A couple of weeks ago I was invited to attend an evening of stand up comedy at Stand Up Camden, a brand new comedy event in North London. But guess what?! In all honesty, I absolutely hate stand up comedy.
It's sort of become this running joke from those who know me well that I don't like comedy, because I "don't like to laugh" (I'm not a cold-hearted wench, I promise ...then again, maybe I am). Quite frankly, most comedy acts make me cringe, so I never choose to watch stand up nor had I ever been to a show before, so I was really intrigued as to how I would feel about this particular event.
The show is held at the London Irish Centre in Camden Square, which is within walking distance from both Camden Road station and Kentish Town station. The venue itself is home to various arts and culture events including dancing, languages courses, theatre and even more comedy.
There were three acts throughout the night each with a quick 'pop to the toilet/bar' break between each set. Also, between each act there was a barrel of giggles amongst the audience thanks to the conversation from the MC of the evening, Andrew Ryan. He really did make the evening his own and was fantastic at keeping the audience in the mood in between acts.
Unfortunately, we did arrive a little late due to a few train delays, but luckily we caught most of Stephen Carlin's act who was opening the evening. I must admit knowing we were walking in halfway through an act, I was anxious that we were going to get picked out in the crowd by Stephen, but luckily we crept it quietly without any disruption. Despite having walked in a little late, we managed to pick up the gist of Stephen's act really quickly.
Next up was French comedian, Marcel Luton, who swanned onto the small stage in a stereotypical French fashion completely barefoot and twirling a glass of red wine in his hand. In all honesty, as soon as he slinked out onto the stage and rolled his eyes at the audience, I knew he was going to be my favourite act of the evening. Spoken softly and slowly in a heavy accent, Marcel told us tales of love and lust whilst keeping a stern face throughout his entire act. My particular favourite piece was his '50 Ways To Break Up With Your Lover' list. His dark and dry wit was particularly my cup of
Closing the evening was Markus Birdman, a bold, brash and witty comedian who had the entire room howling throughout his act. The next Stand Up Camden event is due to take place on the 3rd February 2017 and tickets will only set you back £8 for the evening (£6 for concessions). As someone who isn't too partial to comedy, I would still recommend it as a cheap and cheerful night out with pals.
Considering my previous reservations, I was clutching at my wine glass and absolutely howling throughout Marcel's act. In fact, I was probably the loudest in the entire room.
The only downside to it is that your cheeks will be aching for days afterwards.
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