Maxwell, Djalili, Larsen and Bannard
The Fox - 413 Green Lanes, Palmers Green, N13 - 15th January 2005
- Andrew Maxwell
- Omid Djalili
- Mike Larsen
- Lee Bannard
- MC: Kevin Dewsbury
*Ring ring* "Yeah mate, we are going to a comedy club up Palmers Green, so meet us there for 9ish".Fucking Palmers where? Sorry to sound like a tourist, but I don't know North London that well, mainly because I have no reason to. But after looking on the map I hoped on the train, and after a little delay I was up in joyous N13. Walking down to the Fox, it reminded me a bit of Streatham, apart from the most obscure scene of watching a group of 16/17 year old heads just playing leap frog with each other in the street. That was very weird, because at first I thought they where trying to jack some bloke, as he was standing in the street with his head bent down and I thought they where going to axe kick him or something. But they where just playing leap frog. Suddenly someone walks up next to me and I was like erm… but it was my mate Ed, who came out to meet me. It was all getting a bit too surreal for me, and a drink was definitely in order.
I get in to the place and pay the ridiculously cheap entrance fee of £5.50 (50p for an annual membership card) when shown with an NUS card or £8 otherwise. I then stroll into what looks like a school assembly hall, and quite baffled at how such a great line up is playing at what I see as a random venue. But I'm assuming it's one of those milestone comedy venues, if they are drawing in top comics week in week out, so hey it's all gravy.
I'm greeted by Raj, Carla, Leila and Graham and a bottle of Becks courtesy of Raj (top man). After settling down, the MC for the night comes on, who is this rather cringe worthy "hey look must slip in a joke about being Northern" type comedian. But thank God he's the MC. First up was American comedian Mike Larsen, who has written for Ellen, Grace Under Fire, Drew Carey show etc. He was such a relaxed bloke, without having any funny gimmicks about him. He told straight up jokes, stories, anecdotes without having to overly swear or run around the stage like he was a speed freak. A particular highlight of his set, was when he was talking about how in California weed was the tipple of choice (which reflect in his overall chilled out nature). He then done a shout out for any 'pot heads in the audience' in which Graham quickly replied with a "YEAH!" Mike noticed this and made a few jokes out it, which is always good to see when your in a group gets involved in a comics set.
Next up was a quick break, and an excuse to get more drinks. Time to move onto the spirits me thinks. After another embarrassing interlude with the MC, who this time got a couple of the members of the audience involved; who where blatantly really bad wannabe comedians with pre-written scripts which they have been honing since they where 14 years old, it was time for Lee Bannard.
He came on stage, and instantly you knew he had the whole Gareth from the office look about him. He started his first joke about wanking, where if you sit on your hands and wait till it goes numb, when you bash one off it feels like someone else is doing it. Well that's the joke I thought he was going to say as he ended it of with "if you put on a metal glove, it feels like a knight is wanking you off." That caught a lot of people off guard who thought they knew they joke already and got everyone laughing. He continued his set, coming out with some really harsh jokes, in which I can only describe it as being a live combination of Jam and Mark from Peep Show. I thought he was brilliant, but as Ed pointed out he's definitely a one trick pony type of comedian, and didn't possess that much longevity. But there and then he was straight up hilarious.
Now with an interlude, that was an excuse to get more drinks, quite predictable hey? Well what's better than being in good company, with a few drinks and some top notch comedians? Next up was Omid Djalili. We where very lucky to see him as he was the last minute replacement for Reginald D Hunter who pulled out last minute. He's gotten more exposure recently, particular with his set on Jack D - Live at the Apollo, which was broadcasted on BBC1 in 2004. I was particular interested in seeing him live, as he was more animated than the previous two comics, due to his style. The man came on, and started with his crazy Arabic impressions, going absolutely insane, showing off the volatile Arab moods, ending off with an "Allah Akbar". Absolute genius. He also talked about mixing up this with his love of football, and how a normal person can turn into an absolutely nutter when it comes down staying true to your team (his being the Chelsea scumbags). His stage presence, observation on his culture and the British culture where just spot on, and he had everyone in hysterics. He took the mick out of himself, without going OTT, which all added to fun of it all. A top comedian, and definitely recommended.
Last on from these fine selections of comics was Mr Andrew Maxwell. Now myself and Ed saw this guy in Edinburgh and he was superb. He's such an intelligent comedian, who mixes up a little bit of facts and politics within his set. He is so observant, but isn't one of those Mark Thomas soap box ram it down your gullet "would you like some Quorn burgers with that sir?" type comedians. He's just telling you how it is. The man bowls on stage with his Trucker Cap and comes on telling jokes ranging from cussing George Bush and the Texans to how we should be proud of our high teen pregnancy rates, as it will be good for the future economy (fucking genius). Also the way he could build a good portion of a show out of cussing a couple of hecklers was so great. He would take the offending heckle, break it down word for word and totally throw it back in their face, laying into them. That shut up a lot of wannabe comedians in the audience, which was great!
The highlight of the show came as a result of Carla and Leila's audience participation. As Maxwell shouted "is anyone here from the States?" they shouted "New York California" which came out as it was written. Perfect fuel for Maxwell's fire, "New York in California hey?" Ah genius, the audience where in hysterics over the obvious mish of words (in their defense it was fueled by the booze which was going down through the night). It was all good though, as it was all in fun and games and everyone was loving it. I have to say this again, if you got a chance to see Maxwell then see him. He's so on the ball it's unreal, and even if you don't care about the politics, he's just a properly funny guy who can resort to the old skool playground cussing matches (which we all love see at the end of the day).
So big respect to Palmers Green for having such a treasure chest of comedy, and the locals there who are all properly safe. Also it was nice meeting Graham, Carla and Leila, and big up for the 'adventure' for the mystical Shisha. For more information of further events then go to HERE.
