Lloyd Langford: Anyone for a pub quiz?
The latest Edinburgh preview at Careys was again subject to late changes in the bill, but this didn’t affect what was a great and varied night of comedy. Alongside the joke-filled hocus pocus of magician Pete Firman and the funny bones of Lloyd Langford, it was left to Matt Rudge to compere the evening and his self-proclaimed middle class whimsy seemed to whip up the audience so they were ready for the main acts.
His routines about failing to live up to his dad’s overt masculinity – mainly due to his ineptitude at maintaining his car – showcased some subtle personal material, and his gags were warmly received throughout the show. Rudge even made a concerted effort to interact with audience members other than the front-row regulars, bringing neat observations into play too.
Also an actor and film-maker, Rudge’s introduction for Pete Firman managed to really build the expectation for the magician and his on-stage suitcase of tricks. With his skinny jeans and tousled hair you’d expect Firman to be more at home on the cover of NME or appearing on MTV than making eggs disappear and re-appear in cloth bags, but his vaguely Robert Smith look disguised his wonderful skill for magic.
If comedy acts incorporating magic are doomed to inevitable comparisons with Tommy Cooper, then Firman’s approach was entirely different. Sure, there are the occasional (deliberately) flubbed tricks for comic effect, arguably in-keeping with the Cooper tradition, but this was an hour of bewitching trickery and sleight of hand, undercut by the Middlesbrough-born comic’s self-deprecating asides.
The genuinely baffling, awe-inspiring tricks was interspersed with a series of sharp one-liners and comic patter, bantering with the audience and his selected participants alike. Despite being a work in progress – and there were a few rusty areas – this was nevertheless a very accomplished show which probably left the audience confused as to whether they should be more concerned with marvelling at the magic or laughing at the gags. They should have been doing both.
Lloyd Langford‘s style is completely different and the Welsh stand-up started his set by apologising for the relative lack of spectacle. He didn’t need to worry. This preview of his forthcoming Edinburgh show, The Cold Hard Facts of Life, saw him making a virtue of his love of facts, which is seemingly reflected in his penchant for a pub quiz. The otherwise amiable and cheeky Langford revealed he has very short shrift for people who try to cheat during pub quizzes, and told of some of the fake answers he’s given to friends who have sent him text messages looking for an unfair advantage.
Winner of the Chortle Comedy Award for Best Student in 2004, the Warwick University graduate confessed that the show at this stage had too many jokes and not enough facts. That’s a matter which few audiences are likely to be too disappointed by – occasionally Langford sprinkled in some facts as an afterthought, after veering off course, but he riffed on a wide variety of subjects including some topical humour and was arguably at his best when chatting with the audience, delivering some inspired responses which were dripping with wit.
Despite the laidback demeanour there’s an intelligent streak which ran throughout Langford’s set, and it was evident in much of the writing which has gone into these gag-packed routines. Although they’re going to be honed and refined over the course of the next couple of months, this was a hugely enjoyable set from this fast-rising stand-up.