Crazy Bird Comedy Club, Lansdown Hall, Stroud, Colin Cole and support

I DID wonder if recent global goings-on would feature highly in this latest Comedy Club event, but both Brexit and El Presidente were, mercifully, almost absent from an evening of quality laughter.

This was one occasion when the quality of the humour improved as the night went on, and it started high with the usual warm-up by MC Geoff Whiting and then a set by former lawyer Andrew Watts. His material was original and well-practised, and while the delivery was a little too fast for us to catch it all, this was a promising performance.

A complete change of pace for the next set by Welsh stand-up Morgan Rees, whose laidback delivery was pitched just right. Amidst some great throwaway lines, Rees’ Welsh language jokes went down a storm: it was his first visit to Stroud but hopefully it won’t be his last as this is a talent to watch out for.

Raising the bar again was the accomplished Mark Hurman, with non-stop delivery of a range of pithy observations on subjects as diverse as Weston-super-Mare, the Hypocrisy clothing range, and recycling.

And finally Aussie Colin Cole took the stage, with a set well deserving of his top billing. I hadn’t seen or heard this comic before, but his one-liners were beautifully timed and the material was all new to me which made his a memorable and hugely entertaining contribution to the evening.

One point worthy of note was how each of the four comics built on Geoff Whiting’s repartee with the audience, each one creating ad lib humour from the facts we’d learnt about fellow audience members: great fun, and a splendid display of comic skill.

All the elements added up to a cracking evening’s entertainment. If Nick Bird can maintain such a quality blend of disparate talent then the next Crazy Bird outing will be well worth the price of a ticket.

Jane Leigh