York Theatre Royal – Thursday 5th October 2023
Reviewed by Michelle Richardson
4****
On Thursday night I had a welcomed trip out to the wonderful York Theatre Royal. It’s been a few months since my last trip to the theatre, and I’ve certainly missed it. A Night at the Theatre was brought to us by Fingers & Fringe, a night of comedy, seven acts, and compere.
New Zealand native Jarred Christmas, seriously love the name, hosted and compered the evening. He was an excellent host, embracing his role with his enthusiasm and energy. Christmas had a generous amount of stage time and had us all laughing with his tales. His interactions with the audience were priceless, hint don’t get up and go to the loo for your partner to say she’s going for a poo, makes great comedy. The skit about his name was quite hilarious, especially loved the rapper interpretation and the subsequent rap. In fact, I think he should now be known as Jarreeed Christmas. He really was a generous and infectious host.
The first act of the night was Jake Lambert. My first thought was how young? Showing my age there. I have since found out he is a lot older than he looks, though still a damn sight younger than me. I found his comedy really refreshing, with his tales about visiting an old university friend in Houston Texas. He was extremely likeable and a fabulous storyteller. One of my favourites from the evening’s entertainment.
Abi Clarke, a Tik Tok star, whose comedy was bang up to date and relatable, with references to the all-important self-image. Her tales of finally moving out of her parent’s house was something we could all identify with, or for some of the audience, something they could wish for.
The final act of the first segment was Hull comic Jack Gleadow. He has a great energy, a physical comic with such a likeable quality about him. Using music and singing, with reference to ELO, formed eons before he was even thought of, he really hit the mark. With his suit and tie and I suppose maybe a slightly more traditional flavour, you could just imagine him at the Royal Variety Show. This is not a bad thing. He was a true crowd pleaser and along with Jake, my favourite of the night.
Laura Lexx followed the break. A pocket rocket, striding across the stage. She is from Brighton, and as she likes to tell us, she is not a lesbian, even with her half-shaved head. Her stories about chub rub and love handles were truly hilarious.
Michael Akadiri is not only a comic but also a junior doctor. He has a natural charm and was full of great anecdotes. I must admit that that topic about prostate and how you can check for problems had a lot of us squirming in our seats, but the catch phase was extremely catchy and the message powerful.
Huge Davies was the final act of the second segment. Along with his strapped-on keyboard, his comedy very dry and deadpan. His take on how different radio stations cover the news was hilarious and then the story to his wife about a stag do, ended with a huge punchline. Though he was extremely po-faced we did see a smile sneak out once or twice.
After another interval, which could have been skipped, Clinton Baptiste hits the stage with his blond wig and tight white and silver suit. He’s a comedy psychic, with a piecing high pitched voice, who was so good at creating a laugh. He first made a brief appearance on Phoenix Nights, a television show I’ve never seen, but a fair few of the audience obviously had. His take on communicating with the spirits to get through to different members of the audience, was spot on, totally living up to the stereotype. We must have heard every name possible to finally get to Mark. Very funny.
Following Live at the Apollo model, the acts only had about 15 minutes of stage time, bar Christmas and Baptiste. Christmas was the perfect host and all the comedians truly shone in their own way. It is a show catering for different tastes, and I’m sure my favourites of the night, Jake and Jack, would be different to others. Maybe a bit too long at 3 hours 15 minutes, 30 minutes longer than expected, but this did include a couple of intervals.
I wouldn’t hesitate in going to another show following the same format. A night of fun and laughter, with a fabulous opportunity to see some fresh new talent.