Hyde Park Winter Wonderland Comedy Club
2 stars
Between November and December of every year, Winter Wonderland opens its doors to Londoners and tourists alike as one of the most visited attractions. It has the perfect atmosphere for just going around the Christmas markets and enjoying the rides (of course while drinking mulled wine) but did you know that there are Comedy Club shows there?
Shows start at 9pm and are 45 minutes long. They take place from Thursdays to Saturdays from 21st November until 21st December, with a different comic lineup every week.
For my visit, the lineup consisted of Emmanuel Sonubi as the host, while Thomas Green and Marcus Brigstocke were the opening and the headlining acts respectively.
Sonubi was the funniest by far, thanks to his excellent engagement with the audience. His show focused on satirical comments on modern ‘language’ and how certain words have become forbidden over the past decades.
Green, the pan Australian comedian based in the UK, started by making some friendly jokes that compared the UK to Australia. Then, he moved on to tell funny, albeit predictable, stories and jokes focusing on problems within a relationship.
Brigstocke, the star of the night, started by bonding with the audience by asking different people’s nationalities and made hilarious and entertaining jokes for each country mentioned. This was really great fun. He then talked about the ‘division’ between people in support and in opposition of Brexit, especially within his own family. Unfortunately, he could not keep the momentum going, and did not finish as well as he started, ending his set with cliched jokes about marital relationships.
Generally, all the performers were funny but rather forgettable and predictable. It left me feeling that the event was targeted more towards tourists and casual Winter Wonderland visitors rather than regular comedy club goers, which led to the quality of comedy suffering. Acts refused to show personality, instead opting for cliche jokes dealing with racism, politics, sexism and relationship problems.
The attendees seemed to enjoy themselves but the price, fixed at £15 plus transaction fees, is too high for a 45-minute-long comedy performance.
Nevertheless, the rest of this year’s lineup looks promising with plenty of talented comedians set to perform. If you end up at Winter Wonderland one of these coming weeks and want to experience something other than the same old attractions, I suggest you check out the lineup for that day, on Winter Wonderland’s official website. Despite the price tag, you might be in for a very entertaining 45 minutes.
