The Great White Shark

January 2008

More Nik Coppin videos

Nik Coppin, whose mother is English and father is from Barbados, started performing comedy in around 2000, and has since gigged in France, Germany, Spain, Austria, New Zealand and Australia.It was there he performed his debut solo show Spiders! at the Melbourne International Comedy festival in 2006 before taking it to Edinburgh later that year.

Award Winning Comedian, Nik Coppin
Live Review

If you want to do a show about awards you have won, you'd better have a stunning set or you are destined to fail. Nik Coppin does the latter.

Coppin has brought a self-indulgent show to the Free Festival and sadly he doesn't manage to pull this off in a cheeky or ironic way. It's simply a run-through of various awards he's received, ranging from football to performing in front of three people in the Adelaide Fringe.

Coppin has a bubbly and friendly persona, frequently giggling at his own lines. But he never really bonded with the audience and his interaction was merely fact-finding, he had nothing entertaining to jump off to when presented with good feedback.

Overall his set was strangely structured and his stories are over-filled with superfluous information, facts and place names; plus there's a lot of name-dropping for no discernible benefit. He's like an old friend from school who you bump into and they insist on telling you what they’ve been up to for the last decade, without caring if anyone is interested or not.

By the end the stories were just relentless run-throughs of information, missing potentially more interesting if obvious gags (such as a stripper asking if he likes Brazilian women). There was only one half-heckle which is possibly surprising, given the open goals Coppin laid out, if anyone could be bothered ("anyone done anything they regret?").

‘Just go out there and have fun’ is a message Coppin tries to get over. He clearly practises what he preaches, enjoying what his is doing. Sadly he is in the minority.

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Please don't be put off by JC's comments below. There are no "Nigger jokes" in the set, just a thought provoking story about a time the word was used and a discussion on whether it's ever justified. If you think the show is racist because it tackles a slightly controversial topic you are a moron. I would highly recommend seeing Nik.

Colin Scott, October 2011

Saw him tonight at the fringe. Just awful, awful, awful. He didn't manage to get a single laugh. Didn't even manage to keep people in the room despite the fact it was pouring with rain outside.

Frank, August 2011

The worst comedian I have ever seen. Just unbelievably dull and unfunny. And the vile racist 'nigger' jokes are not 'OK' because he's mixed race.

JC, August 2011

Nik's shows are always the highlight of my Adelaide Fringe and Melbourne International Comedy Festivals. I saw both his shows, Pasquinader and Shaggers repeatedly this year. Every show was as unique as it was hilarious. Nik is charming and affable, quickly endearing himself to intimate artsy rooms, and large pub crowds alike. Nik is an exceedingly talented comedian with a refreshingly upbeat and positive approach to comedy. This is stand-up at its absolute best!

Aussie Fan, July 2010

The laugh-o-meter was ticking over quite happily for this irrepressible comedian.

La Daggers, November 2009

I saw both of Nik's shows in Australia this year. Loquacious was hilarious from start to finish! A very funny man indeed. Can't wait to see what he comes up with for 2010. As for Shaggers, a show that can't be seen just once. Imagine my delight to see Stephen K Amos, Jim Jeffries, Greg Fleet - just to name a few - doing brilliant spots & having an absolute ball in the process! No doubt 2 of the funnest & funniest shows at this year's festival!

Narla, August 2009

A very funny man who is very easy to get on with; looking forward to the next South West gig!

Becki, November 2008

More froth than beer perhaps, but I love his easy-going rapport and reckon he's focusing more each time I see him. Def some great material in there.

Michael Monkhouse, September 2008

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