Friday nights at the Manchester’s Comedy Store plays host to the ‘Best in Stand Up’. The venue is situated on the stunning Deansgate Locks, Friday evenings are very popular with most of the 500 seats in the auditorium taken. There is a great choice of packages for the evening of food and entertainment, regular seating and Premier seating are available at a great price.
The MC for the evening was John Fothergill wearing his jeans and stripy teeshirt warmed the lively crowd up during his interactions with the audience - getting to know them by asking questions ad hoc. Five acts were lined up for the evening three in the first half and two after the interval.
First up was Andrew Bird with his easy charm and sharp whit, he is rapidly establishing himself as one of the best comedians in the UK. Andrew delivered belly laughing jokes on age gaps and marriage, Amazon to Iceland and family life and basic sh!t as he put it. Andrew’s delivery was perfect and he had the audience hungry for more as they enjoyed their evening.
Second up was Chris Purchase aged 35 years old with an amazing act of tales of separation, a life with kids, weight loss, Pokémon Go and the funniest delivery of his dad being like Jesus but “Jesus turned red wine into domestic violence”.
Before the interval Pete Johansson took to the stage from Canada, Pete has spent a lot of time on the road before hitting the comedy venues in Ireland and London. 10 years married Pete portrayed his journey of chemicals of love, love making during this time, female orgasms, suicide and sweating about weight loss had the audience in stitches of laughter.
During the interval you can get yourself another drink and if you want you can buy one of the Comedy Store’s delicious home-made 12 inch pizzas if you are feeling hungry. The staff at the Comedy Store enhance the evenings experience as they are always so friendly, the bar is well staffed so you never have to wait long to be served. The seating area in the bar is adequate to allow you to sit down if you wish during the break. The toilets are situated downstairs in the restaurant which is the only disadvantage as you have to negotiate your way down a spiral staircase to access that the facilities, ladies wearing high heels and consuming alcohol can prove all too risky at the end of a evening but the toilets are clean and have lots of cubicles which is a great advantage not having to queue as so many of the venues do not have adequate toilets for the visiting clients.
After the break was Alistair Barrie the 45year old actor and writer who has performed all over the world. Alastair is in high demand as both a headline act and MC, and has performed throughout the UK, Ireland, America, Australia Switzerland and many other countries in the world. Alistair is a member of the cutting edge team London’s comedy store and has made numerous radio and television appearance. Alistair had the now very happily intoxicated audience in hysterics whilst delivering his well tuned act regarding politics, ovulation, fertility, middle aged men and fertility, marriage and ladies who lunch ending his act on a very fine line of humour regarding terrorism.
Last but not least the Final Act was Steve Gribbin armed with his guitar from Liverpool sang his comedy songs with razor sharp lyrics about Liam Gallagher’s response to Noel for not attending the One Love Gig, the smokers song, a message for Donald Trump, the Mexican Wall, Fake news. Steve had the audience at the end of their seats listening to every word about Dr Who and mum powers. He ended his slot with his side splitting songs regarding Isis, Junior Drs and Medics followed by gay marriage which closed the evening on a high.
The Comedy Store is a fantastic venue to spend an evening in, as the staff are fabulous, the food is delicious and the entertainment is outstanding.
Reviewer: Katie Leicester
Reviewed: 21st July 2017
