Never having been to this kind of thing before, my nine-year-old son went in with an open mind.
I knew it would be a challenge to entertain a room full of children and to have them in stitches without offending anyone.
My son absolutely loves jokes books and I thought this would be right up his street.
First up was Chris the ‘ginger’ compere who initially seemed a bit nervous interacting with the children but when he spoke with the adults in the audience he was like a different man.
Chris engaged with audience and was hilarious when making the adults ‘miaow’ and ‘moo’.
The children knew they were going to be in charge for the whole of the show.
ComedySportz UK was the first act to entertain us and is the North West’s top improvised comedy troupe.
All four of the team bound onto the stage dressed in sports tops and gave you the feeling it was going to be a competitive comedy show with a sporty feel.
It was in fact a fast-paced improv comedy show where two teams battle it out for the biggest laughs and include audience participation.
This was very much like a child’s version of ‘Mock of the Week’ and the players create quick witted sketches, scenes and songs from whatever suggestions are thrown at them by the audience.
Sadly, Comedysportz were not a laugh a minute and I felt was aimed at a much older audience.
Some parts we giggled and others we wondered how much longer it would be going on for. I could imagine that they would be great working with schools in their drama class, it would build up confidence and get children to think on the spot but it just didn’t entertain us.
Feeling a little deflated we were feeling a little anxious about the next act and all I can say was that is was absolutely fantastic from the moment Jay Foreman came on stage with his guitar we laughed non-stop.
Jay Foreman is a British musical comedian and an extremely talented comic songwriter and his catchy tunes have the most witty and hilarious lyrics.
The subject matters of his jokes and songs cover lots of ground, from Grandma’s food, to caterpillar sick to run his car and a truly disgusting song in the sewer.
The laughs were constant from the audience and his interaction was relaxed and utterly engaging.
At one point we were told no longer to clap our hands at the end of he songs but to blow raspberries, this had everyone in fits of laughter and some vey confused who continued to clap.
We were kept solidly entertained from beginning to end with this hilarious stand-up show, and I could tell that the vast majority of the audience felt the same.
On the way out we bought both his CD’s and as soon as we got in he car they were on and we were singing along and listening to some of his other material.
If I had only seen this act I would have given it a SalfordOnline.com rating of 5* but overall with both acts a 3* is all we could give.
