Stand-Up Comedy – Page 2

September 2024 Favourites

Hello again! Because my 41st Birthday Favourites included the first half of September to cover the Paralympics, I had considered combining the rest of the month with October for a joint Favourites post later on. However, there are enough bits and pieces from the latter half of September that I can make a little post and video from, including another tasty free meal, a nice bit of comedy and some great factual entertainment.

So let’s get straight into it, as this won’t take long. As ever, nothing is sponsored to appear here and all opinions are my own, and I hope you enjoy!

Ross Noble – Online Stand-Up & Other Reviews

Back in March I had a great time seeing a live show by the brilliant comedian Ross Noble, and followed it up by rewatching and reviewing all of his DVDs in May and June.

He switched to online releases from 2017 onwards, as he didn’t feel there was a market for DVDs any more, which was a shame, but at least we can still enjoy his hilarious improvised comedy that way.

So for this final part of my trilogy of Ross Noble review posts, I’m going to look through his streaming releases, along with various other bits and pieces I haven’t already mentioned in the previous couple of posts. I’m not reviewing absolutely everything he’s ever starred in of course, these are just the main things I’ve taken an interest in. And you can see a wide selection of clips of Ross on my Youtube playlist as well. So I hope you enjoy!

June 2024 Favourites

It’s funny how things seem to come in threes. Last month I quipped that trying to eradicate mice from our house and the Conservatives from government was about banishing evil entities before they do irreparable damage, so what happens in June? I get Covid as well! Typical.

Thankfully there has been success on all three fronts. Our mouse problem is being dealt with effectively, so I’m just looking for a builder to do some repairs that will stop them getting back in. Covid affected Mum and I in a similar way to the only other time we had it in January last year, with Mum’s body effectively shutting down for a day to fight it, whilst I wasn’t that bad but still felt quite drained for a few days, not helped by it being the hottest and most humid week of the year so far. We’re both fully recovered anyway, and Mum having her booster jab a couple of months ago helped I’m sure. And now of course we have the sheer relief of the Tories being booted out in the General Election, after 14 years of chaos and one of the worst election campaigns in history.

I’m also glad that I was able to go out quite a bit during the first part of the month before Covid struck, by enjoying a sensory garden tour, exploring a new exhibition, having walks by the Thames and taking a day trip to the seaside. I met up with my aunt for a couple of those outings too, which was lovely – it’s just a shame we had to drop other things we had planned, as we had been trying to make the most of some time I had off work, and I had to miss a theatre show as well, but not to worry.

So there’s quite a bit to mention in this month’s post and video as usual, including things I’ve been watching and listening to as well as those outings, none of which is sponsored or gifted as usual. And I’ve also included my thoughts about the election campaign and results at the end. So I hope you enjoy!

Ross Noble – Stand-Up DVD Reviews – Part 2

Welcome to the second part in my trilogy of Ross Noble reviews. I’ve been rewatching his stand-up DVDs again, since I saw him live in March, so in my previous post I looked through the first batch of those releases, and now here I’ll be reviewing the rest. Then I’ll move on to some online bits and pieces in my next and final post about him.

As I explained last time, his improvised comedy means that every single show is completely different, resulting in multiple performances on each of his DVDs alongside a myriad of extra features. So once again there’s plenty to go through here, none of which is sponsored. On Youtube there some clips on his current and older channels, along with a few audio versions of his shows that are also available on Audible, and I’ve also compiled a huge playlist of clips featuring Ross from his stand-up shows and many other things. So let’s go through his remaining stand-up DVDs, and I hope you enjoy!

May 2024 Favourites

Hello again, hope you’re all doing well. For me this month has certainly thrown up its share of surprises, and not just the exciting ones in Doctor Who. At home we had to call in the professionals to get rid of a few mice who quietly snuck in, and now in the UK we’re suddenly in the run-up to a snap general election. So there seems to be a running theme about banishing evil beasts who care little for human welfare and will continue to cause substantial damage if they’re not stopped.

But there are other things to mention as well. It’s been a relatively quiet month, but I’ve attended another fun musical, taken part in another audio description workshop, had some nice walks in the sunshine, and watched a few things on TV and DVD. So, with the usual disclaimer that nothing is sponsored to appear here and all opinions are my own, let’s crack on with my latest post and video roundup, and I hope you enjoy!

Ross Noble – Stand-Up DVD Reviews – Part 1

Ross Noble has been one of my favourite comedians for many years, and I had a great time seeing him in March at the London Palladium, during his 21st tour called Jibber Jabber Jamboree. This was the first time I had seen him do stand-up in person, as the only other time I saw him live in the past was when he starred in Young Frankenstein back in 2017. But I knew what to expect, as I own all of his DVDs and have also enjoyed some of his online releases and TV appearances. And it was well worth the wait, he was brilliant.

What I love about Ross is that every single show he does is completely improvised, taking inspiration from people he sees or talks to in the audience to go off on surreal flights of fancy, along with occasional anecdotes about amusing things he’s seen and done. He’s never mocking or disparaging towards anyone he talks to, because he wants everyone to enjoy themselves, and he doesn’t have plants in the audience either. Every crowd is simply a new treasure trove of possibilities for him.

So every performance is completely unique and delightfully random, covering a myriad of different topics, as his imagination runs wild and goes in all sorts of weird, wonderful and unexpected directions. He has an extraordinary ability to go off on tangents, and sub-tangents, and countless layers of additional tangents, and then still circle back round to items he was talking about earlier, sometimes even linking things together, and keep it entertaining.

So he’s never short of things to talk about, his energy and creativity is amazing, and he’s consistently hilarious. Hence I own all of the DVDs that he released between 2004 and 2013. He really made the most of the format by including footage from multiple shows, audio commentaries, documentaries, quizzes, spoof copyright notices, animated menus, packaging with nice artwork, booklets that fold out into posters, and more.

In this post, therefore, I’m going to review the first 5 of his DVDs, as they contain a huge amount of material. I’ll then go through the rest of his DVDs in another post next month, and some other online material at some point after that, making this a trilogy altogether. I just thought I’d get this first part up in time for the long Bank Holiday weekend.

None of this is sponsored, I’m just happily bingeing on his stuff because I’m a big fan and I saw him live recently. You can see various clips on his current and older Youtube channels, there are audio versions of a few of his shows on Youtube and Audible, and I’ll compiled a huge playlist of clips as well. So I hope you enjoy this first set of reviews!

April 2024 Favourites

Hey there, hope you’re all doing well. I’m good, although like all disabled people in the UK I feel great unease over the government’s proposed changes to our benefits. My PIP review still hasn’t been dealt with after 9 months as it is. I’m not going to rant about it here though – I’ve posted a brief thread and shared several other posts on my Twitter/X page if you want a wider sense of people’s reactions. But please do read the proposals and respond to the consultation if you can (by 22nd July), as it’s vitally important to have our voices heard at this early stage. Same goes for the separate consultation about fit notes (until 8th July) too.

But anyway, on to much nicer things, and there’s plenty that I’ve enjoyed during this past month, including a couple of exhibitions, a West End musical, a theatre workshop, stand-up gigs and other comedy shows. One of the exhibitions was a press invite for my journalist friend Emily, and I’m due to be paid for the workshop I took part in, but nothing is sponsored to be featured here and all opinions are my own as usual.

So let’s crack on with this month’s post and video, and I hope you enjoy!

March 2024 Favourites

Hello again, I hope you had a nice Easter! And welcome to my latest roundup, which is an ‘out and about’ special, because I’ve had a very eventful month, with a couple of theatre shows, a couple of stand-up comedy gigs and a couple of tasty free meals that I want to talk about. I paid for the theatre and comedy shows myself, while the meals were free PR invites for my friend Emily to review, but all opinions are my own regardless. So I hope you enjoy this month’s post and video!

Christmas 2023 Favourites – Part 2

Happy New Year! I hope you had a great Christmas, and that you have a prosperous year ahead as well.

This is the second, bumper part of my festive Favourites, as the first part covered the month of November, where I had a free Christmas meal, explored a trail of snowmen sculptures and saw some of London’s displays, among other activities.

Since then, in December and early January, I’ve met friends in both London and Devon, seen four incredible theatre shows, explored a museum I hadn’t been to before, had some lovely meals in restaurants, ate far too much food at home, celebrated the 60th anniversary of Doctor Who, watched lots of comedies on TV, and enjoyed some music as well.

So once again, as with every Christmas, this is a bumper post and video. One of the meals was a free PR invite for my journalist friend Emily to review, but as usual I’m not sponsored or affiliated to write anything here, and all opinions are my own. I hope you enjoy!

Christmas 2023 Favourites – Part 1

Seasons greetings, I hope your preparations for Christmas are going well, November always feels a little bit festive, but for me it was even more so than normal this year, because I’ve already explored a variety of London’s displays, seen a bunch of snowmen on a sculpture trail, and had a free Christmas dinner courtesy of a PR invite. On top of that I’ve also seen a couple of theatre shows, while at home I’ve been enjoying some more TV and music as always.

Consequently it makes sense to treat this as a festive Favourites post and video, and spread the joy over 2 months. It’s not too early as far as I’m concerned. So with the usual disclaimer that all opinions are my own, including for the free food, let’s crack on with it, and I hope you enjoy!

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