The Porthole Comedy Club

The Porthole Comedy Club

21 July, 2008
by: NickP

It was a dark and stormy night. No, this isn't the start to some shaggy dog story involving a hitchhiker and a machete, on the evening of the gig it actually was. Following several days of the grottiest weather the UK can offer, the good people of Kilburn were probably in need of some serious cheering up. Fortunately, The Porthole Comedy Club was on hand to do just that.

The venue itself is something of an oddity. Walking in, you're presented with a trendy-looking waterhole that boasts the coolest, most eclectic jukebox I've ever seen (Kate Bush albums nestling next to The Fall and Northern Soul compilations). But walking further on, it looks like somebody has taken a chainsaw to the back half of the bar and bolted a small theatre onto it.

The stage is set into a pit with seating rising up to floor level, giving a very intimate but professional feel to the room. And this appearance of professionalism was more than matched by the comedy on offer.

The gig opened with resident compere James Everett. Everett is a commanding figure on stage, with the demeanour of a disgruntled Oxbridge graduate. After ably settling the audience the night got off to a cracking start with Irish comedian Paddy Lennox. Lennox has the aura of a young Dave Allen, mixing affable charm with barely suppressed anger at the stupidity of others and life in general. By the time he finished his very enjoyable set, the audience had long forgotten the biblical weather outside and were set for an evening of great comedy, which was duly delivered.

The acts that followed were Papa CJ, Del Strain, Stacy Squibb and Nathan Caton, all of whom had some cracking gags on subjects ranging from bank robbery to call centres to the clitoris of the hyena. Anyone headlining a gig like this had better be on form. Fortunately for the punters of the Porthole, that headliner was Adam Bloom.

Bloom is compact explosion of wide-eyed, manic energy and regularly sells out venues across the UK so to try and heckle him you'd have to be very brave, very stupid or very drunk. One punter was two of those three and quickly regretted her interruption early in his set. Within ninety seconds he managed to cut her down to size in hilarious style, leaving the hapless heckler (and the rest of the audience) in no doubt who was in control.

After that, Bloom kicked on into a routine of inspired comic invention where ideas, gags and adlibs were fired out quicker than an amphetamine machine gun. Such is the pace of his set that it can, on occasion, leave you literally breathless. All in all, a superb way to round off the evening.

In short, The Porthole Comedy Club offers incredible value for money and a sterling night of entertainment for less than a fiver. A similar bill in Soho would leave you no change from a tenner and the night in question wasn't a one-off – The Porthole offers top-notch comedians every week for a pittance. If you're a Kilburn resident, this has to be a night to put into the diary. If you're not – it's well worth the journey.

All in all, I was – ahem – blown away.


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NickP