Bilal Zafar opened the second half with his routine about how his brother had posted on social media that Bilal was running a cake shop that would only serve Muslims. It had been a joke that spiralled out of control with Zafar attracting the attention of the English Defence League and others who lacked a sense of humour and started accusing him of funding ISIS. It didn’t really matter how much of the story was true, it was certainly believable. As Zafar read out the outraged online comments and his wry, dry responses the laughs grew. It was a riff that was both funny and said something serious about the lack of logic in racism and fully justified Zafar’s winning “top of the bill” - there is no winner in this competition these days, everyone is a winner at the NATYS.
Luca Cupani won So You Think You’re Funny? last year and has become a regular competition finalist, but maybe that familiarity is starting to hold him back because he does pretty much the same routine every time. Smiley, Italian charm and quips about Italians being good at organising crime can only get you so far and while his cheeky routine about his daily erection looking like it is full of hope always bags a big laugh he needs to build on it if he is going to move up to the next level.
Svetlana The Oligarch’s Wife seemed pretty comfortable onstage, despite claiming that this was the first time she had travelled beyond Knightsbridge. That was clearly untrue - she was here a couple of months ago for the Leicester Square New Act of the Year Final. There were a few technical hitches that time and this time the set ran more smoothly. It’s a funny conceit - someone hopelessly unfunny and out-of-touch trying to be funny – and creator Laura Bodell is very good at keeping a humourless straight face. It might be a bit limited in the long run though, which could be why the audience loved her but she was unplaced by the panel.
Financial journalist-turned-comic Patrick Brusnahan made the fatal error of acknowledging early on that his stand-up act was not going down very well. He probably alienated a few other comics too by noting the fact that he was one of the few finalists not doing “goofy shit”. Which was a shame because Brusnahan did have something to say with some observations - presumably well-informed – about politics and the financial state of the nation. There was no lack of bite here, but a lack of confidence probably stopped the audience from really enjoying him. He went down better than he thought though.
The second sketch duo of the night was Bucket, Ed Eales-White and Jon Pointing. They could not have been more different to Revan and Fennell. Bucket’s sketches were obtuse and elliptical. The first set in a medieval/Game of Thrones scenario with homoerotic undertones between warriors on the eve of battle. Then after a quick send up of impro - pretending that is is a doddle and then struggling with it – there was a skit in which the duo traded pretentious, meaningless pronouncements. I can see Bucket doing very well in Edinburgh with a longer show, but this short taster did not seem to grab the judges.
Final act Dave Green has also been in his fair share of finals and came fifth in Dave’s Joke of the Fringe competition last year. Perhaps audience fatigue was setting in by now, but his slowburn wordplay did not quite set the room alight. Which was a shame because Green is becoming a very polished performer, not just good with puns but also good at telling a story. He finished with his Dave joke, of course, and definitely closed the afternoon with a guaranteed laugh.
