I didn’t realise when I signed up for a night of comedy in Shoreditch that 1) it was a singles night, and 2) it would be one of the funniest evenings of my life.
The first is surprising, you may think; it being called ‘Lonely Hearts Comedy Club’ (I didn’t know this vital piece of information before I walked in and was met by Julie and Julian, and a choice of coloured stickers representing my level of single-ness. My idea of hell - as I toe the line between lighthearted fun-lover and English prude very gingerly), but the second could not have been predicted.
Julie and Julian were hilarious comperes and held the evening together perfectly; their comic demeanors and complimentary dynamic was contagious. Even their match-making was impressively unintimidating.
First on, comedy quad, Oyster Eyes, had me laughing to that point where you know it is not really acceptable but you cant help it. Honed to awkward perfection their sketches were unfathomably random and stomach-hurtingly funny.
Alp Haydar, in all honesty, was one of the weirdest things I have ever seen (but was trumped by a later act). Covering personal and political issues, in an often grotesque manner depicted in actions and animations, he managed to toe the line between petrifying and hilarious very impressively.
Frank and likeable drag queen and cabaret sensation, Michael Twaits, was fabulous. Doing Barbara and Donna with glamourous aplomb, and telling stories from the New York heyday, his set and involvement of the unsuspecting audience was intoxicatingly funny.
Dickie Beau’s act was genuinely the strangest thing I have ever seen. Artistically beautiful and creative, he had a beautiful fragility but his set was quite something to stomach - as I think it would be for anyone who had not seen sexual acts performed on a ladder.
An all round excellent evening; a rollercoaster of humour and emotion, with Kim Noble’s animations provided dark and hilarious stopgaps throughout, washed down by a few “Fat Jan’s Love Lubes”.
