Review: Chris Ramsey: Feeling Lucky – Newcastle Stand
Chris Ramsey has recently shot into the limelight thanks to appearances on 8 Out Of 10 Cats, Celebrity Juice, Show & Tell – and the critically acclaimed Hebburn – but he’s been working hard on the comedy circuit for a number of years now. This wealth of live experience is evident at the Newcastle Stand tonight, as Ramsey headlines with his third full-length show, Feeling Lucky.
As he readily admits, Ramsey had a helping hand supporting fellow comedians Russell Kane and Al Murray – and he gives back by introducing the fellow North East comic Carl Hutchinson.
Hutchinson’s opening gambit is a cleverly self-deprecating routine on the polarised audience reactions to support acts. He’s clearly skilled at warming up a reserved audience, taking them through material on his background as a teacher; his deep emotional attachment to food; and his early sexual experiences. His act comes from the same school of gentle Geordie humour as Ramsey’s, and his involved storytelling is enhanced with some very believable comic mime. Hutchinson’s set moves smoothly from compere-style warm-up gags into a lengthy rant, reaching fever pitch towards the end of his slot and leaving the audience discussing the hardest-hitting observations from the set.
As the audience reclaim their seats for the headliner, a PowerPoint slide declares: “Don’t be afraid to sit at the front: In this show the front is the safest place to be!” The second half of that statement makes perfect sense as Ramsey comes out on stage looking at the floor rather than the audience, holding a sponge dice in order to randomly pick audience members to talk to. (According to Ramsey, Derren Brown is such a good mindreader that he retroactively stole the idea.)
Ramsey’s time with Al Murray has clearly had an extremely positive effect on his improvisational skills, as he claims big laughs from such seemingly dry jobs as accountancy and tax collection. In the two years since I last saw him, his confidence has grown enormously – and he was already pretty lively back then. An unexpected bonus of the looking-at-the-floor tactic is that Ramsey gets a second “appearance” cheer when he finally looks up at his audience.
The show itself, Feeling Lucky, centres on the staggering odds of any one of us being alive, given all the illnesses and accidents that could have befallen the billions of ancestors involved in our conception. Don’t worry though, it’s not heavy going at all – the only “sciency” segment of the show lasts less than 4 minutes and culminates in a good old-fashioned knob gag.
The structure is fairly loose, allowing Ramsey to go off-script and focus on some local material including the Metro, Fenwick’s Christmas window, and South Shields Club bingo – all of which hit hard in Newcastle of course. After any slight audience-bashing, Ramsey apologises and checks that no offence was caused – and it’s this affable character that allows him to include scatological material without alienation.
As the show pitches up towards its conclusion, Ramsey weaves in some high-quality emotional contours, callbacks, and topical references, showing his growing skill as a performer. As his popularity continues to rise, you can expect Ramsey’s talent to match his growing profile. See him in June at the Theatre Royal.
