Alex Maple
Finalist in the Laughing Horse New Act competition 2009
Alex Maple Videos
Reviews
Alex Maple at the Laughing Horse New Act Final 2009
Note: This review is from 2009
Alex Maple is a strange fish, opening with some Jimmy Carr-style one-liners that are hit and miss, though do occasionally find a solid laugh. But then he moved on to a confusing and frustrating back-and-forth argument about religion – which occasionally slipped into Dr Seuss style verse, for no obvious reason – building up to a weak get-out line to end it. It’s possible Maple was trying something too ambitious for a short slot, but the result was rather baffling.
read more of this review …
News
Comments
Alex Maple Dates
Sorry. We have no listings of forthcoming performances by this comedian.
Represented by
We do not currently hold contact details for Alex Maple's agent. If you are a comic or agent wanting your details to appear on Chortle, click here.
continue
Older Comments
Adrian Lewis - 01/04/2011
I think Alex is definitely one to watch. Saw him recently at a show at The Barbican and he did really well. As soon as he came on he had to deal with a heckler which he did brilliantly. He did some really interesting stuff about his heritage as well.
Karen Beasly - 05/11/2009
I saw Alex's show in Edinburgh and thought it was great. He has superb writing combined with heaps of charm. He's destined to go far.
Craig - 15/10/2009
I saw Alex at the Fringe doing his life in PR skit. It was terrible. Two guys even walked out after 2mins because of the awfulness and after he attempted to make a joke of why they had left they came back in and stated "Nah, it's coz you're shit mate" Probably the funniest thing that actually occurred during the performance. I saw loads of free comedy acts at the fringe that were far better.
Steve McBride - 06/10/2009
Alex is one of the best new acts around. Seen him a few times this year and he’s always performed strongly. Original, clever material and increasingly great on-stage charisma too.
James Potter - 24/09/2009
I am genuinely perplexed by these comments, and agree entirely with David Richards. Steve (Bennett), Bill and Dave - you must have been listening to an entirely different comedian. Alex is very natural and oozes a relaxed, assured charm and in this respect alone he is couldn't be any more unlike starchy Jimmy Carr. His jokes are excellent and never fail to entertain audiences. It is frankly absurd for Dave T to talk about Alex having to shine before long or risk being labelled an amateur. No disrespect Dave but this is complete drivel in my view. Alex is a very assured and talented performer and is constantly evolving. I strongly believe that he will be one of the staples of the professional circuit within a couple of years.
Dave Townshend - 25/07/2009
Excuse me, Bob (see comment below), "I will kill you all with a blunt fish" is quite inappropriate and I was nearly as baffled reading it as I was after watching Alex’s act. There’s simply no need to refer to Bill and I as “nobbers” when we were just passing comment on the comedian in question. That’s what this Chortle section is for. It’s important to bear in mind that If we all agreed on the same thing, then there wouldn’t be any need for a comments section on Chortle as we’d all take the reviewer’s account as fact. So perhaps you should widen your vocabulary then and make critical counter-arguments like David Richards has, rather than saying, “Cock off all of you.” It’s quite immature. Then again, I suppose you’re the kind of person who is amused by the immature topics and similarly unoriginal devices that can be found in Alex Maple’s set, including jokes about rape, premature ejaculation, muslims and Princess Diana.
Bob Slayer - 24/07/2009
Cock off all of you... Alex is an excellent comedian and you are all nobbers... I will kill you all with a blunt fish
David Richards - 23/07/2009
Alex is a top top act with a really distinctive and original style. Whenever I've seen him he's always had the audience in stitches. He's one of the few acts I've seen that can actually combine some excellent writing ideas together with a genuinely funny natural persona. He can adapt to any room he's playing and his bantering skills seem to get better and better. He probably needs to work on some of his jokes in order to stay fresh and original but it's only a matter of time before everyone will be raving about him.
Dave Townshend - 20/07/2009
I agree with Bill. His entire persona is copied from Jimmy Carr: his short un-PC jokes; his upright motionless stature; his ever-patronising sneer; and even in appearance (something, of course, he cannot help). These comparisons just highlight his lack of experience perhaps; he still feels uncomfortable revealing his true personality on stage. He has got some good jokes, nonetheless, but the strike-rate is inconsitent and his wavering attempt can lose the audience's concentration. Surprisingly, he has a line about who killed Princess Diana, which gains very little in laughs and he often starts his set with such a crowd-divider. Very odd. I've seen him on a few occasions now, mainly at New Act Nights, where it's crucial to build up experience and possibly he will mature with age and experience. I certainly hope so as some of his gags do show some promise, but just need to be re-jigged ever so slightly to boost the laughs. There are glimmers of hope, which need to shine in the not so distant future or else amateur will remain as his label.
Bill Ryan - 09/06/2009
He does seem derivative of Jimmy Carr; it's uncanny because even his patronising tone is similar. And when you're comparing the standard of Carr's one-liners to any other's (unles your name is Steven Wright), then you're bound to come off worse. It's not as if you can't become a one-liner comedian due to the quality of others because many have forged great reputations on the circuit for their razor-sharp wit (e.g. Tomi Walamies, Gary Delaney), but Alex seems to have no distinct forte. It is rather 'baffling' as the review says. I suppose this is because there's no original voice, so the audience are suffering from contexts of reception. Who is this man? What is his stance? All we're told is that he likes "short jokes", which triggers a stream of 'hit and miss' gags.