Just Laugh, Hush Comedy Club, Inverness, 2 February 2012

EVERY now and again I go to a comedy gig that reminds me why I watch and, sometimes, perform stand up.

IT’S because, when it works, there is nothing quite like it, and on Thursday night at Hush it worked superbly. Bruce Fummey has been emceeing stand up gigs across the central belt and beyond for a number of years, and his experience shone out.

Comedian and Guardian columnist Shazia Mirza

He took control of the audience and quickly made them feel at ease with his well-honed banter. Fummey also has something many emcees lack – he is achingly funny, and his come-backs to those foolish or drunk enough to heckle are delivered with lightening speed and unerring accuracy, yet with a gentle humour that always has the audience on his side.

Fummey also runs clubs in Perth and Dundee under the Just Laugh banner, and this allowed him to bring an exceptionally strong line up to the stage at the Hush night club. This was the tenth stand up show that the club has hosted and with its stylish, friendly atmosphere, Hush, is well on the way to establishing a comedy club-style venue in the city, something that many have tried and failed to do before.

The night was opened by John Ross, a laid back Glaswegian comedian with a highly surreal take on life in his home city. Ross quickly had the audience hooked in to his unusual style of clever humour with his dead pan delivery. His comedy was sharp and he constantly wrong footed the audience, surprising them with witty, well delivered lines.

The second act of this very solid line up was Shazia Mirza, a highly accomplished stand up with an international reputation. Mirza, born in Birmingham to Pakistani parents, delivered an outstandingly funny set with unique observations on everything from arranged marriage to her observations of life in London.

A regular writer for the Guardian, her column “Halal comedy? You might as well ask for Halal bacon,” pretty much gives you the flavour of her sharp, polished and breath takingly funny act.

This is a “Woman who talks,” something not too common in someone from her background, and talk she does… incredibly well. Women rarely get the recognition they deserve in the male-dominated world of stand up, but Mirza is clearly someone used to confronting prejudice and she may well overturn a few stereotypes – she is a comedian who should command a wider audience.

Mirza could easily have been the headline act of the night and, after she left the stage, I found myself wondering how the next act could be strong enough to follow her.

Stu Who answered that question emphatically. One of the most experienced stand ups on the Scottish circuit, he had the audience in hysterical laughter from the moment he stepped on to the stage. To call him a “veteran” comedian might suggest he is over the hill like an aging boxer, but that is far from the truth as this “veteran” is still at the top of his game and punches way over his weight.

His observations on Scottish culture were shrewd, unnervingly accurate, and delivered with such impeccable comic timing that you never see them coming.  Who exploded on to the stage and the audience were reeling from the beginning to the end. There is filth, yes, although it is good filth, but more than that this is a comedian with something to say.  There is a depth to his comedy, something rarely seen on stage today.

Stu Who has no time for middle class comedians who use the poor of Scotland’s cities as cannon fodder for their humour.  What he points out is that the time has surely passed for endless Ned jokes about people who live in grinding poverty. It’s time Rab C Nesbitt hung his vest up for good and wandered back to the wine bar where he was born.

On Thursday night Stu Who was a comedian at the very top of his game, searingly funny and provocative and a joy to watch. This was obviously appreciated be the Hush audience who had come to listen and be entertained. Stand up frequently depends as much on the audience as the performer.

Thursday night’s audience played their part well in giving the comedians the support they needed and, in turn, were rewarded by a tremendous show. The line up Fummey brought to the stage at Hush was one that would not have been out of place on any stage in Scotland. At last, Inverness is getting the comedy club it deserves.

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© John Burns, 2012

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