CityLife

City Life Comedian of the Year Heat 4

Jason Cook

ALL too soon the heats of this year’s City Life Comedian of the Year 2008 roll to a close.

But first two more have to be picked to complete the line up for the final (well not quite completing the line up but more of that later) and once again for the fourth time the competition is genuinely stiffer than an arthritic knee.

As ever Malarkey’s beloved Toby Hadoke – mentioned in Alan Carr’s autobiography don’t you know – warmed the crowd to receive their first act.

Not for the first time in the history of this competition, Phil Buckley was to open proceedings but dealt with it with aplomb presenting a confident stage presence.

His set featured stories of his knack of blurting out the wrong thing plus a panda chat up line that actually worked while he was on stage.

Second up was Peter McCole with a graphic description of his, quite traumatic it seems, first ever sexual experience. He got selected laughs for his confessional but at times it felt more like therapy than comedy.

Russell Arathoon had a shaky start with an awkward delivery and the opening of his story of going out on the town with his chavy mate Big Fat Sarah seemed like it was going to tread an all too familiar path.

Instead he progressed onto a monologue where his turn of phrase revealed itself to be extremely innovative with an impressive gag rate to match.

Next up was the arresting stage presence of George Cottier. His is a brave and bold persona; beginning with a moment of silence and proceeding to tell a deliberately overly explained anecdote.

It’s an act that isn’t quite there yet but is brimming with potential.

Susan Vale performed a trademark deadpan set, delivering her, quite literally, below the belt material with understated glee.

Rounding off this year’s heats was Ben Davis who churned out gag after gag set against his gawky demeanour.

His was an inventive eight minutes, offering useful advice on how to select the right person to speak to on the train and featuring an optimistic custard doughnut philosophy.

Jason Cook, who recently returned from the Edinburgh Fringe with a plethora of five and four star reviews, provided the headlining spot and thus it was announced that Phil Buckley and Ben Davis would go through to the final on October 26, the last night of the Comedy Festival.

What did you think? Have your say.