Mike Stephenson attends the Grand Final of the annual comedy awards.
Rob Broderick from winning Irish rap duo Abandoman
There's something wonderfully British about musical comedy. From the soft but sharp lilts of our Noel Coward types to the roaring folk jamboree knees-ups that we're never quite sober enough to remember. The 2010 Musical Comedy Awards celebrates the whole rainbow of silliness and skill. Needless to say, the most solid contributions come from our established visitors, in the form of last year's winner Tom Basden, the hilarious stone-cold deadpan of Ginger and Black, one of the many faces of Pippa Evans, and of course our host, the walking, talking chuckle machine that is Ed Chappel.
Our nominees for the top spot come in the form of two solos, two duos and one band. Worth a mention are Rob Carter and his meek motormouth, and the Yankovician titbit medley of the Amateur Transplants – very entertaining on the night, though it's not hard to see why some folks find straightforward word parody a little artistically vapid.
Horse and Louis
In an honourable third place comes Jay Foreman, last year's best newcomer and arguably the most musically gifted songwriter among us tonight. His words are fey and inoffensive, tweaked into intrigue by the subtle discordance of his guitar. In second come Horse and Louis with their original and spookily convincing performances as perturbed and perhaps slightly unhinged school assembly singers. This year's award for 'Best Newcomer' goes to Sooz Kempner, who barely has time on stage to display her surprisingly powerful voice. Meanwhile Brigitte Aphrodite, winner of the 'Spirit Award' had, if anything, a little too long to display a kooky but rather substance-free act, leaving me to once again question and redefine exactly what is meant by the word 'spirit'.
Brigitte Aphrodite
There's surely no doubt in anyone's mind (or feet, as they stomp involuntarily) that the crown must go to the improvising Irish folk rap troupe, Abandoman. It's audience participation transmogrified into total audience contribution. You'll have seen Dara Ó'Briain, Rob Brydon and scores of others end their shows with an improvised piece based on the experiences and aspirations of a few randomly picked audience members, with varied results. But Abandoman deliver this service par excellence in less than ten minutes.
Fronted by Rapping Rob Broderick (or “Raping Rob” as he's known to the kids who can't spell yet) whose seamless rhymes, pointed wit and cheeky observations orbit around each other like a well oiled whirling dervish. I really want to find the guys who relinquished their personal details to these mad geniuses – they must come out of the place feeling torn between their new found minor celebrity status and their absolute public violation. As inspiring in its simplicity as it is mind-blowing in its complexity: a must see.
Overall, a superb variety of the macabre and the flowery, the shrewd and the stupid, the minimalist and the downright maximumist. And best of all, it's not really an awards ceremony, just a series of great performances followed by a couple of well-deserved pats on the back.
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