If someone invited me to join them for a bit of a laugh in a disused toilet, I’d probably think twice before agreeing. Fortunately, this time, I had no need to decline the offer as Popcorn Comedy took over the Ginglik in Shepherd’s Bush.
Housed beneath the fairy light-strewn railings of an old Victorian toilet, the Ginglik seemed the ideal venue. Underground, a bit quirky, a projector screen and enough plastic garden furniture to make Alan Titchmarsh weep. As people started to filter down the stairs, I could tell it was going to be a good night. After all, we had Fergus Craig, Robert Popper, and Idiots of Ants sandwiched between two healthy slices of viral comedy to look forward to.
Highlights from the night’s video haul included Dr Broon’s A-team parody ‘The I Say! Team’, which replaced the soldiers of fortune with Terry Thomas, Leslie Phillips, Kenneth Williams, and Sid James, the latest video from Auto-Tune the News, who if you haven’t seen before you should definitely check out, and a trailer for Richard Curtis’ horror movie project The Vicar of Dibley, by Jon Harvey.
My picks of the night were an out-take from the upcoming Al Campbell /Dawson Brothers ComedyLab about the ineptitude of man, a funky old-style animation called ‘Dancing Jack’ from Trunk Animation, and a warning about bad videos from Studio 8. But the best of the night for me was RickYune’s WKD advert, featuring the wife-beating antics of Ray Winstone in Nil by Mouth. He really has got a WKD side.
First live act Fergus Craig used his time on stage to show us his home movies and perhaps explain how the Fergus that stood before us came to be. An all-singing, all-dancing five-year-old Fergus showed his performance background, while his joy at receiving a plastic bag for Christmas explained everything else. The addition of Coldplay over the nostalgia proved that even the happiest of memories can be bleached by some X-Factor-style editing.
Star of the night, however, was Peep Show producer, Look Around You co-conceiver and serial timewaster Robert Popper. Not a stand up by trade, but funny obviously runs through this man’s veins. A video phone call as his alter-ego Robin Cooper involving a travel agent, a mechanical box and plenty of swaddling was a treat, bettered only by Robert’s first-ever live prank call as Mr Cooper. He tried mighty hard to get into a dialogue with The Ritz Hotel in that high-pitched voice, but unfortunately couldn’t get very far. Luckily, it was probably funnier than if he’d actually managed to fool them. Exciting, unpredictable magic.
Edinburgh favourites Idiots of Ants – despite being two men down – rounded off the night with some short, silly songs, including one about manilla envelopes, and a couple of well-produced, but fairly safe, videos compared to the rough charm of the other videos on show, ensuring everyone left satisfied.
I hope the next time I visit a disused toilet is as much fun.
