Last night Josh Widdicombe played a small, but packed Yard pub in Cardiff and made it feel like one of the funniest gigs of the year. Previewing his Edinburgh Festival set, The Further Adventures of… Josh Widdicombe, it couldn’t have been much better if it was performed in front of thousands in Edinburgh with free sporrans for all, as opposed to the 74+ that crammed into the upstairs libro-pub section of the bar for an easy highlight of the Cardiff Comedy Festival.
The spot was shared with Suzi Ruffell, also doing a warm up for the Fringe Festival, who was a bit like a younger, fitter, edgier lady-loving Sarah Millican. Despite being easy to warm to, she wasn’t necessarily split your pants funny (not sure what that means to be honest).
Widdicombe, however, took all the faces in the crowd and creased them up with his small, cynical, neurotic little fists of comedy might. With not many in the audience making it through the night without being reduced to a crying, gurning mess, it looks like he’ll be taking Edinburgh by storm.
There was a feel of early Woody Allen stand-up about the way he looked on stage, with shuffling movements and a smaller than expected frame, which added a lot to his stories of woe at life in general and the random appearance of Coco the monkey in places you least expect him (not your pants).
Though he didn’t go so far as to say Sprantola (my own personal Nandos tipple) he did win the crowd with ease, which was no mean feet considering the heckling he got from the dumbwaiter.
The Festival will be running throughout July and you can check out the full Cardiff Comedy Festival 2012 line up for more information. Josh Widdicombe will be going on to play the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, as well as a big UK tour for the rest of 2012. For more information, visit our Josh Widdicombe tour dates page.
Josh Widdicombe review: 4.4/5
