Europe's biggest comedy festival, which showcases established stars, works in progress, workshops and competitions, kicks off next month, and this gala show certainly whetted our appetites for its 700-plus events. It was hosted by the nimble-witted Maisie Adam.
David Eagle may have been a new name to some in the audience but he ended the first half on a high. He's blind, and gets some very strong material from it – “I've hit the ground running. Occupational hazard,” he deadpanned, strapping on an accordion. While some hearts may have sank at the sight, he then performed a wickedly funny, surreal song about killing his dog for Satan.
Eagle put down the instrument to run through some choice gags and – a sign of a comic very much on the ball – some decent callbacks to the material we'd heard from the three stand-ups who had been on before him.
Eva Bindeman, Chantel Nash and Alexandra Haddow were in those spots and were all a likeable presence on stage. However – and this is not their fault – they suffered from having some material about boyfriends that appeared samey, even though they also addressed other things including trying out bisexuality, the experience of breastfeeding, and curating a cheeky Spotify list. But they can all certainly hold an audience.
Adam can do that too, and she worked the room like the seasoned pro she is, leaning into local rivalries and class-based prejudices regarding audience members' jobs. It would have gone down well had she taken a bigger chunk of the three-hour show, but there were another four acts to introduce in the second half.
Omar Badawy got some good mileage out of the cultural differences resulting from being born in Egypt and growing up in the UK; and sketch group Metroland had a nicely surreal opener, but found the energy slipping away with subsequent material. Laura Lexx, meanwhile, got a lot of laughs out of her experiences of motherhood, after realising the “kind of mother you want to be is an auntie”.
Chloe Petts, who made her debut in 2022, already sounds like a veteran of the circuit, such is her confidence – not just with her material, but with her handling of audiences. She again proved a deft hand here, with an opening salvo of “I'm extraordinarily gay”, explaining why butch lesbians like her can never date other butch lesbians, why she's a vegetarian but occasionally eats meat just to check and why she loves football so much.
