The Laughing Horse Soho is a cosy affair in an upstairs room of the Coach and Horses pub where Great Marlborough Street intersects Poland Street. A large bill of stand-ups are the attraction, with an open mike spot available each week for any brave/ foolish soul wanting to give it a go for the first time, all welcomed by the event’s genial host Snorri Hergill Kristjánsson. The club’s description promised a somewhat helter-skelter affair, and it did not disappoint. Comics varied both in style and substance from the really very good to the, well, less good.
Things got progressively better as the evening wore on, which was fortunate, as a late arrival brought immediate exposure to a couple of acts that could best be described as erratic and at worst involved simulated sex with a fax machine.
Nat Luurtsema was the final performer, but the strength of her act demands she is given the first mention. For someone who only began stand-up last year, she has an impressive resume; a Funny Women finalist in 2007, a nominee for Chortle's Best New Act and a finalist in the Laughing Horse Big New Act in 2008. Her video diaries from last year's Edinburgh fringe are also worth a look:
(http://www.channel4.com/fourdocs/film/film-detail.jsp?id=50085).
It was clear from the outset that her reputation is justified. A mass of contradictions, Luurtsema is pretty, imaginatively dressed and possesses a real spark, yet undoubtedly, her offbeat wit is guarded by an aloofness that keeps the audience, frustratingly and intriguingly, at arms length.
Among those who preceded her, Canadian Pat Burtscher was another finalist in the 2008 Laughing Horse New Act competition, and despite appearing ill-at-ease throughout his set he had the audience in stitches. Whether the root of his disposition was deliberately affected, a result of hay fever or merely the fear that his bike was about to be stolen, Burtscher's delivery was dry and just the right side of cynical.
Burtscher dealt with the disassociation of the foreigner in England, a theme that is also prevalent in Finland's own Tomi Walamies. Walamies has a distinct, taut, physical style, and delivers his jokes at a high tempo. They were hit and miss, but the ones that hit, hit hard, much like those of the camp Tom Smith. Smith's style may not be to everyone's taste, but his likeable smile complemented a set that started strongly before tailing off somewhat towards the end.
It all left Paul F. Taylor as something of a rarity on the night - a straight, English man. He was funny too, although after being targeted mercilessly pretty early on his act I spent the rest of it thinking up ways to torture him rather than focusing on his content. Still, if you will sit in the front row…
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