel piece involving losing his head and replacing it with a balloon. Really. Ray went down very well and if you get the chance to see him do so. His website contains details of upcoming gigs.

The moment of truth arrived - Alan's second set of the night. No, of course I mean Ian Cognito. He had been described as unpredictable and volatile amongst other things. Well, we got a bit of everything from Ian, all of which had one thing in common - belly-laugh funny. My sides were literally aching like they haven't done for a long time. He's been described as iconoclastic and that is an accurate epithet. He's never going to be a TV star with his approach and material (he asked us to look out for homeless people in winter - it's easy to trip over them in the snow) but as a stand-up he is peerless. Never politically correct but not sexist or racist either he is a true maverick. The time flew by without a pause it seemed and the audience lapped it all up. I would absolutely love to see him at The Fox again soon. For once I would agree with the Evening Standard, which said "After half an hour in his company all other comedians begin to seem like people in public relations."

Check Ian's website.

Alan - it's not said very often so it needs capitals:

"YOU WERE RIGHT!"







The Fox

(Photos will follow once Stu pulls his finger out!)