Teenage Cancer Trust: Kevin Bridges and Guests, Albert Hall - comedy review: the compere was joined by Noel Fielding, Frankie Boyle and Jon Richardson

Lean, keen and assured Bridges sets up a night of contrasting comedy in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust
Nonchalant: compere Kevin Bridges at the Royal Albert Hall (Picture: Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire)
Bruce Dessau25 March 2015

As fundraisers go this one took some beating in terms of contrasting acts. Highpoints included impressively nonchalant compere Kevin Bridges and the manchild weirdness of Noel Fielding, while Frankie Boyle was on hand to provide the controversy.

Scotsman Bridges looked leaner than usual and there was no surplus fat on his material either. He hit the ground running, joking this was the poshest venue he had ever played: “I never thought I’d be welcoming people to the Albert Hall unless I had a high-visibility jacket on.”

After assured quips about wi-fi issues, call centres and being a naughty 14-year-old, Bridges introduced rapping stand-up Doc Brown, who confessed he once wore trainers because they were cool but now wears them for gardening. Cheery Kerry Godliman followed, expressing bafflement at the dizzying choice of washing machines.

These days Frankie Boyle seems to shuttle between passionate advocate for free speech and public enemy number one. Tonight he fulfilled both briefs following an aside about hoping James Corden might commit suicide with some powerful patter about slavery. He prompted gasps as well as guffaws, but Boyle would not be Boyle if he was not provocative.

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1/10

After the interval Jon Richardson cleared away some empty water bottles before beginning. The self-deprecating Lancastrian is so fastidious his favourite sport is snooker, because it is “tidying up disguised as a sport.” An anecdote about his future wife involving food poisoning and rejected debit cards was an absolute crowdpleaser. Finally it was the turn of Fielding, who revealed he was troubled by the ageing process. Now an elfin 41, he explained he had recently started walking with his hands behind his back like Prince Charles… and liked it.

But after a strong start he lost parts of the audience with an absurdist ramble about being a “chicken man”. He was imaginative, did funny voices and excelled at physical comedy. If his shaggy chicken story had had some punchlines it would have been the perfect end to a very good evening.

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