Thursday 11th June 2009 (from 8pm)

The line-up for June 11th is as follows:

• ROGER MONKHOUSE - Only Fools & Black Horses is delighted to welcome one of the most original and distinctive acts on the comedy scene as the headliner for our June gig. Roger Monkhouse is a consummate stand-up who employs a deadly combination of charm and menace to exert a masterful control over any audience.
• "his laconic delivery shields an engaging persona and an enquiring mind" - The Guardian
• “unfailingly entertaining and skilfully able to pull punchlines, seemingly, out of thin air" - Chortle
  

• Jim Smallman - One of the Midland’s best young comedians, regular compere of the Giggling Badger clubs, Jim was deservedly a finalist at this year’s Leicester Comedy Festival awards. He was the very first act at Only Fools and Black Horses when he compered the November debut gig last year, and we’re delighted to welcome him back.
• “Anarchic and matey in equal measures, Smallman boasts a masterful rapport with the audience and clearly takes much delight in pushing the comedy boundaries... his manic energy was easily picked up by the punters” – Coventry Evening Telegraph
  

• Liam Mullone - Leicester born Liam Mullone is a former grave digger who's now the obituarist at The Times. He has won several stand-up awards and also writes for shows like BBC1's Milk Run, as well as appearing on ITV’s Take the Mike, and BBC Three’s New Talent Awards.
• “A clear sign that the cult of laddism may be fading. Mullone deserves credit for shoehorning Victor Hugo and Matisse into his surreal act… will hit the bigtime.” – London Evening Standard
  

• Matt Hollins (MC) - Matt headlined our April gig, and we’re delighted to have him back to compere this month’s event. Matt’s dry, deadpan delivery is offset by sharp, quirky observations and ideas. He’s a comedian who has found his unique voice and persona.
• “Matt treads his own path, subtly turning the mundane events of his life into something absurd.” – Leicester Mercury
  

TICKETS £8.00
available from
The Black Horse, Narrow Lane,
Aylestone, Leicester,
LE2 8NA
(0116) 2832811
phil@philspub.co.uk

May 21st 2009

Our next comedy night will feature the fantastic Patrick Monahan’s brand new one hour stand up show 'My Kind of People’ featuring stand up stories about his journey to find people like him a non-drinking, non-smoking, Irish-Iranian Teessider.
Recently Patrick was competing in the short list to win the major Paramount Comedy MySpace comedy award. He was for a long time the warm up act for BBC's Friday Night with Jonathan Ross and is currently doing the same thing for The Paul O'Grady Show.
For this year's tour, Patrick is supported by Leicestershire's very own comedy impresario and all-round smashing bloke, Alan Seaman. Known to us as a compere, this month Alan will deliver his own satirical observations and hand-crafted one-liners to Only Fools and Black Horses in a full set.
Tickets are on sale now for just £6

Final Line-Up for Tonight

Here's the line-up for tonight (April 9th). Probably in approximate running order, but there is some flexibility:

• Okse will be the MC
• Matt Price
• Johnny Sorrow
• Matt Wade (a local lad, only on his 3rd gig but showing promise)
• Ben Davids
• Rob Gee
• Matt Hollins

Look forward to seeing you there - remember it's only £8 for a whole night of entertainment from 8pm!

Discount negotiable for large groups.

Mr Burns meets Mr Simpson ... and Mr Gittins

March 19th was a night of fluctuating moods. Firstly there was the disappointment that Jon Richardson was unwell. Then came the news that his replacement would be the international comedy powerhouse that is Brendon Burns. Then came the low turnout. But the evening's performances left me with an inane grin that took some time to wipe off.

Lessons learnt from the night are mostly to do with promotion of the comedy club, and there is an intense effort going on to ensure we have as near a full house as possible from here on in!
So, a review of the night is in order I suppose:

First out of the stalls was our MC for the night, making his first appearance since last November, Alan Seaman. Cool and suave as ever, the winner of the Leicester Comedy Festival's lifetime achievement award 2008 proved that life goes on after a lifetime of achievement! He also proved that it's no good trying to hide on the second row of seats.

Brendan Burns then took to the "stage". After a little chat with him before the show (during which he referred to a famous US comedienne, it seemed that this was a man with a talent for the (potentially) offensive. However, the only offensive things in his act were the things that he railed against - vigorously! Common sense and the courage to speak your mind very rarely come together these days in one person. If everyone was as open and honest as Brendan, the tabloids, the Daily Mail and the Daily Express would sell very few papers.
All that makes him sound like he's not funny though. Nothing could be further from the truth. It's little wonder that he's very much in demand, or that he won the Edinburgh Fringe best act in 2007. He's possibly not to everyone's taste, but he certainly got the audience well and truly going for the rest of the night.

After a brief interlude, during which I managed to rustle up some extra audience members, Alan whisked us into the 2nd section, and introduced Dan Spinks.

21 year-old Dan wasn't on the posters, but was the spicy little side dish the curry house throws in for good customers. Part of the LCF Awards Nominated "Unidentified Flying Improv" team, Dan is a former DMU student (just like all the best people, ahem!) with a tremendously deadpan presentation of some well-written, and original, material. He certainly wasn't out of place in amongst the professionals and held his own very well. Definitely has the potential, and personality, to get on.

Next was Junior Simpson. Junior has been doing this for some time now, and has his act off to a T. Possibly a little too mainstream for hardcore fans of offbeat comedy, but his act is polished, professional and very funny...which is what it's all about really. Some of his material might not be as topical as some other comedian's, but he is such a great performer that that doesn't matter. Certainly, the feedback from the audience was that he was top-class.

Then we took another break, and increased the audience size again, ready for Alan to do his third shmooze of the evening, leading into a rapturous welcome for headliner, Brian Gittins.

When he eventually reached the front of the stage, Brian showed us what the owner of a roadside café in Pyecombe can achieve in the world of stand-up comedy. One gentleman in front of me (you know who you are) was wheezing with laughter before Brian had even spoken... And when he did speak - well, I wouldn't like to spoil anything for you if you haven't seen him before.
I would implore anyone to go and watch Brian at the soonest possible opportunity, before he gets too big. This really is a character worth watching, and I would imagine there is considerable scope for a huge repertoire. You can almost hear the cogs clunking as Brian tries to work out how to be funny and/or entertaining. I've never seen anything like it, and I doubt if many people have, to be honest. I'll never hear the hokey cokey again without a smile. Or Spandau Ballet for that matter.

That rounded off an excellent night that over-ran till 11.15...again!

Next month (see below) promises to be an absolute belter, and I can confirm that the rumoured extra act is definitely coming. So that makes an MC, a headliner, and 4 supporting comedians - all for £8. You don't get value like that every day.

April 9th Line-up

This line-up has remained static for about 4 weeks now, so it should go ahead as planned, I reckon!

• Matt Hollins - The night's headliner, as former winner of the Leicester Mercury Comedian of the Year (2004), a title that has also been awarded to the likes of Johnny Vegas, Mitch Benn, Jason Manford and Rhod Gilbert. Matt's style has been described as mixing a range of original subject, off the wall stories and puns. I met him a couple of weeks ago, and he's a very nice chap too.
• Okse - Our MC for the evening runs, and hosts, a comedy club in Leamington. Loads of experience with over 5 years of stand-up work, with a reputation fro being a likeable and popular guy. A fantastic storyteller with a world of imagination and humour and, of course, a great MC!
• Rob Gee - Some of you will recognise Rob as the tall half of Rob & SKatz, who headlined here back in January. His solo work is driven by his phenomenal ability as a performance poet ("but don't worry, he's not sh*t", said Jimmy Carr). Definitely one to look forward to for something rather special, and a little different I would imagine.
• Ben Davids - Ben has been on the comedy scene for several years, and has an incredibly well-written blog at http://therealbendavids.blogspot.com/. His stand-up work is of an equally high standard, delivered in a laid-back style.
• Johnny Sorrow - What can be said of Johnny "Showaddywaddy" Sorrow. According to his facebook page, "Depending on who you ask Johnny "Showaddywaddy" Sorrow is possibly the Greatest or Worst comic turn you`ve never seen! " A Black Country legend in the making, whose career has been blighted by misfortune. As Johnny himself says, "It's not all about laughter".

Rumour has it that there may be an extra act on the night, of top-drawer quality, but that's not quite 100% confirmed as yet, so just come along and see for yourselves. Only £8 for 5 (possibly 6) comedians...2.5 hours of laughter...one night of delicious comedy...only a fool (or a black horse) would miss it!

March 19th - Update

Following intense negotiations, this is the line-up for March 19th 2009

• Jon Richardson - Winner of the 2008 Chortle Breakthrough Act Award and one of the most in-demand young artists on the comedy circuit, Jon has supported Alan Carr on his national tour. You may also recognise him from his BBC 6 Music show every Sunday morning.
• Junior Simpson - Since appearing on the comedy scene, Luton’s lapsed choirboy Junior Simpson quickly established himself as a true “tour de force” as a live performer as well as a highly sought after and regular face on television having performed all over the world, including Australia, the Far East, Canada and Europe.
• Brian Gittins - Brian, 42, is a roadside café owner from Pyecombe. A couple of the café's regulars have said he's 'quite funny', so he's been attempting to make it in the world of comedy for a while now. His quirky, awkward, but painfully entertaining style has recently seen him support Ricky Gervais in London.

Here's what others have said about them:

• Brian Gittins: "a true original, and breathtakingly funny with it" - The Guardian
• Brian Gittins: "Brilliantly funny" - Ricky Gervais
• Junior Simpson: "is funny" - Lenny Henry
• Junior Simpson: "energetic and hilarious" - Listed Magazine
• Jon Richardson: "terrific" - The Scotsman
• Jon Richardon: "I'll smack his arse if he gets any funnier. More than talented" - Jim Bowen

In addition to the refulgent main line-up, the MC for the night will be Leicestershire's own Alan Seaman, known to many as the host of Leicester's "Ship of Fools" comedy club.

The best-laid plans...

Milton Jones has had to pull out of March 19th for valid reasons. Watch this space for news of a replacement.

What's on next?

March 19th: Junior Simpson, Milton Jones and Jon Richardson - £14 per ticket

A quick aside

I went into town last night (Friday 13th) to meet up with Ben and catch Jim Smallman (MC from December) at Bambu, and then on to Late 'n' Live at the City Rooms. Jim was good, although I thought some of the audience were a little up their own rear-ends. Maybe that's just me being a stolid, down-to-earth Northern type. If you can't have a good belly-laugh when there's a comedian stood in front of you being funny. when can you? He over-ran his hour, possibly due to his natural enthusiasm. I came away wanting to go to the same McDonalds as him though.
On to the City Rooms. We got there just as Fred Macaulay was finishing his allotted time. John Bishop was compering - not someone I'd heard of before, but he was tremendously comfortable and chummy. Ideal really. The other two on the line-up were Hal and Tom, our two main guys from Thursday night. Now I know why the acts we're had so far have been so complimentary about the atmosphere at The Black Horse. The heckling last night wasn't just loud and annoying, it simply didn't even make sense. Luckily, Hal and Tom dealt quickly and efficiently with it.
I don't think I'm cut out for this late night malarkey, but it was worth it...and the struggle to stay awake beyond 9pm on Saturday night was a sign that I shouldn't do it too often.

Thursday 12th Feb, 2008 - a night to remember

Oh what a night! Unfortunately, there was a massive dump of snow over the midlands at about 6pm, so about 10 people didn't make it. That left a crowd of about 35 or so lucky, lucky people.

• Stu Wilde, who I've now ascertained is 6'9", was compering the night, and served us admirably all night with a mixture of anecdote and rapport. Later on, he also dealt very well with slightly delayed arrivals of the acts - but these things happen.
• Hal Cruttenden was first up. Having had about an hour to prepare (at least someone was early for once), he proved why he is touted as one of the best comedians working in the UK today. The audience were a little cool at first, unsure of how to act with too many empty seats in the room, but Hal soon got them going. Brilliant stuff - among my favourite moments was describing the person he appears to have swapped voices with. During the break after his act people were asking me, "haven't I seen him on the telly?" etc. I think they'll remember his name this time.
• A quick break, then Stu gave us a little more until Ryan Gough arrived, "fresh" from a student gig in Oadby. I would like to think we were a little closer to his target audience than the students. It certainly came over that way. For those that have seen Ryan before, you'll know that his humour comes more from the diverse life he seems to have led, and the curious jobs he's had, together with some bizarre work he has done in the advertising industry! His STD (dialling codes, not VD) knowledge was barely put to the test, and Newport (Isle of Wight) didn't even raise a sweat.
• Another little break for the audience to gain sustenance, followed by Stu introducing his mate from Lincoln, Louie Werth. Louie claims not to have been doing stand-up for terribly long (less than a year, if memory serves), but I think he's got some serious potential. He certainly didn't look out of place amongst "the big boys" (literally and metaphorically), and delivered some seriously big laughs. Nice one!
• Another 10 minutes of impromptu filling from Stu kept the audience well entertained until the arrival of Tom Wrigglesworth. Tom delivered nearly 45 minutes of pure comedy genius. My eyes and brain were literally hurting from laughing too much. A massive range of subjects, and huge range of comedy techniques, all delivered impeccably by this ranging, quiet young man. I have no idea how we are going to top this night of comedy.

I tell a lie - I have one idea. Next month, on March 19th, we are scheduled to see the coruscant line-up of Junior Simpson, Jon Richardson and Milton Jones. Don't ask how, just come along and be a witness to the finest line-up of comedy ever assembled in one shed.