Coastal Comedy Night At Poole Lighthouse Review

Reviewed by Lisa

We love Coastal Comedy! This was the first time at a Coastal Comedy event for my husband and I, and it did not disappoint. Adrienne Coles was comparing with Troy Hawke headlining, and with Andy Askins and Sean Collins paving the way.

This particular night was at Poole Lighthouse, which is a lovely theatre, with very comfy seats and plenty of leg room. There is a multi-storey car park right next door (with pay as you go parking), Poole bus station over the road and the train station only 8 minutes walk away, making getting to the theatre very easy no matter what your preferred mode of transport. It was an 8pm start with the show beginning promptly and it finished at around 10.30pm. In between each act there was a 10-15 minute break so that people could go to the bar to purchase drinks, which we were allowed to take back in with us while we enjoyed the show.

Andy Askins opened the evening, and I think he was my favourite act. He had a very dry sense of humour, using experiences from his life and stories about his wife and children to have us in fits of laughter. He had some hilarious one liners which linked well with the rest of his material. He is also a skilled musician and used his guitar to perform a mix of songs that he either wrote himself or changed words to cover songs – I will never listen to the Sound of Music in the same light again! He had the audience participating in parts and set the show up very well – we were sad when he finished his act!

Sean Collins came 2nd in the show, who we presume was a substitute for Peter Rethinasamy who was scheduled to appear. I found Sean more amusing than funny, and not up to Andy Askins level which was shame, but we still enjoyed his act and his many life stories about being stoned and, being Canadian, his experience of English people and culture which was very true and funny!

Troy Hawke, head of the Greeters Guild, then headlined. We had never seen Troy Hawke before and he wasn’t quite what we expected – but in a good way! He was fairly eccentric, both in his outfit and his voice & demeanour. Rather than telling jokes in the same way as the first two acts did, he interacted cleverly with the audience and used their comments to have us laughing hysterically in places – I was even crying with laughter at one point! It takes a lot of skill to pull off this type of act, which he seemed to do effortlessly, while he handled a couple of hecklers extremely well. I would love to see him perform again as I am sure it would be different every time and he was likeable to all – even the hecklers!

Coastal comedy are winners of the best Comedy club in the southwest 2021/2022, and we felt it definitely deserved that title! We had a great evening out and would definitely attend again in the future.

Rating: 4/5

Ticket price: £20 advance tickets, £25 on the door (£20 concessions).

Coastal Comedy performs at various locations and dates, including www.lighthousepoole.co.uk

For more information or to book tickets please visit www.coastalcomedy.com

N.B. Over 18s only.