Comedy Store Gong Show

July 2010

More Brennan Reece videos

Birmingham School of Acting graduate who turned to stand-up in 2010, and won the Beat The Frog World Series that year.

Beat The Frog World Series 2010
Live Review
Manchester Frog And Bucket

The final of Beat The Frog, with its line-up of new comedians taken from the Frog & Bucket’s weekly gong show, is a straightforward popularity contest, decided by a vote from the punters rather than the opinion of comedy insiders.

Had it been otherwise, I suspect the rabble-rousing Brennan Reece would not have triumphed, with his mixture of tired ideas and unpleasant attitude. The first half of his set left a particularly nasty taste, as he described a homeless woman through a blitz of insults about how smelly, ugly and fat she was – even making her very homelessness a reason to sneer. This from a man dressed like a Nathan Barley extra, in an oh-so ironic garish Christmas jumper, a quirky hat perched at an angle on his self-consciously geek chic haircut.

The second half of his set was the old response to being called gay as an insult by a bunch of football fans. His riposte: what could be gayer than watching 22 other men in the throes of physical exertion, etc, etc, etc. The way he put this was a spirited piece of crescendoing oration, but a triumph of performance over content.

Second-placed Kevin Shelvin offered a much more edifying prospect; and though he had his share of vicious prejudice – against stupid young people in particular – it was much more tongue-in-cheek. There’s little doubt he’s portraying himself as the loser; having opened his set with details of his social awkwardness and his lack of success with the ladies. It’s an intriguing and rounded persona, from which comedy naturally emerges – even if a few short minutes doesn’t allow him time for quite as many punchlines as more gag-driven sets.

No such problems for the deadpan Peter Brush, who came third with his collection of quirky one-liners, often quite unexpected and silly. There’s not a lot of personality in the performance but the gags are mostly strong, and the best of them would be worthy of the likes of Stewart Francis.

Similar – and to my mind superior – puns came from Graham Goring, whose failure to land a place was a clear miscarriage of justice. His persona is slightly smug, with a Ronnie Corbett-style flick of the glasses to accompany some of the smarter instances of wordplay, while his asides commenting on the material often gets as big a laugh as the jokes themselves. But the gags-per-minute rate is impressive, and he won’t shy away from bad taste if there’s a quip to be had in it. Enjoyable stuff, with a smattering of truly memorable lines.

Opening the night, Ruth E Cockburn had an alluring stage presence, affable but with a welcome flick of spikiness. However, she didn’t have the material to properly capitalise on that engaging persona. Comments about a woman with a disfiguring tattoo had little added value to the initial observation, while her jaunty song Your Girlfriend’s A Minger could have done with more bite. Personal confessions about her rock-and-roll devotion and festival failings offer more promise, as they allow her charm and confidence to come to the fore.

Joe Bromehead’s an interesting one: a prop- and stunt-based comedian whose commitment to a joke can’t be faulted, as he goes well beyond the call of duty for a laugh. The material’s patchy with familiar ideas about the consequences of drinking mixed in with some more unpredictable punchlines – and, indeed, behaviour. He also parrots Ricky Gervais’s style of delivering his reactions to topics in a high-pitched squeal, which isn’t appealing, but his quirkiness may win out.

Lewis Phillips-Calvert offers a tick-box of tired comedy subjects: ginger people, Heather Mills, supposedly ‘ironic’ sexism. He’d be an instantly forgettable act were it not for his brutally unpleasant gag about Katie Price’s disabled eight-year-old son. A very low blow indeed.

More comic misogyny from Luke Hannon, a self-avowed ‘politically incorrect’ musical act whose lyrics about being a fat lad include the line: ‘I love my gravy, I love my mash/If a waitress gives me the healthy option, I’d kick her in the gash.’ Such needlessly charmless material spoils what would otherwise be an enjoyable, if undemanding, set of lightweight lyrics and cheeky sexual references.

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Saw him in Middlesbrough this New Years Eve. He made the night!

Racheal Morris, January 2012

What a fresh young comedian.Couldn't believe Brennan Reece has only been doing stand up for six months. He brought the house down. His confidence and his performance were that of a seasoned comic, this young man is definately one to watch!

Dane, March 2011

His style of comedy isn't my most favourite but you must give his due. He was the least experienced of all the acts that were on that night. When other acts who have been going years and had chance to find their voice and make mistakes without a public lynching. He has been going less than 6 months and what he may lack in content at the moment he makes up for in performance. So in my opinion people need to stop giving him a hard time and maybe say something constructive to help him develop as a comic...

Andy A, November 2010

I am usually at all the Beat The Frog shows so hope I know something (maybe not) This show is very very audience driven and someone like Brennan who is mostly style over content is going to win hands down with a mainly student crowd. Also his material appealed to that particular audience at that particular time. As was proven by his set the following Thursday where he did not go down well and looked like a below average open spot. Mr. Shevlin and to some extent Graham Goring tho no Delaney, in my honest opinion, stand head and shoulders above the vicious shallow material of Reece. But as is the way with comedy competitions, you never can tell.

R.T., November 2010

Richard, are you saying that comedy albums don't exist?

George, October 2010

I disagree. "hateful and snobby" - I feel his comments were dark but just as tongue in cheek as Kevin Shevlin. How can malice come from someone who wears a jumper knitted by his Nan? He was clearly the most confident performer of the night and I personally think he created some fantastically off beat written images. Bennett wrote "it was a triumph of performance over content." This may be partly true but god was he head and shoulders above the rest in his performance style. And performance is a huge part of stand up is it not? Otherwise we would be sat at home listening to cd's of faceless comedians or reading joke books. At the end of the day Dave the owner said the votes were a landslide and the audience liked him more than the others and surely the audience's opinion is far superior to one man's?

Richard, October 2010

There's a difference between "near the knuckle" and hateful snobby bullshit, which is what Reece did that night. I'll give him his due - his delivery was excellent and he looked more comfortable onstage than anyone else that night, but in terms of standup comedy, Bennett's absolutely right in the sense that nothing about it was remotely original or interesting enough to build a comedy career out of.

Anon, October 2010

I agree Biggsy, felt the review was a little harsh on most the comedians. You state in opening sentence 'new comedians', who are just starting out, learning a very difficult craft. Strange how you felt the content 'unpleasant' - yet the compere seemed to have a some gags which were a little near the knuckle 'twin towers' yet the audience found both comedians funny. I will commend all comedians for stepping up there last night - and trying their hand at comedy. Wish you all the best of luck in the future.

Lee, October 2010

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