Review: Jo Caulfield, Sol Bernstein, Michael Redmond & John Smith – The Journal Tyne Theatre, Newcastle

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Jo Caulfield

This past Saturday saw The Grinning Idiot Comedy Club bring a second show to The Journal Tyne Theatre in Newcastle, with Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow star Jo Caulfield headlining.

Opening the night was Michael Redmond with some great material. His routines were well developed from the work I saw at the Fringe last year – there were some similar content but Redmond looked a lot more comfortable, and his material felt polished. Part of Redmond’s success, I think, is the small mannerisms in his set, like the little chuckle he gives once he has delivered a punch line – it’s nice to feel like a comedian’s laughing with you, enjoying the rise you are getting out of them.

Sol Bernstein occupied the middle spot of the evening with some controversial character comedy. Bernstein went down well with the crowd – his anecdotal material certainly got some big laughs – but sometimes he lacks direction with his persona and, for me, it really wasn’t enough of a caricature for it to work.

Closing Saturday’s show at the Tyne Theatre was Jo Caulfield, who delivered a wonderfully enjoyable set that was so well crafted. Caulfield commanded the stage beautifully, engaged the audience with her life observations, and provided a commercially strong and intelligent end to the evening.

Host for the evening John Smith held the night together very well – the theatre stage truly becomes him and some of his newer jokes were lovely additions to his usually chaotic style of compering.

More information on The Grinning Idiot Comedy Club can be found on their website here, and their full listings can be found on the Giggle Beats calendar.

by Fiona

chris

I thought Sol was great.

“…wasn’t enough of a caricature for it to work”

He was loud, proud and in your face with comments which, although heavily reliant on old fashioned sterotypical social views, was very well recieved by all.

Direct and offensive it could have been, yet delivered in that harmless way very old people have because they have not learnt the meaning of the words “political correctness”.
http://www.wrestle-zone.co.uk Gary

I personally thought it was a great evening and Sol was the stand out act of the night, in my opinion. I loved Jo, was worried prior to the event that her hype would not match up but thankfully she was on top form and deserved headline act. One thing is i wish that comedians would not use the same material they use on TV, it sort of cheapens the comedy a bit.
Karen

I completely agree with the comments made by Gary and Chris regarding Sol. I thought Sol was hilarious. The character was really believable. I was thoroughly entertained throughout the night.

I think expecting comedians to deliver different material and stay clear of stuff they have used in TV performances is an unrealistic expectation though. We just have to expect that the TV material will sometimes drift into the performance. If you concentrate on hearing the punchline then you will be disappointed. But if you look beyond that and focus on ‘delivery’ you will be able to enjoy time and time again. I sometimes go to the Grinning Idiot two nights in a row, involving two different venues but with two different audiences. Although some of the material will inevitably be repeated it will certainly be different through audience interaction and response. This has made it even more enjoyable to me! Can’t wait til the next lots of gigs in May 2011! :-D
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