An Estonian*, a Liverpudlian, an American and a Cockney walked into a bar…

The Comedy Coalition feat. Lembit Opik

Underclass Hero – La JohnJoseph

Pistol & Jack

@ The Royal Vauxhall Tavern, SE11

So, Loserville had a night out at the RVT last night, and between pints we witnessed a veritable smörgåsbord of entertainment. It’s the Hot August Fringe see, running from July 26th (of course) to August 28th (that’s better).

With a pint of “insert-well-known-brand-of-cider-here” clutched between our paws, we settled down to watch some good ol’ side-splitting comedy. Instead, we got The Comedy Coalition. Never mind, they saved the best ’til last, as everybody’s favourite Mr Cheeky/Weather Girl/Have I Got News For You Guest achieved the near-impossible feat of being only mildly more amusing than the preceding acts. To his credit though, he did take the piss out of a *whispers* Mail on Sunday journalist in the audience, so all is forgiven (for now). RVT Event Details

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LV was feeling pretty thirsty at this point, so we chugged down more of the good stuff and then made ourselves comfortable for the arrival of Liverpool’s own La JohnJoseph, whose Underclass Hero began with our transdrogynous (I can’t take credit for this word) titular starlet channelling Tina Turner from a table in the front row. Let it be said here and now that we just don’t hear “We Don’t Need Another Hero” anywhere near enough these days – any song that manages to squeeze in the lyric “all we want is life beyond the thunderdome” deserves undying admiration.

An hour later, as La JJ (ably supported throughout by The Desperate Housewives on keyboard and guitar) finished things off with a rousing rendition of Bowie’s “Heroes”, LV reflected on what had been a roller-coaster ride of emotions – there had been laughs, there had been quiet reflection, there had been an amusing segment where La JJ addressed the audience from the toilets. The rabble at the back, who chatted throughout, may not have noticed, but the RVT had just played host to a quite beautiful cabaret-monologue which not only erased the memory of Lembit Opik’s grinning mug, but also thoroughly distracted LV from the lure of the bar – this achievement can not be overstated! RVT Event Details

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It was a school night, and we had to get up early this morning, but nothing was going to keep Loserville from staying up past bedtime to enjoy the mash-up musical merriment of Pistol & Jack, a transatlantic comedy double act whose blend of witty banter and inspired pop pastiche thoroughly overcame some early technical problems. By the end of the act, LV was gagging for more (and no, we don’t mean booze – although P&J were sharing some tasty looking fizz, the cork from which Pistol fired into our proud possession). RVT Event Details

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And thus our evening ended, and we stumbled out into the streets of Vauxhall to catch our bus home, safe in the knowledge that Lembit Opik’s stand-up career is most definitely destined to go the same way as his political career, and warmed to the core by two rather splendid performances (and boozey, appley goodness).

Until next time… SW.

*Lembit Opik is not actually Estonian. His name is.