Married For 24 Years

From Live At The Apollo 2010

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Canadian Mike Wilmot started life as stand-up comedian in 1995, becoming a regular on the UK circuit in 1998 and winning a Time Out comedy award in 2002.

He has appeared several times at Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal, as well as in Ireland, Scandinavia, Paris, Amsterdam, Hong Kong, Bangkok, South Africa and Melbourne - where he won the comedy festival's Barry award in 2003.

CV

Set List
Live Review
Melbourne International Comedy Festival

Normally stand-up requires a suspension of disbelief, with the audience accepting the conceit that comics are just having a spontaneous conversation, not reciting well-rehearsed scripts.

The intriguing idea behind Set List is that the comedians ARE making this stuff up as they go along. I say ‘intriguing’ – for those performers taking part it must be positively terrifying. As they stand on stage, a series of topics flashes up on screen which they must make into material – whether it be ‘scorpion immunity’ or ‘hook hand versus no hand’

It’s comedy’s equivalent of the medieval rack – at best a stretch; at worst torture.

For the audience, the attracting is seeing how the comedians’ brains work, as host and co-devisor Paul Provenza – best known as director of The Aristocrats movie – is keen to point out. It’s about the process not the result.

And those results are predictably varied. Of the half-dozen acts who took part tonight, opener Damian Smith made it look easy, with fluid improvisation that found some funny in all the unlikely topics, setting an unrealistic expectation of the rest of the participants

Laura Hughes awkwardly embarked on the idea that she was an alien studying human culture, which didn’t really work but gave her a consistent get-out as she struggled with concepts such as ‘Blackface = fun’.

American Ian Bagg got laughs out his struggle, as he seemed genuinely stumped by most of the topics, but both Tom Agna and Dave Bloustein grabbed the game by the horns and produced some fine work. Bloustein was arguably sharper than Agna, who was frequently left grasping at straws, but his struggles to form on-topic gags eventually bore fruit, in the spirit of the game.

Set List – which has a different line-up each time – rewards a strong comedic persona, and that was most evident in closer Mike Wilmot, whose ‘drunk, irascible uncle’ shtick stood him in good stead as he seemingly lost patience with the preposterous suggestions, only to eventually form something resembling a routine out of them.

Because of its spur-of-the-moment nature, this is never going to be the funniest hour in the festival, but it’s certainly offering something different, especially if you like to see your comics sweat.

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The worst act ever seen! My husband and I saw this buffoon ‘perform’ at the 02 Indigo Rooms on March 19, as the headline act. Why they made him the headline act, I can only think that it must be PITY. While you’re used to the odd swear word as part of a comedian's gig, this fool based his entire performance on swear words and making derogative remarks about women. The very first 10 minutes of his performance was spent using the C-word and went downhill from there. To say the least he lost half the crowd on his poor, sexist humour. It’s safe to say the comedians who have to use expletives and make sexual remarks for jokes show very poor ability for any skill or wit. If you removed the expletives from his gig all you would be left with are the words ‘hello’ and ‘goodnight’. Time this old-timer hung up his crusty suit and took his potty-mouth to church for his soul to be cleansed with a gallon of soap

Elle, March 2011

Currently watching this tired hack of a comedian rolling out poor uncomfortable disgusting humour that I genuinely feel sorry for him! This man should be put down along with everything else from the 70s!

Riley, September 2010

Saw Mike @ the Comedy Club in Greenwich, great stand up, totally hilarious, has the place in tears. He's one funny guy. His stand up is much better than his TV work. If you get a chance to see him do it. After his act he' s up for a beer with the crowd. A must see.

Brendan, March 2009

Nice to see him back gigging. He's got some new stuff as well which pretty good. The stuff about his wife's giant camel-toe is hilarious even if it is a bit graphic.

Ian Ashton, November 2008

One of the greatest comics around - playful, straightforward, insightful and effortless. He just gets better and better.

Alexis, June 2008

I saw Mike recently at The Comedy Store, he is still one of the funniest guys ever, his new material is an even funnier update of escapades of an older guy suffering the demands of sex.

D., May 2008

I saw Mike Wilmot's comedy live recently (I have previously seen him on TV) and he is not a good comedian at all. He only tries to disgust the audience by making them think negatively about sex. He constantly claims to be speaking for all men, whilst speaking only for himself and his nasty, self-centred and ambivalent feelings about sex and relationships - including the comment "its the only way you can get away with hitting your wife these days". I can imagine that he could put people off their partners if they took any of it on board. There is no warmth or wit in his act - only a desperate last-ditch attempt to draw laughs in the form of a nervous giggle from his audience. He really does nothing to deserve the platform of the stage - the only audience he deserves is the one he sees when he looks in the mirror.

AOD, May 2008

Possibly the funniest man in the world. Does well with the band!

peterprice, November 2006

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