Always Be Comedy with Naz Osmanoglu, at the Tommyfield

Introducing the house rules in a gameshow stylee, compere James Gill managed to liven the audience up for the first act while clearing out old rubbish from his house - an assortment of unwanted gifts which looked like the remains of a recession-hit Christmas, included Die Hard 4, and in Gill's own words 'Frankie Boyle's latest hate-ridden tome'.

 

The first comedian on was Stephen Hill who performed a 15-minute set which held a lot of promise. A skit about the band Busted initially filled me with dread but Hill managed to construct an excellent five minute semi-rant about his hate for the band while his piece on exercise was similarly well constructed.

 

Other acts from the evening included Kat Brown, Kelly Kingham, Patrick Lynch and Francis Foster, however the other pre-headline highlight (for me at least) was a short set by Mr Susan, whose improvised jokes on the venue's décor allowed him to ease himself into a quirky routine which took everyone by surprise.

 

However, the main plaudits should be saved for the headline act. Walking on stage like a force of nature, Naz Osmanoglu is an act who is almost destined to be a household name before the decade is mature enough to enter pre-school.

 

Having seen his show 1000% Awesome at the Edinburgh Fringe, I was already aware of most of this set. However, with time running low and an audience already shifting in their seats by the time he took to the stage, Osmanoglu took apart his well crafted set as and when the need arose, dipping into his material whenever the audience allowed while spending the rest of his time ad-libbing a better five minutes than many comedians could write.

 

If anything the only criticism is that the night tried to pack too many comedians into the show and by the time Osmanoglu had taken to the stage most of the audience had already had their weekly fill of mirth.

 

It was a fitting end to a gig which held some genuine surprises, if compere and organiser Gill can unearth comedy gems on a regular basis then ABC could in time become a stalwart of the South London comedy scene.

 

Always Be Comedy is appearing at The Tommyfield this Thursday (20th October) with Michael Kossew, Lucy Jagger, Scott Merrington, Leo Kearse, Rachael Firth and headliner: Rob Collins