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Laugh Inn, Chester, Opening Night
Live Review

Indeed, Chester’s Laugh Inn used to be a working men’s club – but is now Britain’s newest dedicated comedy venue. There have been surprisingly few in recent years, despite the supposed boom in stand-up. Aside from a few refits following the collapse of Jongleurs’ former owners, growth has been in high-end theatre shows and low-end pub gigs. The sort of mid-market activity that gave us the Comedy Stores, Stands, Frog and Buckets, Glees and, indeed, original Jongleurs of the last comedy surge has been notably absent in this one.

The Laugh Inn almost didn’t make it in time for opening night. A planned launch party earlier the week was cancelled as builders worked round-the-clock to get it finished. Even now, tarpaulin obscures the yet-to-be finished balcony.

But what is done looks good. The studio room would be a half-decent venue in its own right; a small stand-up stage in the corner of a sizeable bar. But the main room seats hundreds, even without the balcony – the exact number depending on whether the chairs are cabaret-style around tables, or, as tonight, mostly in rows.

The man behind all this has plans for more Laugh Inns. As a former Comedy Store manager, John Locke has seen first-hand how a good comedy room works, and his experience also includes classy Manchester bar The Northern and much-loved music venue Band On The Wall. This club has a few teething problems tonight – the sound, especially starts dreadful and upgrades only to acceptable as the show goes on – but it has a lot of promise. The question will be whether a town of 77,000 and its environs can sustain such a large space – if it can, the prognosis is good for similar-sized communities across the county.

One of those 77,000 residents is tonight’s compere, Danny McLoughlin, pictured, who admits playing to so many people he personally knows is a slightly odd concept. Amid the home-town banter, he’s got charming and funny material about growing up poor and the very British disappointment of the low-rent Gulliver’s World theme park.

If McLoughlin was the voice of the town, opening act Hal Cruttenden was the fey Southerner, living up to every middle-class stereotype – and teasing the Northerners for theirs. ‘Some of you fucking hate me,’ he said after his tongue-in-cheek ribbing – though it’s unlikely they did; his tales of unmanly ailments, camp attitude and relationship with a forceful Ulsterwoman with terrifying accent proved a fine opening to the venue. Curious side note, though: not one of the audience acknowledged being a gay man when Cruttenden asked.

Manchester-based Dan Nightingale filled the second section, with a frisky and playful set, taking good-natured pops at the iron-pumping muscleheads at his gym and summing up Britain’s attitude to drink with devastating accuracy. And, of course, there’s nothing audiences like more than being told what feckless drunks they are – it reinforces an odd sense of identity.

The bill was completed by a fourth likeable lad, Justin Moorhouse, doing his first gig in three and a half months. ‘This place is nice,’ he said. ‘They’ve Hollyoakes it up.’ As a jovial, chubby Northern comic, Moorhouse could probably have played the venue in its old incarnation. But that’s another stereotype; his teasing, often daft, material might not be particularly challenging, but it undoubtedly works, and is enlivened by flourishes of skilful language, such as describing his teenage offspring as ‘a yawn in a hood’. The crowd are duly pleased.

A strong opening weekend, then, for this welcome venture, with the sort of reliably amusing comics it should be able to attract week after week. No showboating launch with TV-grade stars being tapped for favours, creating unrealistic expectations; but a representative night that will hopefully draw the punters back week after week. Locke’s bank manager is presumably hoping it will.

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Saw him compering at the Comedy Store, Manchester on Saturday night. Superb!

JC, February 2011

A true headliner, crackingly impressed with him. The performance and material were impeccable, and I'm at odds to see why he isn't 'bigger' ..... unlike some who worked on Phoenix Nights ... I hate having to explain him as the one who had the spray painted tiger face! Justin is a genuine funnyman whose style of comedy is accessible, intelligent, warm and a genuine crowd pleaser. I would recommend him to anyone. £20 cheaper to see him than Peter Kay!

Ni Tle, October 2010

Justin played a blinder last night, where he demonstrated what appeared to be his contempt for the audience by walking out of the gig. The audience at the Peacock Lounge in Huddersfield was the recipient of this childish behaviour claiming that he wasn’t getting the audience responses he expected. For reference his act was the warm up for his Edinburgh 2009 fringe appearance, lucky old Edinburgh. Keep this up Justin and the audience could respond by staying at home and saving their money.

Maisie, July 2009

Moorhouse's show consisted of lowering his online friends list to 5 people ( which at the end was an idea he had blown off, rendering his act to be pointless). He accused people with myspace and facebook to be lazy idiots who needed to get out more and do something, yet there he was trying to make a living out of 'a year and a half's research' on the very same sites! The man was a walking contradiction. He seemed to think that if he emphasised his broad accent by talking loudly that that would make him funny. It didn't. His jokes bordered on the offensive and at several points me and my friend were sat with hanging jaws because we couldn't believe he was getting away with it! An absolute shambles. That's an hour I'll never get back.

Tasha Pert, August 2008

Well I saw this show on Thursday night, and don't really understand the comments below. It wasn't awful, it was good, no frills stand up. I don't think it pulls up any trees, and I don't think it will do anything in Edinburgh where there is a huge amount of much better comedy available, but it wasn't as bad as has been said. Justin seems to be a competent act, why the nastiness?

B Campbell, July 2007

I'm not one to write letters or generally complain about anything but I went to see this man after listening to him on the radio, I couldn't believe it when he said he was a comedian doing an hour Edinburgh preview at the comedy store. This I had to see, I was hoping he was confined by the restraints of a commercial radio station (he's a radio presenter doing the comedy store, he must be good...right?) My wife thought his baby was cute, that's the most positive thing i can say about the whole experience. 1. I'm never going to the Comedy Store again and 2. I'm paying to have the frequency 103 removed from my radio. Have I missed something? When did this kind of thing become funny? I've got much better things to do with my time, I could of done my tax return you awful fat man.

Alan Carson, July 2007

Sitting through an hour of someobody with kids, talking about kids when I haven't got kids does not equal good entertainment. Unless it is funny, of course. It hardly bought smiles let alone laughter which is a shame because Justin used to have talent in abundance. This hour show was 60 minutes short of being good enough for Edinburgh. (will Edingburgh care any more about his family anymore than Manchester?) Slides of family photos, A puppet show that made me look at the refunds policy at The Store crowned with a home-made video clip of a baby being passed to his ten year old son (huh?) Radio seems to have killed the comedy star.

ben fleet, June 2007

I agree with the comment below. I saw his Edinburgh preview last night, and whilst he may be a nice bloke, he's not got any material to speak of. If you're going to go to the festival with another tale of being a fortysomething father, you need to have a USP. Justin doesn't. The show, as it was last night, will stick out like a sore thumb amongst all the well prepared stuff that goes up there.

Billy Tomkins, June 2007

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