London

Popcorn Comedy celebrated its first birthday at the Tabernacle in Notting Hill, inviting over 300 people to party with Doc Brown, Graham Linehan, and Adam Buxton, plus a selection of the best comedy videos around.

Video-wise, we were completely spoilt. There was so many crackers that I’ll have to give you a quick round-up. The Ramsey Bros’ ‘Hitchhikers Guide to Murder’ was a really well-written sketch about manic hitchhikers and psychotic lift-givers, that built to a satisfyingly absurd ending. Tom Basden provided a knock-out song about accidentally killing someone with a champagne cork. And RickYune’s ‘Lad Culture’ got the proper nawty laugh it deserved, turning Ray Winstone’s abusive husband into a WKD ad posterboy. Brilliant.

But the video star of the night was easily ‘Kitty is a very bad mystic’ by Klaatu42, which is simply a cat that talks. I don’t know why, but it got everyone in the room going and more than tickled a certain Mr Linehan. I’ve probably forgotten some, I was laughing too much.

Doc Brown was the first live act of the night, and I’ve got to say, he set the tone for the night. He strode on, oozing confidence, and gave us a bit of background. Doc had always wanted to be a rap star. In fact, he became a rap star. But, he told us, he still held onto that ‘middle class’ sensibility. Enter ‘Rap 101′, Doc’s own rap which translates hip hop lingo for the uneducated. His timing and flow are perfect and his beats are good, and this is key to doc’s comedy. He’s a great rapper, and that only makes his clever, hilarious and well-observed insights even funnier. Doc also exceeded himself with a new video about his hip hop hand gestures, which had me near to tears with a gag about a teapot. This guy’s going all the way.

After another great video section, it was Graham Linehan, of Father Ted and IT Crowd fame no-less, to take a stab at stand-up. Now I didn’t expect a stand-up performance from Graham, so it was good to see he’d gone for the inspirational lecture style for tonight’s show. Graham had picked out his favourite videos to prove that anyone can make comedy gold without having ‘a foot in the door’ already. Overdubbed religious films, inspired photo sets and keenly-crafted spoofs were both funny and proved his point. And as for The Superbroker Shuffle, well, just Google it. You won’t regret it.

The bar had been set pretty high for Adam Buxton, minus long-time partner in crime Joe Cornish. As he came on, bearded like Captain Haddock, I had my doubts as to whether he would pull it off. suffice to say, I was proven wrong. Big time. Adam is a naturally funny guy. he could talk unprepared in a room of former-accountant nuns that had recently been laid off and bring the house down. He showed a couple of his brilliant self-produced clips, and did live versions of a couple of older sketches including a jungle song about Pixar’s Ratatouille and a rendition of NWA’s Fuck the Police re-edited for the school run. It was all impressive stuff, and then my mind was blown. Adam broke through several meta-levels by reading the Youtube comments under his Fuck the Police video. I won’t even attempt to explain why this was so funny, but I can assure you, I couldn’t breathe by the end of it. Bravo, sir!

So happy birthday Popcorn. Same time next year?

Words: Ian Ravenscroft of Dice Productions

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.

Words: Ian Ravenscroft of Dice Productions