Comedy news: Hackney Empire New Act Of the Year Award

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As much as the New Act of the Year Award 2010 was a celebration of comedy, the annual event ushered in a quiet period at the Hackney Empire. SSP writer Ali Plumb argues that, if anything, the night showed why the Empire is a London institution that needs safe-guarding for the future.

Built as a music hall in 1901, it’s been a television studio, a bingo hall, a theatre, and, most importantly (in our opinion, anyway) a great place to catch some of the best alternative comedy acts Britain has to offer – before they made it big.

The Hackney Empire New Act Of The Year is an amazing night where the 1300-seat strong theatre is filled full of comedy lovers desperate to see the next big thing – you might recognise names from previous years, such as Linda Smith, Stewart Lee, Ardal O’Hanlon, Catherine Tate, Russell Brand, Harry Hill, Eddie Izzard… But hell, who knows where they all are now?

And because this could well be the last New Act Of The Year for a good while, there was a mixture of sadness in amongst stomach-clutching hilarity.

Fifteen new acts relished the opportunity to perform to such a large audience, in such an historic venue, for such an esteemed prize, with many past performers going onto play successful Edinburgh shows later in the year.

Last September it was announced that from February The Hackney Empire was to be shut down and put on hold for at least nine months due to serious financial problems – a member of the Hackney Empire Board, Griff Rhys Jones, told friends of the venue that “The board had no choice. The arts council have offered continued financial support, but only with an entire reboot.” See the news story in The Stage here.

This means it will be re-envisioned at a later date, but at what later date precisely, it’s not known. In the meantime, this gloomy cloud was successfully swept away by none other than Hackney Empire New Act Of The Year’s (or HENAOTY for short. Kind of) regular compere Arthur Smith, in his own grumpy old way.

Stand-out stand-up acts included Inel Tomlinson, an effortlessly charismatic, charming and confident performer, strolling onto the stage without a care in the world and firing off jokes about comedy staples (getting mugged, public transport, low-coast airlines and so on) with such sparkly vigour that you were just swept along with it all.

Sharp as a button and with delivery that many would be jealous of, he is one to keep an eye on, full smiley charisma that wouldn’t seem out of place on a Saturday morning kids’ show. In a good way. Somehow.

He eventually came second to Abandoman, the three man rap group fronted by improvisational near-genius Rob Broderick, who won over the crowd through the power of hip-hop, bringing up two different audience members and rapping at/to/about them and their dreams, picking out amazing rhymes about their lives and leaving the audience standing, clapping and begging for more – even if they did use up double the time most others were allotted and didn’t seem to offer any other comedy other than improvised raps – the audience loved them and were screaming with delight when they eventually collected their prize.

Andrew Ryan, who came fourth, will no doubt be a little annoyed to read (as we’re sure he will – if not here, elsewhere) about his similarities to a previous performer from a previous decade, Arlan O’Hanlon, sporting the same haircut, dress sense, quirky mannerisms and strong Irish accent – which didn’t make him unfunny (far from it), but many in the audience were undoubtedly scratching their heads and wondering… ‘Haven’t I seen this guy before?’ Still, he’s another SSP tip, well worth looking out for in the future.

Frisky and Mannish, the slick, polished, professional pair that they are, kicked off the night with aplomb, playing their own mixed-up, mashed-up reinterpretations of a hundred different pop songs that went down well – though because of the nature of their song-based comedy (like Abandoman), they could have done with a little bit more time to stretch their wings, fire off a few more jokes, and possibly get some of the audience involved.

More than anything else, Frisky can sing. Really sing. Though it was probably the comedy that saw them through to third place, admittedly.

Others well worth a mention include Jo Selby, who was an absolute treat, performing as her Russian Comedienne alter-ego Tatiana Ostrakova, whose surreal and somewhat bizarre delivery (“I have a joke for you. It is very, very funny. I shall tell you it later”) – including bringing out a small rabbit-shaped hand puppet called Mr. Tvinkles – might appeal to a more unusual comedy taste, but was definitely fresh and well-worth seeing a second time.

Luke Benson, who is technically a giant, standing at 6”6’ (he was keen to point out) is also a definite must-watch, showing plenty of potential and a great delivery, though his material wasn’t quite enough to wow the judges on the night.

We also had a magician, poet, middle-aged lesbian in a winter pullover, an Italian, a Will Ferrell-in-Anchorman impersonator (though not intentionally, mind), and a Greek Footballer’s wife, altogether making for an eclectic and genuinely hilarious night – the last Saturday night before the Empire closes its doors.

It’s a damn shame to see it go, especially with such a strong showing on its last night, and we’ll be keeping a close eye on what goes on Hackney-way as the situation develops. In the meantime, get your philanthropist chequebooks out (we know you have them) and head over to www.hackneyempire.co.uk, and sharpish.