Review: Chris Ramsey and Jason Cook – The Bridge Hotel, Newcastle
Chris Ramsey
Throughout June and continuing in July, The Laughing Penguin plays host to a number of acclaimed comedians previewing and trying out material for their final performance at the much celebrated Edinburgh Comedy Festival. This show saw Jason Cook and Chris Ramsey take to the stage to a sell out show at the intimate Bridge Hotel in Newcastle. MC for the night was Tony Jameson, who I’ve seen comparing a few times before. As always, he served as a good host for the event, engaging in light audience interaction and warming the crowd up for the night ahead – not literally, though…
First up was Jason Cook, with his show The End (Part I) which revolved around a ‘near death’ experience that he recently encountered. While convinced that he was on his way out he began thinking back on his life as a whole. With familiar concepts such as the paranoia of losing who you are within crowded shopping centres tying in with his observations of the structure of drunken arguments the overall show was very well structured and, considering that this is not the definitive version, I believe that The End (Part I) has potential to be the best at Edinburgh this year.
The final act of the night was rising local comedian Chris Ramsey. Ramsey is from my home town of South Shields – more specifically, my street. Having seen him before I was expecting a similar collection of routines, however the majority of his show Aggro-phobia was new material and even the parts that I had heard before still make me laugh. His references and throw-backs to our town and school-days were all great nostalgic experiences for me, and it is obvious that Ramsey is enjoying regaling while he is telling his off the wall stories of his past. Aggro-phobia as a whole was a fun performance and, although some fine-tuning is needed to the flow of the show, there is more than enough time for it to be a hit at Edinburgh and throughout the country.
