Just for laughs

Last night I was invited to the first night of the annual Bermuda comedy festival at the City Hall. Like almost everything in Bermuda the laughs were shipped in, although unlike the fruit and veg at least it wasn’t stuck on the dock whilst the dockers went on strike this week.

This is the 7th Annual Just for laughs festival and lasts through the weekend. Scottish comic Danny Bhoy was the main act but we were kicked off by local funny man Jonathan Young, who whilst his routine wouldn’t travel well was very good and we all agreed we’d pay to watch him again for a longer stint.

Next was American Alonzo Bodden, who won Last Comic Standing a couple of years back. He is a regular to this show and I liked his fast-paced style although perhaps a little too American-centric. However Bodden did build a good rapport with the audience, poking fun at the locals although at times it appeared that he created his whole act just by reading the national newspaper at breakfast, although it worked for me.

A more sophisticated performance was executed by Danny Bhoy, who based his gig around reading out complaint letters that he had written to big corporations.

“Dear Gillette, when I bought the Mach 1 razor you told me it was the best that a man could get. Obviously not!”

A whole host of household names came in for stick, and his observational humour was something we could all relate to. Bhoy confidently and cleverly filled in the gaps and then brought it together like a novel at the end.

It was a good night that started with beer and ended with wine and everyone needs to get out to see some live comedy once in a while.