Review: Breaking DBAD

The Birmingham Footnotes Comedy Society welcomed nine comedians to packed out Bristol Pear.

Before reviewing the comedians themselves, reference must be made to Nick Charlesworth, who sat at the front and caused almost as many people to laugh as the comedians did, because of his infectious chuckle.

David Ayland: First on the bill for his first stand up performance and he didn’t disappoint. David delivered a series of embarrassing stories about his mum on his laptop that got the crowd laughing. Very entertaining!

Joel Solomon: His stand up seemed to make a lot of people feel very uneasy. With jokes like “the worst thing about having a small penis is that every time I masturbate I feel like a pedophile” and about having sex with conjoined twins. There was some awkward laughter and uncomfortable silences.

James Diffley: Delivered a entertaining set. With advice about how to deal with people asking you for a donation for charity and telling the crowd how he looks like someone who has been drawn… A very amusing ten minutes.
Robin Johnson: My favourite of the first night so far. Robin was the first act to get a round of applause during his performance. With rather self-depreciating jokes like “I once caught my Dad ringing the NSPCC asking for compensation for me, then he died…so I guess I win!” Overall, extremely funny.

Lily Blacksell: First girl of the night! She had really amazing delivery, the speed at which she reeled off her material was really impressive. She made the whole room laugh whilst telling us that her best friend was a pig. (You had to be there.)

Dory Wainwright: Took on his eighth DBAD by making some amusing references towards his housemate, whose blood probably consists of grease and ketchup from Rooster House because he doesn’t cook. Dory described himself as “glorious and ginger” and “intimidating as long as no one can see my arms”.

Olly Woodall: Performed a short and sweet set full of jokes about Selly Oak, including how we could have Chris Tarrant’s name in a star as a response to the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He also mentioned how he had once seen a guy take piss stained trainers out of a bin and put them on. What a lovely place we live in.

Becki Ludscombe: Gave a very witty performance with ironic jokes about how ASDA were selling a ‘Mental Patient’ outfit for Halloween and that she was mostly offended by the £20 price tag. Becki’s set was brave and honest and got a lot of laughs, despite covering serious issues.

Pat Grady: Reeled off a series of jokes and anecdotes and had the audience laughing almost non-stop. Some which deserve a mention include the fact that capitalism tries to rip people off by selling them things they don’t need. Why buy baby shampoo? Babies are slapheads. His description of a BNP Christmas party with the members drinking milk and “Dreaming of a White Britain” was hilarious. Pat finished with a charming poem about Alicia Keys losing her keys because Richard Keys stole them.