Live

Wil Hodgson, Joseph Wilson, Ian Llewelyn-Rowe

Alex Skinner 02/01/2009

Lo and behold a less amicable crowd assembled to see the wonderful comedian Wil Hodgson. Why aren't more people here? Maybe it is the location? Possibly the promotion? Hmmm. I sit in thought quietly as the acts are late to get on. From the offset, the setup itself seems like a disorganised joke. Time passes very slowly as the 8.15pm start isn't happening… It is now 9pm and I'm losing patience.

The show starts but our compere Matt Drayton doesn't help the situation with a weak introduction about himself first of all and talk of his divorce - comedy is obviously not his thing. He introduces the first act Joseph Wilson who may as well have stayed silent instead of the woeful attempt of crowd participation. Cringing whilst writing KILL ME NOW on a napkin (This is after I finish a drawing of Bob Ross) he let the room stay silent to prove an idiotic point. It was so painful it hurt my spleen. The next act on was Mao Jones, a dark poet who has dry delivery, quite rambunctious and is worthy of listening to as he speaks naturally about observational situations.

The final act approached before the real comedy in the form of young 19-year-old lad Ian Llewelyn-Rowe, who has the courage to approach the microphone with some material lifted from other comedians work. If better material is there, he would appeal to the student market with recoiling tales of driving and observations about sex ruling his tiny little mind. Ahh to be a young gadabout again.

It is refreshing to see a comedy setup in Cardiff, I support this whole heartedly and believe the setup can now go forth and get stronger. Let's not forget it takes a lot for comedians starting off to learn about being on this type of stage without any exposure. http://cardiffcomedy.co.uk/. now needs to reach out to more of an audience in order to improve. Getting acts of the ilk of Wil Hodgson is a plus.

I was grateful to see Wil approach the stage! Phew, after a mild panic attack, I was calmed, my thoughts consisted of 'How the devil isn't he more popular?' After keeping an eye on his progress for 4 years, I ponder on without answers.

What a breath of fresh air, a real person who will certainly gather more popularity soon. Telling us he is the type of man that would 'climb over Kylie to get to Dawn French' (if that occasion should ever happen). The delivery is non-stop, not even to take a breath usually as he fits in more popular culture references than you can shake a big stick at, including: Grease 2, legwarmers, Timmy Mallet, Bombardier bitter, wrestling, Popeye, and a Barbara Windsor tattoo (to be patriotic), Glow Worms, Popples, My Little Pony, Linda Lusardi, Batman, Readers Wives, Adam and the Ants, Care Bears, Paris Hilton, Incredible Hulk boxer shorts, Jim Henson and the Muppets, to name a few.

Each time Wil is onstage it's an exciting experience that is filled with randomly funny rants. His material is his own and no-one can steal that due to the well kept and woven tall tails. When in a trance there is no stopping him and he lights the room up with his charming energy. Wil is magnetic and makes my evening very tolerable indeed.

Here's a clip of Wil in action.

http://cardiffcomedy.co.uk/.