Review: Laughing Point, Palace Theatre

Stewart Lee stole the show at latest instalment of charity fundraiser
Urine jokes: Stewart Lee (Picture: Harriet Armstrong)
Harriet Armstrong
Rachel Blundy8 October 2014

In some ways, filling a 25 minute comedy set with anecdotes about urine may sound straightforward enough, but Stewart Lee proves there is an art form to talking about wee.

The veteran comic somehow remained entirely deadpan as he drew parallels between being pissed on by a group of boys as a child to his interactions with audiences as a stand-up comedian.

Lee stole the show at the latest instalment of Laughing Point, a comedy night set up by charity Centrepoint to raise money for young homeless people in the UK.

Parking issues: Joe Lycett (Picture: Harriet Armstrong)

It's no wonder Lee has been labelled an anti-populist comic; at times, his intensely dry wit and dark sense of humour left you unsure if there were any limits to his macabre take on life. Yet despite his urine analogy, he avoided being metaphorically soaked by his audience. His natural stage confidence left everyone eating out of the palm of his hand.

Though Lee's experience and prowess as a stand-up put him above his fellow performers, the evening saw a series of very strong sets from a varied and talented line-up.

Couch potato Aisling Bea revelled in the ridiculous criticisms of her mother, who accuses her of being fat-thin despite her tiny frame. Joe Lycett had an axe to grind with parking wardens (comically renamed parking enforcement officials) who assumed he was capable of time travel rather than accepting he had made an online payment for the wrong city council.

Weight concerns: Aisling Bea (Picture: Harriet Armstrong)

Canadian comedian Katherine Ryan ripped into British culture in the way that only an outsider can, while Devon boy Josh Widdicombe considered the ridiculousness of immature adult birthday parties at Laser Quest in London.

Compère Daniel Kitson held the night together by engaging in some top banter (read awkward interactions) with the audience. Meanwhile Tony Law did his best to burn the comedy rule book by spontaneously playing the trombone and throwing a beach ball to the tune of Don't Stop Believin'.

The next Laughing Point event will be held on February 23. To book tickets visit www.nimaxtheatres.com.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT