Seriously funny

It was the opening night of the Guernsey Festival of Comedy and Colin Leach went along for a laugh...

THE Guernsey Festival of Comedy kicked off on Friday night at Les Rocquettes Hotel with two engaging and seriously funny stand-up comics.

The Johnson Suite had once more been transformed into a comedy club for the week-long festival, now in its third year. The atmosphere was relaxed and buoyant as people took their seats in preparation, looking for an evening of mirth.

First up was follically challenged Dan Evans (pictured). I had seen him in the car park prior to his performance, pacing up and down and muttering fiercely to himself.

Normally this sort of behaviour would be a cause for concern with an ordinary member of the public but I immediately realised this was a comedian limbering up his funny bone.

Evans' self-deprecating opening gag about finding a 'friendly' islander who changed his English £5 note for 30 of our 'Guernsey dollars' (produces hand-drawn money from pocket) was a good starting point.

From then on the audience warmed to him.

The quick-witted comedian then set about asking the profession of the first row and began poking fun at the island's apparent escape from the credit crunch (try telling that to organisers Nick Creed and Andy Fothergill who self-funded this year's festival).

This wasn't the first time the audience participation-by-force tactic had been used in such shows and was one I had seen used several times. It engages the audience, keeps the object of the comic's steely wit on tenterhooks while everyone else thinks 'thank God he hasn't started on me'.

I didn't have to wait long before I was the subject of Evans' rapid-fire verbal barrage.

'And what do you do for a living, sir?'

Before I could answer, the comedian had surmised that I was a henchman for a Russian oligarch with an oil tanker moored off the island's coastline (I was dressed all in black and by 'henchman' I guess Evans meant 'heavy'). When I mentioned I was reviewing the show for this paper he offered some Guernsey dollars then gave me an (unprintable) two-word review.

Evans' dry, witty repartee and surreal observations sometimes made him come across like a ruder Harry Hill.

Headliner Kent Valentine bounded on stage after a 15-minute break and delivered a more measured, structured, but equally endearing routine.

The beanpole antipodean is a likeable fellow with an almost childlike demeanour that gives for a relaxed, warm presence.

His tale of being asked to hand over an allen key at airport security because, as the guard had explained, 'a jet plane can be dismantled with one of those' was amusing, as was a retelling of a 40-hour stay in Weston-super- Mare where he saw eight fights. The last one involved a man, on his own, continually hitting the sign that says Welcome to Weston-super-Mare, very hard.

Woven together with a Star Wars' obsession it sounded like a nightmarish tale of stranger in a strange land but told with charm and rakish wit.

A great start to the festival, which ends on Saturday.

Do yourself a favour: go and have a laugh.

• Tonight sees the screening of the comedy Graham Fellows/John Shuttleworth film Southern Softies at Les Rocquettes Hotel. Tickets are £10.

• The stand-up comedy continues tomorrow until Saturday with Craig Campbell, Colin Owens and Matt Welcome, all compered by Geoff Whiting.Tickets are £17.50. Doors open at 7.30pm. To book, go to www.happyguernsey.com.