Gennelle Smith previews a trio act from Edinburgh at the local Harrogate Theatre
The night kicked off with QI, hosted by Sion Clarke, featuring a wealth of crime related quite interesting facts. Laughs were abundant (Rosie Fletcher’s deliberately bad jokes only added to the fun), glossing easily over technical difficulties with ease and instantly creating a great atmosphere.
Next up were York’s favourite improvised comedy troupe, The Shambles. Host Max Tyler got the crowd warmed up, getting everyone to shout out the name of the teacher they most fancied in school in preparation for shouting out suggestions later on. These included a man who was being haunted by the ghost of the former pope, a girl who was half pear and half cheese, and, er, Frederick Nietzsche digging for shoes (Adam Whybray deserves special mention for throwing himself into that performance, especially as Sion Clarke was able to guess it correctly!). As is the risk with any kind of improvised comedy, it wasn’t always the slickest of performances and not all of the jokes went down fantastically, but the group held it together well and had the crowd laughing easily.
Last to go was the last of this year’s Have I Got News For York, a dose of university-based satire. Rosie Fletcher returned to the stage as hostess along with captains Max Tyler and Tom Flynn with guests Dan Walker and Nick Scarlett. Rounds included the usual ‘odd one out’ and ‘Rhythm and News’; laughs were at the expense of Chris Etheridge and Henry James Foy; the show was resoundingly won by Tyler and Scarlett (perhaps because Scarlett was being overly protective of his points...). Again not the slickest of productions, as is almost inevitably the case with any show featuring guests who aren’t comedians; this was still a great end to a brilliant evening. All in all, hilarity ensued.
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