How wrong I was. First of all, me old mate Pippa Evans was in the line up and she's a good egg, having recently won an Olivier Award with her ensemble for the smash hit improv show, 'Showstoppers'. I can't really critique her as I have worked with her in the past, albeit before her fame and fortune, but I found her as charming, quick witted and as delightful as ever she was.
The compere was a bit of a surprise for my missus though. Geoff Norcott used to teach her English and we both saw a near glimmer of recognition in his sardonic eye, the line of which falling on us in the second row of the odd, wedding reception like set up. His comedy was rather spot on, despite having voted 'Leave', something he didn't really explain (aside from an incongruous Muslim joke that was rather for the sake of a Muslim joke) although it took a while to warm to him. This being Norwich, he took the standard line of insulting those in the audience stupid enough not to tell him to fuck off and tell some jokes; all in good banter of course. He touched on Brexit mistakenly thinking Norfolk was an Out camp. Of course, Norwich voted Remain, but noone, least of all me, felt the need to correct him. He was quick witted, confident and shiny. He worked the crowd well and prepared us for the other comics.
Alas, Tom Toal was rather out of his depth, losing the momentum of the 'fat guy with nerdish edge' trope after a well received semen/pineapple gag that became a motif. He lacked the tightness of his compere and meandered rather a lot. He virtually sprinted off the stage at the end, to tepid applause. But this audience wanted him to be funny, he simply lacked delivery and timing. Scrub it up Tom, the material was ok, just needed a confidence and perhaps some eye contact...
The headline act was Carey Marx, and wowsers, what a treat. It was a set of blinding one liners, perfectly pitched observations, world weary grumpiness and a respect for where he was. I was crying with laughter, he didn't let up for a second, loving the applause, loving the moments of outraged laughter, of shocked delight. Yes, he was blue, but it was ironic in many ways and worked brilliantly. He talked about classic situations and made them his own, men, women, the problems with misappropriating gender to inanimate objects, (a MAN bag??).
His quips enlightened as well as amused: 'I'm going bald' he announced to us, which we could obviously see, 'my friends think I should shave it all off...I'm not going to do that, if you get a tooth knocked out, you don't yank out the rest do you?'
The Red Card Comedy Club is a Norwich gem and was packed out. Do catch a show there if you can.
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