9:36am Wednesday 18th August 2010
By Dan Bean
FRESH from topical BBC panel show Mock The Week, Russell Howard’s intimate gig at City Screen was a huge success on Monday, the second of two successive nights of trying out work in progress in York.
A warm-up for next year’s Right Here Right Now tour, the show crammed about 80 people into The Basement, all eager to experience Howard’s cheeky sense of humour and new material.
Holding his own against Frankie Boyle and Dara O’Briain clearly gives Howard the confidence to carry off a gig featuring material written that afternoon, and gags about arrogant squirrels in Museum Gardens helped get the audience onside from the start. It was clear that Howard was still testing the water with a few jokes and flights of fancy, rewarding the audience when they appreciated new material, but sounding slightly disappointed when the occasional gag didn’t get the laugh it deserved.
As always, his observations of human behaviour were Howard’s strongest suit, and stories about family and friends got the biggest reactions – from stories about schoolyard behaviour, to more explicit tales of friends’ romantic encounters and the private life of the royal family.
The audience was receptive to the new material, especially the York-based reflections, but seemed uneasy joining in with one religion-based gag. Like all of Howard’s material, the joke itself was not offensive, but the punchline landed so quickly the crowd decided to think about it before laughing.
A solid hour of very funny material being road-tested had only the slightest wobble, but Howard has enough charm and enthusiasm to iron out any kinks before he takes the tour to larger venues.
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