Love was in the air at a Valentine’s special of Krater Comedy Club last Wednesday and, despite the pouring rain outside, Komedia was packed full of people to see some of the best stand-up comics in the country.

Sheltered from the appalling conditions outside, the basement of Komedia offered a warm, friendly and lively atmosphere. Having first visited Komedia earlier in the year, despite living in Brighton for almost five years, returning reminded me that I should have come back sooner.

After Maff Brown warmed up the crowd with some gags, Andrew Ryan made the most of his Irish roots in his routine. In particular, Ryan made the audience laugh at his tale of Starbucks’ staff being confused by Irish names and how to spell them. He also described Milton Keynes as the ‘Dubai of England’ – perhaps the highest and most bizarre praise the town has ever received.

Jen Burster brought the house down with her jokes exposing the absurdity of yoghurt adverts targeted at women and her frustration at having to hide the effects of periods from men. Her description of what women are actually thinking when on their period was hilarious, hard-hitting and eye-opening in equal measure. For me, Jen’s set was the highlight of the evening.

Christian Reilly’s musical performances, ranging from impersonations of Oasis and the Artic Monkeys to creating an honest love song called ‘I’d Love You More If You’d Improve’, also had me and the audience crying with laughter.

However, it was clear some of the audience (myself included) were somewhat uncomfortable at some of the more sexualised jokes around women. For example, Maff Brown told the crowd that he had started wearing leggings when exercising, but was disappointed that women were not looking at his crotch and so he was going to cut a hole in them. In the wake of the news surrounding sexual harassment, this joke (and others like it from Brown) fell somewhat flat.

Overall, Komedia put on a wonderfully enjoyable show, with a great ambience to boot. I’m sure I’ll be back for the Krater Comedy Club again sometime soon…

Categories: Arts Theatre

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