Hit & Miss at Knock2Bag Comedy

Fresh outta West Basement, this comedy virgin headed out to meet Knock2Bag. Hailed by Time Out as some of the best comedy in the East End at brilliant value, it had a lot to live up to.

On the menu this month – a four course slap up of sexuality, served up light with a little Irish on the side. Each set follows a strict fifteen-minute limit, so this is more a tease than a full on strip, but as a means of getting newer comics involved, it works.

Fifteen minutes can be a thousand heartbeats too long

That said, fifteen minutes can be a thousand heartbeats too long. The headline performance by Sam Simmons, was undeniably dire - surprising coming from the winner of this year’s Foster’s Comedy award. Watching him on stage is like seeing a walrus in headlights. You can smell the fat frying.

Worse – and maybe, maybe, it’s just that moustache (and the suspenders) but there’s something downright creepy about his act. It’s more than a hint of voyeuristic shopkeeper – stacking up cans of cheap lines without the courage to do anything more than grope at his audience.

I should have taken the fact that Jessie Cave (that’s Lavender Brown to you, IC) had pulled out last minute as a sign. Like that point in a crap date where you pay your half of the bill and suddenly remember that your house is burning down.

Fortunately, Knock2Bag had Mae Martin to prove me absolutely and completely wrong. I’ll admit there’s a chink in my stone critic's heart for a girl who can stand on stage and laugh about her sexuality. The beautiful thing here is that this is part of the act, but it doesn’t define it. We don’t just get ‘gay’ Mae. Whether it’s that dick joke about her brother and her dad – or her willingness to talk about her last boyfriend,this act is remarkable for it’s openness. There are definite influences of that undefeatable ‘gay’ gallows humour (see Eighty-Sixed by Feinberg for a rough taste). However, the really fantastic thing is that it doesn’t matter where you are on the debate, you’ll laugh all the same. At basics, Martin says – the world is just too crazy to take seriously. Who could disagree with that?

Other notable performances included Spencer Jones, as a rougher kind of Mr. Bean. It’s blunt physical comedy. In the format of a fifteen minute piece though, there just isn’t enough build an explosive, funny ending that’s believable.

Overall, for the price – £8 online (£12 on the door) – the value is very decent. Just come prepared for a few nose dives along the way.