BEHIND THE LAUGHTER & LIFE LESSONS OF A GRANDFATHER – Laugh For Life Comedy
Last Sunday 13th July The gang of six and myself went for a day trip to Buxton in the Peak District as part of the preparation for our stints at Edinburgh Fringe.
below is the review for the two shows
As we all know, laughter is the best medicine and Laugh for Life Comedy (L4LC) has been running a comedy course in the community that helps participants improve their mental wellbeing by inviting them to have a go at stand up comedy.
The strategy might seem counterintuitive with one performer confessing that she had once jumped 15,000 feet from a plane and found it less scary than this. However, under the supportive tuition of comedian Henry Churney, this group of comedy debutants have clearly derived great satisfaction from the process and are even en route to the Edinburgh Fringe since it was announced that Laugh for Life Comedy & Care Merseyside clients have been chosen as recipients of Edinburgh Fringe’s ‘Keep it Fringe’ funding.
Against a banner featuring an enthusiastic quote of endorsement from comedian Jo Brand, and to a small but receptive audience at High Peak Bookstore and Cafe, the fledgling stand ups took to the stage with likeable material including observational comedy plus more than a hint of the surreal. Highlights included a Dr Who-style adventure in a car wash from Jane, marital woes and a string of relatable middle-aged jokes from Robbie, Carmel’s riveting tale of a tryst with a sexy man on a train, Victoria’s equally dodgy manoeuvres with a Spanish yoga teacher in full view of participants “tying themselves in knots like pretzels”, Frank with his quick-witted asides on subjects such as why so called multi-tasking women can’t have sex and a headache at the same time, and Sue with her bizarre comic tale about her son’s antics with a visiting moth.
After the interval, the experienced Henry delivered his Life Lessons of a Grandfather routine in which he opened up about his conflicted emotions seeing his daughter’s father-in-law’s face in the visage of his baby grandchild and delved into his own very vivid childhood memories, his earliest being aged eight days after a certain medical procedure related to his Jewish upbringing… We also learned about his more recent experiences with the NHS including lying in an MRI scanning machine listening to The Shape of Me and Wrecking Ball.
The whole evening proved a thoroughly worthwhile exercise with plenty of laughs, auguring well for the team’s Edinburgh Fringe debut next month.
Stephanie Billen
