So last night was our monthly Second Sunday Showcase, and wow it was crazy! So crazy, in fact, that a woman in the audience got carried away and lifted her shirt up exposing her, well erm…boobs. I felt like I was on the Jerry Springer Show and half-expected a man with no legs to drag himself along the floor while a couple of midgets ran in and danced around her.
This bizarre incident was probably due to our fabulous host Tamika Campbell shouting out how she feels about her own breasts to the audience. This feisty in-your-face comedian from New York talked about dating English men and the dislike of black pudding-even though I haven’t seen black pudding since the 1980s so wonder where she is getting her fry ups? However, with her loud New York attitude Tamika definitely kept the audience alert, and it was funny to watch her really push her brash style onto a reserved English audience.
Our first act was the adorable Laura Lexx with her Lucy Porteresque-style, talking about relationships, break ups and her big move from Somerset to Old Kent Road, giving us witty observations on the difference between living in a quiet village and the ghetto streets of London. It was particularly funny to watch this cute, tiny blonde girl with a Somerset accent bouncing around in her bare feet trying to be street!
Next was Leila Borris, playing her brilliant character Sarah Tonin, a name which had me in stiches. Playing a strange, ditsy groupie obsessed with the cast of Dancing on Ice, her slow awkward character's odd facial expressions reminded me of the kind of people that worked at the train station or in Primark. You know the ones.
The next act took part in our Hoxton Apprentice challenge where business women had a go at stand-up for the first time. Sue Granik had a taste of comedy and wanted more. I admire Sue’s bravery to give stand-up another try and she got the audience thinking with her non-stop intellectual one liners and classic puns.
Helen O’Brien, without sounding like Simon Cowell, was one of my favourite acts of the night. She played Mrs Manning, a timid, conservative housewife. At first it seemed to be a really over-played comedy character, until she revealed that she had been married to the late Bernard Manning, and that she was honouring his speaking engagements. The reactions as she read her late husband’s ‘my wife’ jokes got some of the biggest laughs of the evening.
Colourful Southerner Jojo Giorgiou with her forceful stage presence was another brash American terrifying the reserved English audience. This time, by asking if they’d ever had so much cocaine-fuelled sex that their vagina looked like a baboon’s bottom. The audience was shocked. Our flasher, inevitably, raised a hand.
Helen O’Brien then returned with a second, more refined character who reflected on her extensive time spent with the Kennedy clan.
Another favourite of mine, Jacqueline Hancher, was also a challenger at the Hoxton Apprentice. I really admire these women who are successful in business and decide to take the plunge into stand-up. It was
only Jacqueline’s second time and with a little bit more work on her material and who knows…?
And introducing our amazing headliners…and I mean amazing! The Segue Sister, a group of three girls that sing modern songs in tight three-part harmony. Their voices were absolutely delightful and I think they’re going to go far. When their beauteous voices sang Nirvana's ‘Rape Me’ I was in tears. I truly believe these girls should do an album covering shocking songs-I’d love to hear their take on really controversial hip hop.
Overall the night was great. There was comedy, drinks and someone got their tits out…you should really come along to the next Second Sunday!
Niki Durham
