The Gravy Comedy Awards 2009

Let’s be honest.  The reason that I am doing this post is to try and recycle all my comedy reviews from throughout the year.  The whole ‘awards’ aspect is purely a decorative frame in which to hang it.  That said, here are the nominations:

Jason Manford @ Parr Hall, Warrington – 18th January 2009

Russell Kane @ Pyramid Arts Centre – 13th February 2009 (Support: Sadie Hasler)

Mark Watson @ Parr Hall, Warrington - 21st March 2009

Rob Brydon @ Southport Theatre – 26th March (Support: we had problems parking, so we missed the support act)

Richard Herring @ Pyramid Arts Centre - 18th April

Mark Thomas @ Parr Hall, Warrington - 1st May 2009 (Support: Wil Hodgson)

Paul Kerensa @ The Brindley – 29th May

Mark Steel @ The Brindley – 26th June

Tim Minchin @ Parr Hall, Warrington – 4th September 2009

The Comedy Store @ Pyramid Arts Centre, Warrington – 5th September 2009 (Michael Smiley MC, Roger Monkhouse, Gordon Southern and Sarah Millican)

The Comedy Store @ Pyramid Arts Centre, Warrington – 3rd October 2009 (Silky MC, Toby Hadoke, Steve Royle and Carey Marx)

Tony Law @ The Brindley, Runcorn – 9th October 2009

Al Pitcher @ Pyramid Arts Centre, Warrington – 24th October 2009 (Support: Danny Mcloughlin)

Rich Hall @ The Brindley, Runcorn – 2nd November 2009

Stephen K. Amos @ The Parr Hall, Warrington – 4th November 2009 (Support: Seann Walsh)

The Comedy Store @ Pyramid Arts Centre, Warrington – 7th November 2009 (Paul Thorne MC, Ian Stone, Phil Walker and Mike Gunn)

Sean Hughes @ The Parr Hall, Warrington – 18th November 2009

John Bishop @ The Parr Hall, Warrington – 8th December 2009

The Darwin Birthday Spectacular @ The Lowry, Salford – 9th December 2009 (Robin Ince, Ben Goldacre, Josie Long and Simon Singh)

Ricky Gervais @ The Opera House, Blackpool – 10th December 2009 (Support: Stewart Francis)

Jason Cook @ Pyramid Arts Centre, Warrington – 11th December 2009

I had originally intended to just pick one overall ‘best gig of the year’ award, but I don’t think I could choose. You’ll have to put up with these ones instead:

Worst seats: Parr Hall.  You feel like you need major spinal surgery after a two hour show.  I think you’d probably die if you sat through a Ken Dodd show.

Best support act: Wil Hodgson.  It was like getting two main events for the price of one.  I’d definitely like to see him doing a full show.

Worst audience: The Comedy Store in October.  I have no idea why half the audience had decided to go to it.  They must have won their tickets or something.

Best audience: Jason Cook.  We tried to hide and bullied him in to dressing as an elf.  An unforgettable gig.

Most eagerly anticipated: Richard Herring.  I’ve got about 4 of his DVDs and listen to the Collings and Herrin podcast every week, so it was great to see Richard in the flesh.  His show, The Headmaster’s Son, was excellent.  Sadly, he doesn’t seem to be coming back this year.

Most unexpected: Rich Hall.  Despite him being on telly loads, I had no idea what to expect.  The show was excellent, especially the Otis Lee Crenshaw stuff in the second half.

Best use of comedy hands: Tony Law

Comedian who I have seen and then been mentioned on their podcast:  Paul Kerensa.  His podcast is called Movie Banter.  It is banter about movies.

Most inspirational: The Darwin Birthday Spectacular.  This is how all entertainment should be: funny and informative.  I bough 2 DVDS and 2 books from the people involved, the very next day.

Most original: Al Pitcher.  He created a show based on photos of Warrington, taken on the day of the gig.

That’s all I can think of for now.  It’s been an enjoyable year of watching live comedy, and I urge you all to go out and see some in 2010.