A personal look back from Chortle editor Steve Bennett

This seemed like the year comedy returned to more-or-less normal given the turmoil of Covid, although some things are inevitably changing. For starters there have never been more tours, driven by social media as well as every comic’s desire to build a fan base under their own name, rather than relying on comedy club nights, which are still financially precarious. 

Here are my most memorable gigs of the past 12 months…

10. Dan ​Tiernan

Monkey Barrel, Edinburgh, August: There was no escaping the intensity of Dan Tiernan's explosive performance in the intimate basement venue where he made his impressive Edinburgh debut. But there was a humanity behind the ferocity and the sometimes politically incorrect jokes that he had licence to crack about the special school he attended. It was a powerful debut, and he was unlucky not to win the best newcomer award for which he was nominated. An honourable mention, too, to Lorna Rose Treen whose debut fizzed with stupid invention. Dan Tiernan review

9. Kate Berlant

Soho Theatre, London, September:  This smartly self-indulgent show skewered all the pretentiousness of serious theatre. An easy target, maybe, but Kate Berlant - with the aid of director Bo Burnham - was meticulous in piling on the gags and making sure the show never unfolded quite as you might expect. Stupid, but done with an unwaveringly straight face befitting the actorly self-importance it was parodying. Review

8. Gillian Cosgriff: Actually, Good

Butterfly Club, Melbourne, April: Its premise was the perfect post-pandemic fillip, to create a gratitude list of reasons to be cheerful… and in less capable hands could have come across as twee or overly earnest. Yet Gillian Cosgriff handled in artfully, weaving her own suggestions with those contributed by the audience, while crafting a narrative that offered more substance than 'enjoy everyday pleasures', even if that was the take-away. A real feelgood show with depth too. Review

7. Brian Butterfield

Earth, London, September: Peter Serafinowicz's alter-ego - a perpetually failing but always blindly optimistic businessman - made the successful leap from screen, and internet success, to stage with this daft show. While not quite every section of the show worked to full effect, the character is a wonderful creation, the script rich with gags and Serafinowicz's commitment unwavering, requiring him to swelter in a fat suit for the best part of two hours. Review

5. John ​Kearns

Soho Theatre, London, June:  John Kearns brilliantly straddles the worlds of high and low culture, and his latest show,  The Varnishing Days, exploited that perfectly. Insisting on wearing his tonsure wig and oversized fake teeth, he's clearly a daft 'turn'. Yet, like Tony Hancock, his poetic monologue can evoke Pinter or Beckett in the desperation of lost opportunity. However, it's never pretentious, as he explores universal themes of thwarted ambition and relentless compromise - or even just bin bags - with laughs always put front and centre. Review.

5.  The Kaye Hole

The Forum Theatre, Melbourne, April: Reuben Kaye's glorious playground of the most outrageous comedy and cabaret performers is the perfect late-night festival show - a sleazy celebration of individuality in comedy, burlesque and circus all held together by an ostentatious alpha-performer with a cracking voice and an irresistible sense of naughtiness. A scandalously good night out in the best traditions of transgressive cabaret.  Review

4. Ahir ​Shah

Soho Theatre, London, October: Ends won Ahir Shah the main Edinburgh Comedy Award – on his third time of being nominated – and deservedly so. This compelling piece of comic storytelling was an uplifting tribute to his grandparents and a welcome reminder that even if things sometimes look bleak now, the UK has made phenomenal strides on multiculturalism within a generation or two. The show also addressed questions of class and so much more besides. But always through the prism of telling a good yarn, never from the soapbox. Review

3 Ed ​Byrne: Tragedy Plus Time

Assembly Rooms, Edinburgh, August: The much-loved comedy director Paul Bryne would not have countenanced any silly sentimentality after his death at 44, so it was left to his brother Ed to deliver the perfect tribute: funny, frank and as well-constructed as any director would want. Byrne was truthful about the up-and-down relationship with his sibling, including the unique bond that joking together provides, and the show culminated  in a deliciously bad-taste joke that showed just how humour connected them. Tragedy Plus Time is touching without being manipulative and is touring next year - go if you can. Review

2. Stamptown Comedy Night

Pleasance,  Edinburgh, August:  Like The Kaye Hole, Stamptown is a loose collective united by a common cause – in this case a gloriously anarchic alternative approach to comedy, masterminded by ringmaster Zack Zucker and his desperate-for-approval alter-ego Jack Tucker. It’s a cult with many in-jokes – most of them triggered by sound cues fired by  Jonny Woolley on the sound cue but with an verve and energy that any new attendee can instantly relish. On this night Marvel star Karen Gillen made an appearance – getting fully into the mad spirit – and no one mentioned it. Viggo Venn, Daniel Sloss, Garry Starr, Michelle Brasier, and Josh Glanc as Spanish Fuck Boi joined the chaos too. And what a riot it was.  Review

1. Julia ​Masli

Monkey Barrel, Edinburgh, August : Estonian Julia Masli has been knocking around the weird  clowny end of the Edinburgh Fringe for a few years, but with her 2023 show ha ha ha ha ha ha ha, everything came together in perfect concert. Every night was a unique you-had-to-be-there moment, with Masli generating a real sense of community (helped by the 1am start time) of all being in this together. The premise couldn’t have been simpler: she asks audience their problems and strives to solve them - in creatively imaginative ways, and often requiring the assistance of others in the room. While that’s all very warm and positive, there’s a slightly unhinged edge to her as well, adding dangerous unpredictability to her otherwise uplifting show. No wonder it was the talk of the festival. Review

Published: 28 Dec 2023