The first act of the evening was Owen Niblock, a performer
who mixed surreal gags with musical comedy, regaling the audience
with micro-songs packed with subtle and often bizarre humour.
There's a profoundly weird streak to his comedy which is
reminiscent of Simon Munnery, mixing the outright silly with far
more offbeat material - where references to philosophy and
mythology are replaced by animals and RPGs - while his musical
offerings suggested a kinship with Boothby Graffoe.
One of the highlights of his set was the section where he
revealed some inspired comic drawings, and while much of his act
was met with smatterings of laughter and applause, these
illutrations elicited a much bigger response - this was only topped
by a neatly done piece of prop comedy culminating in what is surely
one of the more inspired uses of a vibrator on stage. It was his
finale, though, which drew the most laughs - a musical piece which
saw the worlds of children's TV and sci-fi collide to satisfying
effect.
Read the full review here.