Dave presents Comedy In The Dark at the Soho Theatre

Tim Clark2 October 2012

Live
Reports

There are few things which are better off done in the dark. The cinema is one, others are best left to the imagination. Comedy however usually strictly adheres to the rules of the visible spectrum.

So to be given the chance to (watch?) some well known comedians perform with the house lights firmly off was an intriguing proposition. Gracing the stage at the Soho Theatre last Sunday included Phil Nichol, Abandoman, Seann Walsh, Chris McCausland and MC Mark Olver, who made a mockery of the pre-announced ‘safe word’ by pointing out our location in central London.

I may be more likely to be fondled on leaving the theatre as much as I am sitting here in the dark, he says as the audience is ushered to the seats and the lights go out.

Nichol takes to the stage first, and though I may not be able to see him I can imagine the gleeful look on his face as he races through his latest set at a million miles an hour, breaking off occasionally to improvise with the audience over their new setting, joking that it would be hilarious to find him naked on stage and no-one would know. He even rustles his belt for good humour before launching into some of his trademark songs.

I spend a long time trying to focus on Nichol’s silhouette on the far side of the room to little avail, it’s akin to looking in the corner of the room for the voices coming out of the wireless. Nichol is about halfway into an anecdote about a gay club in Amsterdam when the house lights come on to reveal the Canadian comic in his birthday suit, guitar strategically placed over his modesty, which is then whipped away. The audience are pleasantly surprised rather than shocked as a half-naked Nichol makes his way from the stage.

Next on stage is blind comic Chris McCausland, whose first line on stage is the hilarious ‘this is just a normal fucking gig for me’ which kicks off an excellent fifteen minutes of observational humour, from our ignorance of blindness to how hot it is in Brazil.

Next up on stage were Abandoman, the Irish improv rapper who was performing in the dark for the first time. Taking a few moments to find his audience – literally by pawing at the front row - the musical maestro performed renditions of their date song and their revolution song.

The absence of light allows the audience to become more playful, more daring and more engaged in the show, which was particularly obvious during Abandoman’s set.

You can hear heckles but you aren’t quite sure where they’re from, who said them, etc. This comes as a bit of a shock to the comedians, who only usually see up-front audiences late on a Saturday night. Finishing the set in the dark Abandoman urged his new-found man and woman volunteers to kiss for effect, even though we didn’t know if they did or not (they most likely didn’t) the effect was the same.

Headlining the show was Brighton based Seann Walsh, who quipped that even his mom said he is more of a visual comedian. Within minutes he had grown accustomed to the dark and had found a vocal range to match his visual comedy.

You can tell that Comedy In The Dark is the type of show which is as novel for the comedians as it is for the audience, and this makes it a unique experience -at one point it felt like Walsh was simply making small talk in his own flat while trying to find the light switch, his delivery was so casual. Though the show I saw was fairly standard in terms of the comedy it offered, the delivery is what makes it worth a visit.

Dave's Comedy In The Dark tour is set to head across the UK this October, for more information visit: www.joindave.co.uk/comedyinthedark

Person(s):

Phil Nichol

Person(s):

Abandoman

Person(s):

Seann Walsh

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