| October 2006 - Wivenhoe’s
Comedy Club has been running for a year
Actually the overseas circuit was also represented in the form of the Australian MC Daniel Townes who ran the night smoothly with his down-to-earth humour, demonstrating why he won “Australia’s funniest man” in a competition devised by the Australian version of FHM. First comic up was Simon Dunn from Bristol, a gentle and intelligent act who had some brave material that impressed the audience. After the interval the fun continued with Juliet Myers. Juliet has played at the Funny Farm before, but proved as popular as ever with sharp witty material about disappointing imaginary husbands and annoying bosses delivered energetically. She was followed by Gareth Berliner, who held the audience’s attention for 20 minutes with a varied and likeable set, and who gave the impression that he could have done much more. As soon as the headliner Paul Sinha came onto the stage the audience became aware that they were in the presence of an act who was a class above (and it’s no surprise Paul was nominated for Best Comedy Act at the Edinburgh Festival this year). He performed 40 minutes of razor-sharp, brilliantly crafted material dealing with diverse issues, but obviously commenting on his unique position as the only gay, Bengali, qualified part-time GP on the comedy circuit. Material about his parents expectations, and a touching yet witty story about how he came out to his father was handled with ease and the audience exploded with wave after wave of laughter and applause.
The Funny Farm runs at Wivenhoe Town FC Clubhouse on the last Thursday of the month. It is organised (for no profit) by local comic Hazel Humphreys and London-based Toby Edwards (stage name “Tony Cowards”). The show starts around 8pm, and we do urge that people try to make it on time, because late arrivals hold the start up. Next show is on Thursday October 26th and features Chris Lynam, who is something of a legend on the comedy circuit, having been performing at top venues for over 20 years. Come along to discover why The Independent calls him “Our most dangerous comic” and the New York Times describe him as “a brilliantly bizarre antidote to today's truculent society". He will be supported by James Sherwood, Terry Saunders and Fi Bacon. Tony Cowards will compere. If you want to reserve a table please email funnyfarmwiv@hotmail.com
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The Funny Farm comedy club celebrated its first
birthday in September in style with sweets and banners and a selection of
some of the best comics on the UK circuit. 
Hazel Humphreys