Joshua Brooks

REVIEW: The Sketch Men – Attempted Jokes (GM Fringe Festival – Joshua Brooks, Manchester)

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thesketchmen

reviewer: demi west
upstaged rating: 

‘Failed’ actors Jack and Zach returned to Manchester as The Sketch Men, attempting to woo the crowd of the Joshua Brooks with their comical scenarios, accompanied by aspiring comedian Johnny Molyneux. Despite being nervous, Johnny’s classic stand-up style helped warm the crowd up for The Sketch Men, making cliché but effective jokes about his weight, and where he comes from. The Sketch Men got a good reaction from the audience, acting out skits that were relevant to everyday life- as well as some that definitely weren’t.

The show starts out with an almost pantomime-esque song about how ‘one shouldn’t be offended’ by controversial jokes, which set the overall tone for the show and prepared people for what types of jokes they would be seeing. As the show went on, sketches ranged from all types of topics, built around simple everyday situations, from cold calling to gap ‘yahs’, to more eccentric ideas such as Picasso and his muse, a failed magician, and an Art-Attack style show helmed by ‘Banksy’.

All in all, most of the sketches were humorous due to the outstanding acting skills showcased by the pair. This kind of humour is reliant on the comedic acting ability, in order to generate effective sketches, however, Zach and Jack seemed to possess more than the average comedic acting ability, performing at a level seen in theatre productions. This was the main reason for the effectiveness of the sketches, as they were able to keep up the suspension of disbelief, despite only having a small crowd with limited props, and had to utilise their acting prowess in order to transport the audience to the weird and wacky world of The Sketch Men.

Although able to perform well in a small venue with a crowd of less than forty, The Sketch Men would benefit from larger venues as their abilities would allow them to work a larger crowd and create a better atmosphere. Despite this, the venue size allowed the performance to be more intimate, enabling them to connect better with the audience, giving the show a more personal feel.

Overall, The Sketch Men created a night of comical fantasy that was successful, due to their ability as actors, and obvious strong rapport shared by the pair, which allowed the night to flow nicely. I would highly recommend The Sketch Men, even if sketch comedy isn’t your first choice.

-Demi West

 

Greater Manchester Fringe Festival runs until 31st July 2016 and you can visit their website for full listings here.

 

REVIEW – Health Under Fire- Greater Manchester Fringe Festival (Joshua Brooks)

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health under fire
Date: 23 july 2015
Upstaged Rating: 

Health Under Fire is a fast paced comedy, it could be described as Monty Python meets An Inspector Calls or somewhere in the realm of the Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker spoof comedy films of the 1980’s, think Airplane and The Naked Gun and you’re almost there.

Written by Nathan Smith, Health Under Fire is set in the dawn of the NHS, in 1950’s Manchester. Detective Arnold Grace (Scott Hodgson) has been sent to The Manchester Royal Infirmary to uncover the mystery surrounding the regular disappearance of pharmaceutical products.

Donning a trenchcoat like a hardboiled detective, Scott Hodgson gives a brilliantly cartoonish performance as Grace, frequently breaking the fourth wall and delivering each random, odd but hilarious one-liner. Most of the cast play multiple roles, writer and performer Nathan Smith demonstrates comic prowess playing creepy and booming Sir Rothschild and Gus, the often overlooked representative of manual labour. Andrew Knowles and Róisín McCusker give realised comedic performances in a variety of roles and James Beglin and Daniel Blake get a lot of laughs from their partnership as conjoined twins. Amidst this 60 minute rapid fire comedy there is also a serious message to ponder over – the current state of our NHS and the reason that our healthcare system first came into being.

Death by Pie adapt the space in the basement cellar of Joshua Brooks to satirise the film noir genre – clinical privacy screens, cardboard frames and doors, all succeed in deconstructing the genre much to the amusement of the Mancunian audience. The voiceovers and incidental music add further depth to this laugh-a-minute Zucker-esque parody.

Judging by the applause and laughter from the crowd on the opening night, Health Under Fire certainly hit and ricocheted off most of the audiences funny bones. This new production by Death by Pie has to be a highlight at the Greater Manchester Fringe this year and if you’re checking out Manchester or Edinburgh Fringe, you ought to get your slice of the ‘Health Under Fire’ pie too.

-Kristy Stott

Health Under Fire is premiering at Joshua Brooks, part of Greater Manchester Fringe Festival from 23rd – 25th July 2015 (tickets are £8.00) ahead of Edinburgh Fringe, where it is being performed at the Cafe Camino from the 8th – 29th August 2015 (FREE).

REVIEW – JB Shorts 13 (Joshua Brooks)

kristobel
John Catterall and David Crellin in Coalition Nightmare
John Catterall and David Crellin in Coalition Nightmare
Date: 16 april 2015
Upstaged Rating: 

After 12 sell-out seasons, JB Shorts is back with its thirteenth edition. For those who aren’t familiar with JB Shorts – it is an evening of 6 brand new plays, each of 15 minutes duration, written by respected television writers. JB Shorts was first produced in 2009 and has built up a brilliant reputation and received widespread critical acclaim – this live entertainment bonanza continues to brighten up the dark cellar of Joshua Brooks pub in Manchester city centre with two editions each year.

First up is Talk Talk, a two hander written by Catherine Hayes and directed by Liz Stevenson. What first appears as an abstract conversation between Mathilda (Sheila Jones) and Ellie (Jennifer Hulman) about currency and post codes actually transpires to be a very peculiar job interview.

Karaoke Cara, written by Trevor Suthers and directed by Barry Evans, is up next. When snotty Michael (Bill Bradshaw) tries to snoop on his widowed and aristocratic father’s new love interest he gets more than he bargains for. Encouraged by his super-posh friend Jeremy (Aaron Cobham), the story takes a humorous twist when his fathers new girlfriend Cara (Denise Hope), shop worker and karaoke singer, manages to get the upper hand on the pompous pair. Bradshaw and Cobham’s exaggerated upper class accents, which did slip at times, masked some of the promising humour in the script.

Number three is Chris Thompson’s Safe in Our Hands. Directed by Alyx Tole, it is a left wing Dickensian expression about the state of the NHS. When Bunyan (Ralph Casson) complains about pains in his chest, three ghosts visit him – the first his dead mother Bev (Joyce Branagh) who gives him a dressing down with a fine performance; secondly, upper-class Bullingham (Jack Dearsley) appears as a representative of capitalism trying to flog elements of the NHS to Bunyan; finally, he’s joined by the ghost of Branston (Ethan Holmes) who tries to convince him to purchase private health care while dressed as a Virgin air hostess. It’s all very entertaining and relevant to the general election next month.

Illusion written by Diane Whitley and directed by Alice Bartlett, was the highlight of the night for me. Through the interval the cast roam the crowd performing card tricks which paved the way for the Victoria magic show which followed. A renowned magician, Mafeking (James Lewis) has disappeared during one of his shows and his comrade Archie (Haydn Holden) organises a spooky séance to try to find out what has happened to him. All of the cast put in strong performances namely, Vanessa Hehir, Emma Laidlaw, Alex Phelps and Joe Slack and the staging for the magic tricks is well executed and managed.

Number five was A Muslim, a Jew and a Christian Walk into a Room written by Nick Ahad and directed by Max Shuell which depicts an Orwellian state where religious expression has been outlawed. The three characters David (Garry Hayden), Qadir (Kamal Kaan) and James (Murray Taylor) meet in secret to pray. However, a clever turn in the plot reveals that one of the characters is not how he appears.

Coalition Nightmare was the final short of the night, written by Dave Simpson and directed by James Quinn, it depicts the nightmarish prospect of UKIP managing to swing the balance of power in a hung parliament. There are good performances all round, Jack (David Crellin), Ted (John Catterall) and Charlotte (Jenny May Morgan) stealing the show with a well observed and well timed representation of a newsreader.

JB Shorts never disappoints, however, this time it seemed to be overloaded with political material due to the general election next month. And with the election propaganda being forced down our throats at the moment, I would have welcomed more escapism, like Diane Whitley‘s Illusion, with open arms.

-Kristy Stott

JB Shorts 13 is on at Joshua Brooks until Saturday 25th April. Tickets cost £7.00.