Comedy working can be as much about the surroundings as the material, and this surprising venue has a fantastic atmosphere.
Tucked away next to the staithe in sleepy Loddon, the former mill building has been turned in to a slightly haphazard – but charmingly so – venue, packing in around 100 people.
Friday night’s gig saw Steve N Allen compering and doing a fabulous job dealing with a few over-excited hecklers. Tamar Broadbent’s mix of stand up and comedy songs was touching, rude, and extremely funny.
Stan Stanley was a little less composed – the notes scrawled on his hand didn’t seem to be an affectation – but still hit the mark.
Headline act Sol Bernstein (the ageing Jewish alter ego of comic Steve Jameson) cut a very different style: abrasive, coarse, and defiantly un-PC. Whether a cover of irony really excuses all the material is debatable, but most of the audience didn’t care and responded with a constant flow of laughter.
All in this was a great feast of comedy in a quirky venue. If you live in Loddon you’ve no excuse not to be there – and it’s worth the journey if you don’t.
