Comedy - Barnstormers

Regular Barnstormer compere Kevin Precious has handed over the job to Dan Evans for this month but he helpfully fills me in on the particulars of the line-up. He starts by outlining the credentials of his replacement. “Dan’s a really accomplished Brighton-based gag-raiser”, he tells me. “He’s done loads of stuff….” Kevin’s got one of those voices that seem born to deliver comedy. Unfortunately there’s a lot of background noise and I have to push the receiver right against my ear to catch the next bit. “Gary Delaney - he’s on the bill. He does quite dark one-liners. He also writes for Basil Brush.” Who? “Basil Brush. He’s got this remit - nothing political, nothing sexual. Everything has to end in ‘boom boom’. So, one of his things is ‘two suicide bombers walk into a bar…’”. Silence. “That’s one of his jokes.”
“Sorry, back to the remit”, I say, “it has to end in what?”
“Boom boom.” Oh. “Obviously I haven’t got his skill of delivery”, says Kevin. Actually I think I just need to brush up on my cultural reference points.
Next up it’s Matt Kirshen. “Looks fourteen but he’s actually in his mid-20’s. Observational-type comedy”, says Kevin. Hasn’t he been supporting Ed Byrne? “Probably but he’s wary of just being associated with that. He’s good in his own right.” Finally, Harry Denford completes the line-up. “He’s a big fat chav essentially”. Kevin considers, “Without giving too much away - he’s a large gentleman and he makes that a part of his act”. (Boom boom?) ER