Issue 153

Steele-ing the show

26th February 2007

Thursday 22 February saw the Revels Student Comedy Awards come to Swansea, with a wide selection of talent which had graced our shores from as far away as London, all in aid of finding the funniest student in all the land.

Our host for the evening was comic Lloyd Langford who readily engaged with the audience throughout the evening. He began by warming up the intimate crowd with various topical jokes, and a few jibes about his home town Port Talbot.

Headlining was Ray Peacock who later wowed the audience with his light sabre and tales of imaginary burglars and bank robbers.

Each entrant for the awards had five minutes to sway the crowd and convince the judges that they should go to the finals, which are taking place at the Edinburgh Fringe festival in August, the overall winner of the competition from all twelve heats stands the chance of winning £2,500, whilst the runner up will receive £500.

After Langford had warmed up the crowd, and we had all indulged in too many free packets of Revels, we were introduced to the first act, Dean Burnett from Cardiff University. He charmed the crowd with his long stories and snappy punch lines, but his fast talking did make him a little harder to understand, although some did think that it added to the comedy of the joke.

Next up was northern Irish entrant Torry Gillespie, who started by making political jokes relating to her own name. The audience, however, really didn't warm to her and by the end of her set she had had enough, declaring, "I'm gonna f**k off now, I'm not coming back." After a short break, another drink and a few more revels, the audience was ready for some more comedy.

Benjamin Partridge from the London School of Economics was the second half's opening act. His lively and up-beat style helped the crowd to engage with his long tale about his beard, which was littered with various anecdotes and gags.

Swansea's very own medical student Dave Steele graced the stage next, and started by trying to serenade the crowd with a song his mother used to sing to him.

He continued by telling a variety of jokes about his unorthodox upbringing; although he made a couple of mistakes, he recovered well by integrating them into his act, which heightened the comedy.

He ended by making jibes about NHS, in which he is about to enter as a doctor, and various other remarks that had the whole audience in stitches!

The final student act of the night came in the form of Bristol student Bea Roberts. Her comical and witty observations about the animals that are printed on the loser stickers during sports day had the audience chuckling away, whilst she continued to point out the pointlessness of various slogans.

In her closing sentiments she noted that she herself deserved a sports sticker, stating, "I tried hard!" Whilst the judges made their decision, headliner Ray Peacock took to the stage and had the audience in hysterics with his 'boy in a man's body' style. By feeding off the audience for material he admittedly detoured off of his planned ideas, highlighting his intelligence and ability to find humour in any subject.

Langford returned a final time to announce Swansea's heat winner, who was our home grown Dave Steele!

Despite there being tough competition he managed to pull through and do enough to impress the judges. He will be performing in Edinburgh this August along with the other heat winners for the chance to win £2,500.

Watch this space to find out how he gets on at the famous Fringe festival.

Dawn Lewis