Evening Out: Frankie Boyle Tour 2008

On 11 November, Stephen and I rushed out to the Beck Theatre in Hayes to see the magnificent Frankie Boyle do a live comedy show.

The Beck Theatre is in Hayes, Middelsex and it took us 75 minutes to dash over there after work!!

We're big fans of Frankie's and hence the obligatory ticket shot.

Waiting around before a show is always torture!!  Especially when you've been waiting for several months for the gig!

Unfortunately, once inside the concert venue itself, we were told that there was to be absolutely no photography or recording of the gig.  I hate that but totally respect it.  Frankie doesn't need people stealing his material!!

Photo courtesy of Telegraph.co.uk

You might recognise Frankie from television's Mock The Week and in fact, he is the second MTW performer we have seen perform live (the first being Andy Parsons back in September).

Martin Mor opened for Frankie and the guy was brilliant.  You know when you laugh so hard your side starts to hurt and you're afraid you might asphyxiate if you don't catch some air?  He was that funny.  Unfortunately for one man in the front row, he also lays heavily into the audience and that man did not come back after the intermission.  I'm sorry to say that I found it to be hilarious and you just need to know - never get front row seats for a gig like this.  Martin also started the risque jokes to a sharp intake of breath from the audience.  His reply was classic - "you do know where you are tonight, right?  This is a Frankie Boyle gig".  Brilliant.

Then the man himself came on.  Frankie is completely irreverent and absolutely nothing is off limits with him.  He pushes and pushes and when he finally pushed the audience into a hiss and a boo, he simply smiled to himself as if to say "result".  It is a long time since I've laughed so hard that I had tears running down my face and after the gig I had to lift my arms above my head to try relieve the cramping in my side.  The epitome of side-splitting humour indeed.  If you can see Frankie Boyle (and you have a tolerance for morally reprehensible humour) then get tickets and go see him.  You won't regret it!

Evening Out: Lee Evans Big Tour 2008 at O2 London

On 6 October, Stephen and I met at the London O2 straight after work because the night had finally come to see comedian Lee Evans in concert.  We had dinner at Tapa Tapa, a very friendly tapas restaurant with great service and excellent specials situated at the main entrance to the O2.

This was my second time inside the O2 arena.  My first visit was for the NME Shockwave Awards on 29 February 2008.  We saw many bands that night (I should post about it) but most of all we saw my beloved Klaxons.  On this occasion inside the O2, we were asked not to use cameras or recording equipment which is a real pity but I imagine that when a comedian stands for over three hours, the last thing he wants is to be disturbed by flash photography or the sight of 10,000 mobile phones cameras pointing at him.  Hence, I apologise for the quality of the photos on this post.

Lee Evans is awesome.  He is funny and irreverent and he makes you laugh so much that you cry.  He just shoots off joke after joke and moves completely seamlessly between topics.  This guy had three hours worth of comedy material and it is so surprise that he just reclaimed the title of "biggest comedy gig in UK" from Chris Rock.  In fact, I was lucky I got tickets last November as they sold out in under an hour.  I managed to succeed on the second try when they opened up more dates.

My favourite joke of the night was his parody of modern razors and the quest for the 'closer' shave.  Just stand closer to the %^&* razor???

I don't understand why Metro gave him only three stars but I do agree with the comments on that post.  He was absolutely brilliant and I would definitely see him again.

I like being surprised and I like having my views on the world expanded or challenged.  (I am also a Taurean born in the year of the Ox which means I am never wrong stubborn on occasion).  My biggest surprise of the evening was to see how vulnerable Evans seemed.  he is absolutely down to Earth and seemed surprised that we had all come out to see him.  Perhaps it is part of his act but I am certain his nervous laughter between jokes isn't all an act. 

Lee Evans' trademark at the end of his gigs is to sing.  I agree with one of the reviewers - shame on those that left early!  His songs aren't meant to be hilarious and I think these were great.  Evans broke a lot of records that night and I think he was absolutely on an adrenaline high.  He said that the songs were born out of a desire to say something, because he is in a position where he can say something.  They were political and called for social action but for once I did not feel preached at.  I felt Evans' exhilaration and I just... really enjoyed it.

As I have mentioned, his gig was really long and you really got your money's worth (tickets were £30).  Just at the end though, he said he had two minutes left and that he couldn't leave the stage without fulfilling a promise to a fan to do once last skit.  Lee Evans just gave the impression that he wanted to be on stage and that he was the one honoured to be performing for us, his audience.  Evan finished with his famous rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody, much to the glee and appreciation of the audience.  What a fantastic guy and a fantastic show.

Evening out: Ha Ha Restaurant and Covent Garden Comedy Club

Well, this entry is pretty late!  We went out on 30 August but then we moved house the next day and it has been two long weeks without proper Internet access.  I also kind of lost my camera in all the mess!  So our actual 10-year dating anniversary was the night we went to the Gourmet Burger Kitchen but the next night we were alone (at last!) as Chris and Michael went to see the St Helens vs Hull Rugby League final at Wembley. 

Stephen loves comedy so we decided that a comedy evening was required.

We started off the evening with dinner at Ha Ha Bar and Grill at 6 Villiers Street in WC2N.  Villiers Street is the street that runs between Embankment and Charing Cross Stations. 

The meal was superb and the service was excellent.  They have a special where you get 25% off your main meals if you show them your stamp to the Covent Garden Comedy Club.  We hadn't stamped in yet but the waitress checked our ticket and gave us the discount anyway.  For starters, two main courses, wine for Stephen and water for me the bill came to £34.  The bill definitely came to less than we were expecting.

We decided to go for a walk after our meal to digest our food.  I took Stephen on a little walk North-East to show him the house where JM Barrie wrote Peter Pan.  This is actual my company's head office and Stephen had never seen it before.  It is really amazing, because Peter Pan was one of my favourite childhood stories (and certainly my favourite pantomime) and it is just amazing to stand in the very room that belonged to James Barrie.  Anyway, on this evening the building was closed but we still got to see the outside.

Barrie's room was at the very top, far corner of the picture.  At the near side, the purple plaque shows that this is a place of interest and it reads:

London Country Council
Robert Adam
Thomas Hood
John Galsworthy
Sir James Barrie
and other eminent artists
and writers lived here

Next we took a walk down into the Victoria Embankment Gardens to see where the old York Water Gate is. I think this is an amazing piece of London history. The river used to flow right up to this gate so the wealthy inhabitants of the mansions could have direct access to the river Thames. With the construction of the Thames Embankment, however, the river bank moved 150 yards out and the York Water Gate now stands inside the Victoria Embankment Gardens.

Finally, it was time to go to Covent Garden Comedy Club for our comedy evening.  Of course, the comedy club is nowhere near Covent Garden and is in fact located in Heaven nightclub in the Arches precinct (located next to Charing Cross Station). 

The first artist we saw was Kiwi comedian Al Pitcher.  He was absolutely hilarious.  I am sure it is a Southern Hemisphere thing, but Stephen and I just 'got' him and we laughed our heads off.

Next up was Andy Parsons of Mock The Week fame.  Andy just wasn't as funny as Al and I do believe he is much better at improvising than at stand-up comedy.  His material was very political which goes down a lot better when he is doing improvisation.  I did enjoy his performance and as always, I appreciated his political satire, but he wasn't as side-splittingly funny as Al.

At this point, I have to mention the MC Rich Wilson.  Gosh he was funny.  That brilliant self-deprecating humour, but not overly done.

The final act was Pierre Hollins.  Being an old woman, I was really tired by now and almost skipped Pierre's set to go home early.  Thank goodness I didn't!  His set was brilliant!  The man is absolutely irreverent and I would definitely seek him out and go watch him again.

All in all it was a super evening.  We paid £13.50 each to get into the comedy club but then they gave us a loyalty card and our next visits will only be £10.00 each.  There is something therapeutic about just going out for an evening and laughing and we'll definitely be doing something like this again soon.