REVIEW: Liverpool Theatre Festival - Laughterhouse Comedy

 

It's back! The delightful Liverpool Theatre Festival. It was first staged in September 2020 to boost the city's live performance and creative arts sectors post-pandemic and to address the devastation caused to the industry as a result of Covid-19.

The festival is based once again at the exquisite St Luke's Bombed out church and runs from Wednesday 31st August until 11th September. This year's festival is dedicated to the memory of baby Michael James who would have been celebrating his 21st birthday this September. Liverpool-based children's charity KIND are this year's official charity partner and there are opportunities to donate to this worthy cause at each performance, with donation bucket collections being available.

Having attended The Little Liverpool Theatre Festival back in May and thoroughly enjoying it, I eagerly awaited this year's September offering. Friday night was my first return visit to the bombed out church which was illuminated in pink lighting ready for the evening performance by Laughterhouse comedy. There had been an earlier show at 6pm. Hosted by Chris Cairns, three comedians graced the stage and shared jokes and anecdotes that abundantly tickled the crowds funny bones. Laughterhouse comedy is the longest running comedy club in Liverpool and has been entertaining audiences for the past 14 years.  This was the company's third appearance at LTF.

The running order was:

Tom Wrigglesworth

Duncan Oakley

Mick Miller

Host and compere Chris Cairns was brilliant with his quick wit, spontaneity and ability to read the 'room with no roof', responding with witty retort in a heartbeat. Stand-up is such a difficult art to master and receiving feedback from the audience is vital as a gauge to see whether the jokes land and the desired level of hilarity ensues. Being first on the line-up must undoubtedly be difficult. Sheffield's own Tom Wrigglesworth sought favour with the 8:30 crowd by praising their age. He explained that the people who attended the earlier show were so old that they were a part of the Saga holidays contingent and were indeed the original roofers of the now roofless bombed out church. Hilarious. He got off to a great start and endeavoured effortlessly to get the audience on side. He mused that the audience to his left were winning at the interactive stakes as they provided much needed laughs and responses to his jokes. The audience on the right hand side however had clearly left their capacity to laugh at home. I was on said side and smiled at the jibe. What's stand up without being picked out? Tom shared jokes on various subjects from gender reveals to the weirdness of twins. I enjoyed Tom's delivery and how he related the jokes back to his life experience. His regional references were both educational and comedic. His parting words to the audience were "I do hope one of the other comedians is to your taste". It was a hard job opening the proceedings. You did a grand job Tom.

Next up was Duncan Oakley  He was a cheeky Chappy who hailed from the South. His set was a magnanimous mix of musical comedy fused with stand-up. From the moment he arrived on stage, mischief was on his mind and the audience warmed quickly to his crudity and dark humour. Joking that he had a man and woman in the boot of his car, Duncan went from the ridiculous to the sublime and enamoured his audience with his fast-paced gags which accompanied by solos on his trusted guitar and two harmonicas had the crowd in rapturous fits of laughter. I loved the physicality of his performance. Despite being sat near the back, I could see his hilarious facial expressions and feel his energy. He said that he'd been playing guitar since 1985 and his fingers really hurt! He is skilled as a musician and singer and these talents contributed to him successfully wowing the audience. The favourite part of the set for me was when he sang on a song called "Down there" and managed to get the audience to acquiesce and perform backing vocals for him, with matching facial expressions. It was comedy gold.

Last but not least and indeed the headline act was Mick Miller, familiar face, Dingle's finest and legend on the comedy circuit. Having been on the comedy scene for many years and won his heat on the 1970's show "New Faces". He is a face from my childhood, so it was great to finally see him live. His gags were quick-fire and hilarious. His jokes weren't overly crude which made them even better in my opinion. His observation on life situations and the way he performs situational comedy are skilled and its a testament to the longevity he has enjoyed in the industry. I absolutely loved his set and it was a perfect end to a hilarious evening. Congratulations to Bill Elms and team for such an incredible show. 

There are plenty of shows being performed for the remainder of the festival. Do yourself a favour and get booking. Tickets are available here.

PR Rating 10/10