Balham Comedy Festival, London
For all the ballyhoo that surrounds big shows at the Hammersmith Apollo and O2, the real heart of London’s comedy scene lies in a relatively small number of clubs that place creativity over commercial gain and give new acts the chance to play alongside circuit greats. Clubs such as Downstairs At The King’s Head in Crouch End, Greenwich’s Up The Creek and Balham’s Banana Cabaret. Running for over 30 years upstairs in The Bedford pub, the Banana has given early stage time to countless superstars, and it’s fitting that the venue now plays host to an annual comedy festival. In keeping with the club’s traditional ethos, the programme sees a mix of talented up-and-comers and certified A-listers. Examples of the former include Romesh Ranganathan (Sun) and Sara Pascoe (Mon), both establishing themselves as part of a new generation of TV comedy mainstays. The latter are represented by the likes of Ed Byrne (Fri) and Tim Vine (18 Jul), both of whom are capable of selling out much larger rooms but who clearly retain a fondness for the kind of low-key venue where they made their names.
The Bedford, SW12, to 18 Jul
Rob Beckett, On tour
Looking a bit unusual might be a problem when you’re at school, but it can really help if you’re trying to make it as a comedian: being easily recognisable certainly doesn’t hurt when it comes to building a following. You’d be hard-pressed to forget Rob Beckett, who possesses (as he openly admits) one of the largest and most impeccably maintained sets of teeth in showbusiness. There’s more to Beckett than his gnashers, though, as he’s been demonstrating recently through an increasing number of TV appearances. A thoroughly down-to-earth south Londoner, his stock-in-trade is a defiantly unpretentious mix of observational humour and autobiographical storytelling drawn from his no-nonsense working-class family life. In many ways, he’s like a Micky Flanagan for a (slightly) younger generation.
Loughborough Town Hall, Sat; The Fighting Cocks, Kingston, Mon; The Junction, Cambridge, Wed
Glenn Wool, On tour
Glenn Wool often looks as if he’s come to the gig direct from sleeping on someone’s floor. While there are plenty of comics to whom that description could be applied, in Wool’s case it’s likely to be true. He’s as close to a wandering stand-up minstrel as you can get. Some years ago, he left his native Canada for the UK – but that wasn’t the end of his travels. He spends vast amounts of time exploring different countries, never with any fixed abode. En route, he collects the anecdotal material that provides the backbone to his sets. Wool’s style is of a piece with his rackety approach to life: he performs with a wheezy, whining bluster that brings to mind the great Bobcat Goldthwait.
