28th April 2013
On a cold Sunday evening, I couldn’t think of anything worse than leaving my house and venturing off to any form of event/social gathering, or any excuse that was great enough to get me out of my ‘lazing about Sunday clothes’ -as I like to call them. So when I found that the comedy gig I was to review took place on a Sunday night, I have to admit that I didn’t have much hope that I would find the energy to even crack a smile, let alone laugh! Well I’m glad to say I was mistaken. A lot! As clichéd as this sounds; I have never laughed so much in my life. What am I talking about I hear you ask? Only one of the best comedy nights to hit Leeds University Union – Milk the Laughs! And this one was extra special, as on the 28th April 2013 they combined two of their hit shows to create an April extravaganza of comedy.
From start to finish Milk the Laughs truly lived up to it’s name and I think I’m not the only one who can honestly say they didn’t go longer than about 20 seconds without bursting into fits of giggles at one thing or another. This all comes as no surprise of course, when you consider the talent that was on offer that night. The range of comedians, from former Leeds Tealights alumni: Jack Barry, Pete Starr & Patrick Turpin to the somewhat infamous: Mae Martin and Daniel Simonsen, provided a great balance that saw the whole night receive an array of laughs from a sold-out audience. The format of the night was also well received and followed the flow of the two previous Milk the Laughs shows- clearly a winning formula judging from the crowds. I personally thought the entire evening was a great success and I know I wasn’t the only one. So what did make Milk the Laughs just so funny?
With the night being kicked off by Jack Barry, a member of the Tealights alumni who is currently staring as one half of ‘Twins’. You may recognise him from the previous Leeds Tealights’ April show which he supported. I think the audience wholly agreed that he helped set up one of the most comical nights. His personal anecdotes between each of the acts provided added entertainment of a highly comical nature. It’s clear that comedy is his calling as well as him being a great motivator in drumming up the audience’s excitement. Not that we needed much encouragement!
This was shortly followed by the remarkable talent that is Mae Martin. For me this was a personal highlight and her charming, typically Canadian nature won the whole audience’s hearts as she delivered some of the funniest personal anecdotes I’ve heard in a long time. It will come as no surprise that she was already popular with audience before she set foot on stage after previously supporting the Tealights last semester. But for newbies like me she was equally as entertaining and all I can say is if everyone from Canada is as likeable and funny as her, then I want to go to Canada!
Next up was the utterly hilarious Patrick Turpin, who took taking the ‘Mick’ out of yourself to a whole new level. Showcasing a PowerPoint largely abusing his name and body features, with a large focus on his ‘burger nips’. He had the audience in stiches and being a former Tealight as well, it just goes to show how much talent Leeds Students really have!
Alfie Brown then took to the stage and provided the audience with a controversial but very clever set, certainly taking comedy to an interesting level. At points I wasn’t sure whether to laugh or simply observe everyone in the audience’s reactions who generally sat equally as mesmerised. Alfie is an intriguing character to say the least and someone I think we could all be seeing a lot more of soon.
The penultimate act was of course yet another fine example of Leeds Tealight Alumni in the shape of Pete Starr. He certainly lived up to his name, providing lots of side-splitting moments that had the audience in hysterics, setting us up perfectly for the last act of the night. A great last minute addition to the line-up that, if nothing else, proved that Leeds really does have talent!
Last but not least by any stretch of the imagination we had the absolutely outstanding comedic talent that is Daniel Simonsen. From the minute the hilarious Norwegian comic stepped foot on to stage the excitement levels of the audience were on an all-time high. I initially wondered if he’d be able to live up to his hype and I’m pleased to say he certainly did. He provided a set that had me laughing so hard my sides hurt, especially after some heart-warming and very relatable cat jokes that any pet owner would struggle not to laugh at. And even if you don’t, he still delivered them in such a way that you would still find everything he said hysterical. I now see why he was the headline act and has such a huge fan following. If you’ve never seen any of his material before you’re majorly missing out.
Overall I had a fantastic night and I for one am already desperate to see how this comedy night can be topped. I’m thinking the show could even be renamed from Milk The Laughs to Milk the utterly (or udderly –excuse the pun) hysterical! Bring on the next show!
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