7th May 2009
Simon Amstell at the Etcetera Theatre
Last night I went to see Simon Amstell at the Etcetera Theatre in Camden. It was an interesting experience.
The theatre is above a pub on Camden High Street, so needlees to say, it's not a huge capacity. In fact, it only seats about fifty people. Intimate would understate just how small it is. This isn't a bad thing though, how often to you get to go to a show and genuinely be able to spit on the comic?
Not that I would have.
Stranger still was that Amstell still had a microphone, though he did demonstrate how it would sound without it, and as more of a prop than anything, it stopped him just being a bloke in a room, talking.
His routine was quite good. It was mostly new material he was trying before touring, and as can be expected of such a show, at times he got a little lost in his own thoughts. The sign, however, of a good stand up is that the diversions from the main narrative are still witty - which in this case, they were. To be honest, I expected nothing less.
He wasn't as cutting as I'd expected. It was different to the humor he brought to Pop World and Buzzcocks, adopting a far more personal touch, poking fun at himself more so than others, and at times giving a disturbing insite into his mind - though how much of this was a mechanism to create humor through discomfort I'm not sure.
I feel I shouldn't repeat any of his jokes - but if you catch the show, there's a great punchline about 'dress codes' than rang so true it made it even more funny.
The best part though, was I didn't feeling in anyway short changed. The nature of the gig could well have led him to be less commited, less funny and even reduce the length of the show. None of this happened. We got a shade over an hour and a half, a great night of comedy and all for the tiny fee of ?6.50.
One let down to an otherwise great show, was the air conditioning in the theatre wasn't on, and in a room that small it quickly got very hot - but the blame for that lies with the venue (i'd assume).
If you can see Simon Amstell on his upcoming tour you should jump at the chance. Unless swearing offends you.
Actually if you're offend by anything.
If his 'practice' session is anything to go by, the finished article will be an absolute riot, 1 ticket please!