Comedy - Barnstormers

Reading Brian Damage’s Myspace profile, I immediately know I’m going to like him. “When I was a kid I only had one imaginary friend”, he begins, “on Myspace I’ve got hundreds of ‘em!” Brian is one half of a deadpan comedy duo alongside ditzy ‘glamorous’ assistant Krysstal. (They’re also two thirds of an unfailingly incomplete act called The Three Biddies). I get a sense of their turn from a YouTube video of them performing in Sydney. Krysstal plays the put-upon stooge to Brian’s depressed front man, awkwardly fiddling with a microphone wire whilst Brian pours forth his misery to the crowd. (When somebody starts heckling - he lifts up his guitar to reveal the words ‘Fuck off’ ready prepared on the underside). And the misery extends into music too. The act is peppered with ‘love songs for insecure people’, with titles like ‘I’d rather be miserable with you than happy with somebody new’, and ‘You’re just about as good as I can get’. If it all sounds a bit downbeat, rest assured the whole thing is delivered in such a peppy style that you can’t help but get caught up in their absurdity. Brian Damage and Krysstal will open the Barnstormers bill at the Royal Oak. Next up is relative newcomer, Brighton-based Morgan Jones. “He actually trained at Rada”, compere Kevin Precious tells me. “He’s turned up in Eastenders and loads of adverts. He usually plays coppers”. Tonight he appears as his multi-voiced self, delivering ‘story-telling’ type observational comedy. The third act is unconfirmed as we go to press but either way it’s worth going for the other two acts alone. And for Kevin of course. ER