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Slim and Drew Fraser
- Upfront Cafe
- The Drum, Birmingham
- 4 May 2007
It's average to great then great to average for the former Best Black Comic and the Comedy Central motormouth
Drew Fraser, PIC: ny-entertainment.com
In a refreshing – if odd – mix of formats, tonight’s support consisted of a dub poet, a white Jamaican stand-up and a local R n’ B act, all supporting Slim and Drew Fraser, two comics brim full of on-stage confidence.
Brooklyn’s Drew Fraser seemed to race through his set after a slow start. A fast talker to the point that several of his early punch-lines were completely glossed over, the New Yorker would benefit from staggering his act, which at times seemed a little over-rehearsed. That said, from this patchy start he steadily gathered momentum by covering the popular (if slightly familiar) topics of men vs. women and aging. By the end of his set, Drew’s confidence had visibly doubled and an enormous crescendo of laughter marked his departure.
If Drew Fraser started slowly and ended on a high, the other headliner tonight, Slim, suffered from the opposite. Hailing from Brixton and a former winner of the Best Black Comic award, Slim’s was a set exquisitely tailored towards his predominantly black audience. Impeccable timing combined with a likable and amenable stage presence meant the audience warmed to him immediately.
From that moment on he appeared relaxed and comfortable, rifling through jokes evoking an odd nostalgia for the 1970’s black childhood that I – as an 80’s born skinny white boy – never had. Yet as his set progressed the laughs became more sporadic and his material sadly ran out of steam. Which is a shame, because at his best, Slim’s comedy seems almost effortless.
Dave Allen
