Review by Olivia Maclaughlin
In a line-up that boasted of Leicester Comedy Festival’s international reach and recognition, the Cosy Club hosted the final of three shows put on by BBC Radio Leicester.
For the past two Tuesdays, The A Show has offered a mixed bill of handpicked comedians but in this week’s show, the comedians came from far and wide.
The show, which ran for 120 minutes, was split into two. One half being the funny, laugh-filled 60 minutes and the next being a more informative question and answer, all live on air.
It was hosted by Alex Hylton, whose voice sounded as though he smokes 20 a day, and the audience was instantly entertained.
As he introduced the line-up to the crowd, and fired off some jokes about disgraced MPs, it was easy to see why the laughter started and didn’t stop.
Up first was Zenjiro, from Japan, who told of the woes of learning English with Pulp Fiction. He struggled at times to hold the attention of the audience and there were moments that fell flat, but he pulled it back with a routine about the linguistic differences between Japan, China and Korea.
Hailing from Montreal, Pascal Cameron connected with the crowd with dry, dark humour that was tamed down for this side of the BBC watershed. He slipped up just a couple of times, but that made his set all the better.
Micky Overman, from Amsterdam, was the only woman in the bill and made sure to leave an impression. She commanded the stage, winning over both her female audience and the male one too with quick-witted jokes about libido and sex along with ditching the padded bra. Easily the stand-out stand-up of the night.
