Comedy in Jim’s 27/9/12

Comedy in Jim’s Bar always promises to be a great night, and this was no exception. With a selection of comedians from 3 separate continents and 5 different countries, it was a multicultural comedic bunch. The night was kicked off by the first foreign influence, American comedian Sarah Cassidy, who did an admirable job of compering the crowd with some tips on how to get the most out of cute animal pictures. She introduced the first act, a wild looking man, Richard Brown. Richard turned out to have hidden a topical and intelligent mind for jokes behind his shaggy hair and beard, and was very sharp in his humour.

The next act was the furthest travelled, having come from Australia. Geoff Gawler was witty, loud and altogether very funny, despite not having a leg to stand on (quite literally;  he’d broken it somehow). Crutches and all, he was very amusing. The final act of the 1st half brought an altogether darker yet still hilarious tone to the stage, Adam Struth. With his tales of death and Govan, Struth managed to make the crowd cringe and laugh at the same time. The break was followed by Paul McGuinness, a brilliant Northern Irish act that led us with him on his journey through masturbation from the 90’s to today, where he can’t go a minute without saying ‘pussy’.

The final act of the night was Liam Withnail. Having compered a previous Jim’s Bar night in Freshers’ Week, he returned as the headliner for this gig. He did not disappoint, and had the whole place in stitches with his comedy beatboxing of the Nazi Synthesiser. All in all, a great night, and an excellent bunch of comedians, well worth the £1 entry. If you weren’t there this time, come along next time!

[Cian Langan]

Five Year Engagement

Following the release of The Muppets in February, I’ve had a soft spot for Jason Segel, and I saw a poster for The Five Year Engagement a while ago, so it’s been on my mind for some months. With its release a week ago, it moved swiftly to the top of my must-see list.

Segel plays Tom Solomon, a skilled sous chef in San Francisco, who met his girlfriend (and soon to be fiancée), Violet Barnes, at a New Year’s Eve party. Emily Blunt fills the role of Violet, and acts as an interesting pairing to Segel’s eccentricities.

After a proposal of sorts, the two settle into engaged life together, and begin to plan their wedding. There are a few formalities first, such as the engagement party, where we meet family and friends of the stars. Community‘s Alison Brie crops up as Violet’s little sister, and for the rest of the film demonstrates the life you expect Tom and Violet to live together.

Violet’s ambition to work in academia leads the film towards its name, as the couple put off their wedding for the sake of their careers… or at least the career of one of them. The pair move to accommodate Violet’s new job, and Tom’s life descends into chaos as he meets local househusbands and tries to find his feet in a new town. Tom’s misery and mishaps provide some decent laughs, but the oddities are interspersed with some weak scenes of Violet at work.

The film seemed to take longer than necessary to progress, as only halfway through I found myself shifting in my seat, bored as the jokes dried up and the story seemed to slip away.

It did come back for the finale, as the cast pull together for a whirlwind finish. The standout scene of the film was Blunt and Brie arguing about family and marriage, but in the voices of Cookie Monster and Elmo respectively. It seems Segel, a co-writer of the film, just can’t clear his head of those cuddly fiends.

Overall, with a number of good laughs, I would consider re-watching this film on DVD, if not at the cinema. The scenes with Segel were the most fun, and when joined by Blunt, the film delivered a much needed alternative to big summer blockbusters.

[Euan Murphy]

Alphonse – Len’s Ex

[Sean Iles]

Sometimes it takes being chained up and whipped to know what you want in life.

Tenacious D Tuesday 12th June @ SECC

Tenacious D have always been a band that have faced a tremendous uphill struggle. Infusing music and comedy is by no means an easy task and many bands have fallen by the wayside attempting to balance humour which is legitimately and consistently funny, with music that is… well… good. The acts that have achieved this fate are in the minority. However, bands that have been successful in this field have cleverly developed and amalgamated their humour and sound into a level of maturity that stays fun but ultimately offers something new. The pioneers of this were The Beastie Boys and when Tenacious D entered the stage in front of an inflatable, phallic phoenix I was reminded of the controversial backdrop from the aforementioned rap group’s Licensed to Ill tour. Despite this, there wasn’t an ounce of outrage in the house. It seems as though times have changed.

The venue was by no means packed and the crowd was of a very interesting demographic. The first time I saw Tenacious D it was in the midst of their first album. On this occasion the bar was dry and the average age was probably around 14. This was what I naively expected from the evening’s gig and as I shuffled into the venue, which boasted Westlife’s up and coming tour on all four corners of the building, I was pleasantly surprised. It became apparent that Tenacious D’s following were mid 20′s nostalgic rock fans clinging onto the success and glory of their self-titled first album. This was truly hammered home half way through their two hour set when from the back of the room came the call ‘stop playing all of this new shit.’

The gig had started slowly. The band played track after track from the most recent album “The Rize of The Pheonix” and as much as I appreciate a band trying to diversify and move on from early successes, it is just not a very good record. What is bold about the new material is that it confronts the mishap that was “The Pick of Destiny”. However, what has become problematic for the dynamic duo is that the tracks that were played from their most recent offering are not a lot better. Tenacious D have taken a risk in confronting their previous failings and it has not paid off. Nevertheless, to use the tired footballing expression; it was a game of two halves.

Almost instantly after the tattooed drunk heckler had expressed his opinion, Tenacious D came to life. It was clear that the pair enjoyed playing their sing-along anthems such as ‘Kielbasa’, ‘Tribute’ and ‘Rock Your Socks’ a lot more than their weary yawn-evoking new material. The comedic chemistry between Jack and Kyle suddenly ignited and the audience was treated to a brilliantly crafted show. The highlight of the evening was the groups rendition of The Beatles’ ‘You Never Give Me Your Money’ which showed the bands’ technical skill and appreciation of their personal influences.

As I left The SECC with ‘Fuck Her Gently’ still ringing in my ears, I was conflicted. On one hand I had enjoyed the show and had been treated to at times a musically breathtaking event, mainly thanks to the flawless backing band. However, it was sad to see a band attempting to progress but falling short. Tenacious D will never do what The Beastie Boys did and achieve critical acclaim whilst evoking elements of comedy. It is fair to say that The D are not ‘The greatest band in the world’ as Jack humorously boasts, but a band with an incredible first album that will always have a place in all rock and metal fans’ hearts.

[Pad Hughes]

Glasgow Comedy Festival Preview: James Acaster

This year’s eagerly-awaited festival kicks off today and runs until April 1st. On Saturday 17th March, James Acaster will be performing his critically acclaimed show, Amongst Other Things, which he debuted at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival with great success. James has supported pun machine Milton Jones on tour and made appearances on Russell Howard’s Good News and Dave’s One Night Stand, so he’s one to look out for.

We’ll be reviewing this Saturday’s show, so watch this space. Until then, here’s a quick Q&A with the man himself to whet your appetites…

Happy Feet 2

The second instalment in the chronicles of the musical inhabitants of Emperor Land comes to cinema screens, and once again those inconsiderate human bastards are shitting on Antarctica. Mumble (voiced by Elijah Wood) and Gloria (P!nk replaces the late Brittany Murphy) now have a baby chick, Erik, who can’t dance, and so is made fun of by the rest of the tribe. Upset, Erik runs away from the tribe and comes across another group of penguins that worship Sven, a penguin (actually a puffin) who can fly. Erik becomes enchanted by Sven’s pseudo-religious rhetoric, and armed with the knowledge that it’s okay to be different, Erik returns home – just in time to witness a global warming-caused catastrophe befall his home and endanger the lives of his penguin nation.

New Year’s Eve

As basically an American Love Actually with a fraction of the acting talent, I knew it would be terrible. Afterwards, I was pleasantly surprised, but only a little. The film has no real storyline, instead taking the form of a series of vignettes showing the New Year’s Eve of several seemingly unrelated people around New York City.