Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
IT’s frequently stated that ‘it’s fun to laugh’, so the return of the Chuckle Club after a short winter break was the perfect tonic to dispel my post-Christmas blues.
Rolling into the kingdom for the final leg of its whistle-stop tour around the Middle East, it was nice to see club attendances back at healthy capacity as I find comedy shows much more enjoyable with a large audience and a swelling atmosphere.
This was particularly important for the first act, the wonderfully-bearded Northern Irishman Martin Mor, who seemingly had no rehearsed material prepared when he came on stage. Instead, he spent his allocated time getting to know most of the audience and cracked numerous jokes at their expense.
I absolutely loved his act as it made me feel like I was involved in the whole performance rather than just sat back watching one, and, of course, the wonderful accent makes everything that little bit better. Unfortunately, his act seemed criminally short and I was left wanting much more.
Next up, American Sean Donnelly delivered exactly what was expected; a loud, obnoxious performance that had a few bright spots but on the whole felt a bit awkward as the almost-unanimous British audience did not really connect with his style of humour, with much of the laughter seeming forced.
Finally, Aussie Brendon Burns spent most of his time telling stories from his recent travels and telling jokes other people had told him, neither of which were engaging. There was no audience participation, which was disappointing as it was clear from the previous acts that this was a crowd who liked to be picked on, or at least see others get slaughtered!
Overall, The Chuckle Club stuttered a little this month, with only Mor having me in stitches and leaving me wishing the order of acts was reversed. However, as with comedy as a whole, you never quite know what you’re going to get, so I trust that next month will be a strong return to form.
