Live at the Grove Review
Live at the Grove
Grove Theatre, Dunstable
4 October 2014
Reviewed by Zoey Caldwell
Saturday night laughter, after a rather gruelling training day, I was really looking forward to sitting back and being made to laugh.
The night was kicked off by a brief comedic introduction by compare Mark Altman, Bristol born and very funny. He dealt with Carl from Watford and his heckle fantastically. I will never understand why people feel the need to shout out, but in this case, he was put in his place, as he should be.
The first comedian introduced on stage was Tom Deacon. A father of 4 boys from London, he had us laughing at his exploits with his son’s scooter. He kept us interested and laughing throughout his whole set. Maybe it is the fact that we have 2 boys ourselves that kept that understanding and connection with him. His wife, possibly long suffering was the butt of a few jokes too, however it is clear who wears the trousers in the relationship and it certainly isn’t him if all is to be believed.
Next up was Andrew Lawrence, a misery of a comic. He has the dark outlook on life and the rest of the human race that can make for fantastic comedy. He admitted that he may have been a bit larger as a child but one particular rant of his at the end of his set just made him look sizest. Comedy apparently has no boundaries but unfortunately this particular rant went on a little too long for me to think that it wasn’t a little personal. Overall the set was well written, laughed for most of it, the voice that Andrew uses when taking on other people’s personas was a little annoying after the first couple of times, grated and took away from the comedy for me.
After a short interval we were back to Mark and he quickly introduced the third act of the evening Charlie Baker. WOW what a voice this man has. Loved the rat pack type crooning that he used to try and introduce the younger members of the audience to jazz. To be honest I was really taken in by his singing voice, absolutely loved it. If you are not a fan of swearing then maybe not the comedian for you, introduces some foul language into great music. Again, Charlie Baker did his job, had us laughing and feeling really good about the evening.
So we come to the headline of the night Milton Jones. Messy haired, one line comic from the telly. A major let down to be honest. Least amount of laughs of the evening and in fact for me barely got passed a tiny chortle. I could quite happily have the left the theatre early. Happy with the knowledge that the previous acts, had more than given us the escapism that comedy can from everyday life. I don’t think that it was just us that didn’t enjoy his quirky style of comedy as much, I felt the level of laughter in the room quietened down a little. I think that Milton has chosen a genre of comedy that must be incredibly hard to write. One liners, there is no drawing on experiences that maybe the audience can empathise with. For me, just not funny enough.
Dunstable Grove Theatre is a lovely venue, clean, modern and attentive staff. The bar staff were really under pressure before the start of the show as the crowds poured in for pre-show drinks, but they were unfazed and professional in their manner. One thing I would say though is at the end of the evening, the ladies toilets were all empty of toilet roll. There is a car park behind the venue at the Sports Centre and Bowling alley and across the road at Asda. Both are pay as you go, but as this was an evening show would be free as after 6pm.
Rating: 3.5/5
Grove Theatre, Grove Park, Court Drive, Dunstable, LU5 4GP | Box Office 01582 602080
