Stood Up In Oxford

Tuesday night saw the start of a few evenings of stand-up comedy by present and ex-students of Oxford University. Entertaining an audience formed mainly of students, in the intimate setting of the Burton-Taylor studio, each act is to be commended for forming a thoroughly enjoyable session.

The host Ryan, was energetic and encouraged audience participation, setting the scene for a relaxed evening.

The four comedians each had very different styles and looks, which provided versatility. My favourite act was Rory (a self-professed ‘boomerang child’), who started his act by reading a mock-review of his own performance, which was unique and different to anything I have seen previously on the comedy circuit. Jamie, the first act on, had a good sense of dry humour and amused the audience with some witty lines. Tim brought to the stage much welcomed black humour, whilst the final act, the flamboyantly attired Louis, brought in a touch of eccentricity to his self-deprecating piece.

On a few occasions some of the comedians forgot the next line, or stumbled, but they made any potential awkwardness humorous so it actually wasn’t uncomfortable at all. From my understanding these acts are all in the quite early stages of their career; their performances were impressive bearing this in mind and they were all very likeable. I was also pleased that they avoided the usual clichéd jokes by having original and novel material, plus they avoided groans from the audience by the distinct lack of cheesiness in their acts.

The show is just over an hour long - perfect timing to showcase each act, and I would highly recommend attending to have a good laugh and support these young and promising artists. All in all, I found it rather inspiring, and am thinking of having a go myself sometime!

Maleeha Bari (DI Reviewer), 17/10/12