The Set List is a hilarious addition to the vast array of late night stand-up comedy variety performances.  As audience members take their seats, they have to fill pieces of paper with random suggestions.  These are then put into a box that goes onto the stage.  What makes this show original is the fact that all the comedians performing have to improvise.  The topics appear on a screen behind them and they have to include elements from the suggestions within the box.  You can tell that the comedians have not seen the topics before as a few misread the made-up words and then started to stumble over what to say. 

and a half

A politically motivated musical fusing rap, hip hop, jazz, and beat poetry is an ambitious concept, and one that was always going to require a delicate level of execution. Unfortunately Darian Dauchan, backed by his accompanists on bass and violin, failed to make this a show of any lasting impression.

and a half

Before seeing this show I really had no clue of what to expect from Ian D Montford.  The idea of comedy and spirit mediums combined made me cringe a little bit, nonetheless I was intrigued.

Whilst queuing for the show we were handed a piece of paper to fill out – A dead celebrity’s name, your name and your deepest, darkest secret.  I was trying to imagine what Ian D. Montford could be like, I pictured a well-spoken, serious type in a suit – A Derren Brown alike.  However, I couldn’t have been more wrong.  Onto the stage came a flamboyant and extremely personable Ian D. Montford with a Northern accent, dressed a bit like Aladdin or a yoga instructor.

In this one-woman adaptation of Chekhov’s ‘On the Harmful Effects of Tobacco’, a puppet named Nikolai Nikotine, forced by his overbearing wife to deliver a lecture against smoking, digresses and complains, sings and dances, and teaches us more about the harmful effects of marriage than those of tobacco. The show definitely has its moments, but there are too many pacing problems for it to be as entertaining as it could.