Martyn Lovell's Comedy and Satire Activities

Comedy & Satire
Anything that makes me smile

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I think the first live comedy I saw was the Grumbleweeds (if they count!) live at the Congress Theatre Eastbourne in maybe 1982. I was a huge fan at the time. Since then I've seen an increasing number of comedy events live. I participated in a little improv at University, and I've always had a special respect for that kind of comedy. Below is a list of shows I've seen, and comments on some of the newer ones.

Jerry Seinfeld - Paramount Theatre - 17th October 2003

Eddie Izzard - Moore Theatre - 4th September 2003

David Sedaris - Paramount Theatre - 21st April 2003

Rita Rudner - Paramount Theatre - 28th February 2003

Capitol Steps - Paramount Theatre - 23rd November 2002

Wayne Brady - Paramount Theatre - 19th July 2002

Wayne Brady is probably the most talented discovery of the US version of Whose Line Is It Anyway. He's a highly versatile improvisational and musical performer. His one-person show (which actually had 3 support staff) demonstrated his talent.

He began by doing some fairly traditional improvisation, mixed with musical improvisation. This worked pretty well, except that because of the Paramount acoustics, it was harder to hear the improvised words than it is on TV. This is perhaps a downside of doing this live. He really has a talent for thinking of witty rhymes exceedingly quickly

Later in the show, he did some singer impersonations, and showed very strong dynamic range across a wide range of artists. Ultimately, though, this was slightly less compelling than the first half of the show.

By the end of the show, Brady had carried the audience for two hours and kept us rapt virtually all of that time, which is a major achievement.

Highly recommended: 9/10.

[Present: MartynL, KarenAD & FrankD, NiruC, SteveSei]

Ellen Degeneres - Benaroya Hall, Seattle - 2nd June 2002

A lot has happened to Ellen in the last few years. Having built her career on a basis of observational standup comedy, things became more complex as her personal life became intertwingled with her professional life. Last year I saw an HBO recording of a live show that she did in San Francisco that focussed on all the turmoil in her life. That was a really great show.

However, on her return to Seattle this year, she took a very different tack. She has returned to her observational comedy roots with a vengeance. She did a great two hour show that focussed on the little things in life. She did great segments on her cat, on travel, and on a wide range of topics. She memorably sang full lyrics to 'Shoop'. And in a first for comedy performances I've seen, she took requests for things to do, and repeated her memorable 'phone call to God'.

I went with two friends, and we all had an excellent evening. 8/10.

[MartynL, JenniA, LornaM]

Ryan Stiles: A Night Of Improv - Paramount Theatre, Seattle - 1st June 2002

I've been a fan of 'Whose Line Is It Anyway' for a long time. A bit of internet research shows that the TV series started in 1988. I had been listening to it avidly for several years before when it was still on BBC Radio 4. In fact, I remember those early radio episodes as some of the best improv I've ever heard. The radio series was especially memorable because it had a varied and strong lineup of guests, including the marvellous John Sessions, and many other radio comedy stalwarts such as Stephen Fry. I still remember Stephen failing to improvise songs or poems in hilarious style.

Now the series has made it to the USA and has the backing of ABC, it's taken off to an even greater extent. The ABC series is pretty good, although it does seem to rely too much on a small set of castmembers. Drew Carey took the improv format to Vegas last year for Drew's Improv All Stars, which showed on HBO recently.

This show was billed as Ryan plus a group of others, similar to the Vegas show. Ryan Stiles headlined, but a lot of other regulars were present - Colin Mochrie, Chip Esten, Julie Larson, Greg Proops, Sean Masterson, Cathy Kinney, Brad Sherwood and others. Unexpectedly, Drew turned up as well, which was a great bonus.

The show included many familiar improvisation skits, and was of extremely high quality. We laughed all the way through. There was a particularly memorable event with mousetraps right at the end of the session that I'd never seen before.

Totally hilarious entertainment. 9/10.

[MartynL, AlinC, FlaviaC, SteveP, JaneP, SumedhK, RandyK, AmandaK, NiruC, BrandonB, JonW, JillW]

Steven Wright - Foolproof at the Paramount - 18th May 2002

[Present: GregLi, JayK, NiruC, DouglasH & Heidi, JonWis & Jill]

Robin Williams - Paramount Theatre - 19th April 2002

Jerry Seinfeld - Paramount Theatre - 23rd March 2002

Politically Incorrect - Paramount Theatre - 16th March 2002

Capitol Steps - Paramount Theatre - 26th January 2002

[Present: JayK, NiruC, JonWis]