Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
HAVE you ever laughed so hard that you snorted? I did last Thursday at the British Club thanks to the overwhelming calibre of talent at the Chuckle Club.
I love stand-up comedy and even with a nasty case of the deadly man-flu, I still managed to drag my aching body out of bed to make it to the Punchline show, a testament to its pulling power.
The show took place over two nights in two locations, one at the British Club Bahrain and the other at the InterContinental Regency hotel.
First on stage was Tom Deacon, a man I swear has been spying on me and taken huge chunks of my life and turned them into comedy fodder.
He was delightfully off topic and regaled the audience with tales of his near death experience in the quest to get a Greggs steak bake (a delicious British pasty that is, in my opinion, worth dying for).
Tom had a great bit about how his girlfriend had started jogging to get fit and tried to convince him to join her, his reply, that’s your idea, not mine! (Take note, Layla).
He also had some crackers about people who recline their plane seats back so far that you’re forced to watch the in-flight movie an inch from your face … funny, because it’s true.
Next up was Tiffany Stevenson, a self-proclaimed ‘working class’ girl who wasn’t shy about calling it how it is.
The brash performer had some blinding material but her funniest moments came from a faulty spotlight, which meant the house lights came up and she got to see the crowd … it made it easier for her to interact.
Sat in the front row was Palmyra Mattner, the young star of the recent Be My Baby production featured in GulfWeekly.
Tiffany had a field day with her name and likened it to a perfume commercial. This recurring bit was hilarious and taken in good spirit by Palmyra.
Her insight into attracting Scottish men with shortbread was fantastic, well-written and delivered with aplomb.
Closing the show was Dave Fulton, a comic I saw perform in London several years ago.
The England-based American was on fine form and quickly won the hearts and minds of the Brits by praising the legendary full English breakfast as a cure for the-morning-after-the-night-before.
He had a fantastic gag about the call to prayer being interrupted by a bad cough, which had me in stitches.
I’m not sure how much coffee Dave had before he took to the stage, but I’m guessing it was a lot because his jokes were so rapid fire I only caught about half of them.
On a side note, if anyone taped the show, please email it to me in slow motion because the portion of gags I caught was great.
His take on British pub culture was also worth noting and he made some shrewd observations that really rang true.
A fine close to the Chuckle Club before Ramadan and I can’t wait to see the next line-up!
