The Roundhouse, Chalk Farm Road, Chalk Farm, London NW1 8EH
Reviewed by Alec Legge
4****
The Roundhouse comedy festival started with a bang on Wednesday, 5th August 2023, with a Gala performance and runs until Wednesday 23 Aug 2023.
The MC, Kiri Pritchard McLean, opened the proceedings appearing in an amazing silver metallic floor length dress which immediately caught the eye as it shone and reflected all the lights/ A vision indeed! She then went into a routine involving the audience with plenty of humour. An amazing lady. She very ably MC’d the whole show giving a few minutes of stand up before introducing each act. Very funny
After her routine she introduced the first act, Rhys James, who gave a great performance based on people taking a cold shower in the mornings on the advice of a life coach guru and also bringing in life as a +30 year old. He also bemoaned the fact that he has the same name as a famous footballer. Very funny!
Next came Jordan Gray and what an outstanding performance she gave! She was tall with very long legs and she capered and moved around the stage at a speed to take your breath away, She is also obviously a talented musician / singer playing a keyboard and singing songs she has written. She was also extremely funny, a lot of which was directed at her own situation as a transgender. An amazing and hilarious act from an extremely entertaining and talented performer!
Amy Gledhill was next and she in turn was hilarious, She was a native of Hull and firstly her material was based on the Hull accent. Her tour de force though was a description of a third date with a tall man with big feet! Her description of a woman wondering about the size of the man’s appendage was side splitting, which was followed by a description of what happened when a man pulled his clothing down, backed up with descriptive actions was simply bawdily uproarious. Again a very talented comedian,
The following performer was Lolly Adefope. What a clever funny and intelligent act! She based it around what was supposed to be a novel she had written and read extracts from it which were extremely funny. Lolly again has tremendous talent. A co star once praised her when describing her acting for ‘how much she can convey with just the slightest movement of her eyes’ I agree wholeheartedly/
Then last but certainly not least Rose Matefeo, a brilliant performer from New Zealand. Rose gave a sterling and funny performance which the audience appreciated no end. Some of her observations and jokes about relationships were really funny. Another very talented lady.
All the above performers are well known and together the made for a funny and very entertaining evening. If the rest of the Roundhouse Festival of Comedy is as good as this night then it surely will be a hit with fans of stand up.
The Roundhouse as it’s name suggests is a circular auditorium which seats 750 people with the stage on one side. Unfortunately the stalls consist of removable seats which myself and my companion found uncomfortable. Apart from this the venue is an amazing space to visit with bars on all levels and access for the disabled.