Justin Moorhouse, Chorley Little Theatre, 16 March 2013

Justin Moorhouse is fat.  But not fat in a bad way.  He’s more of your affable Hairy Biker kind of fat, the sort of genial fat bloke who’d elbow his way past you in his eagerness to get to the cream cake counter at Greggs and crack a gag in the process such that you wouldn't mind him beating you to the last eclair.

And Moorhouse is comfortable with his size.  It's not glandular or due to big bones.  It is, as he tells a packed house at Chorley Little Theatre, because at home the biscuits are next to the kettle.

Food is a subject close to Justin's heart and at different points in his act the biscuits, a sausage roll and a Ginster's steak slice all feature.  But it isn't just about food, and in a two hour set he also talked about his relationship with his teenage son, his eight year old daughter's obsession with Catholicism and whether, when the rest of the country was facing civil unrest, riots in Euxton and Whittle-le-Woods were ever a realistic proposition.  His conclusion?  They weren’t.

He has a go at teachers in a ‘I’m not having a go but –‘ kind of way which even the teachers in the audience could not help but laugh along at, before - and using an image that will be instantly familiar to everyone who's ever been on a Sunday outing with their family - recounting a childhood visit to Botany Bay that came to an abrupt halt when his father refused to pay the admission.  His own visit to an owl sanctuary as a parent witnessing bored dads trying to get a 3G signal in order to watch the football on Sky on their smartphones also resonated. 

Moorhouse wasn’t afraid to be edgy – his jokes about Paralympian swimmers and the Asian guy running his corner shop had the audience wondering whether they dare laugh or not while he showed that beneath the affable exterior lies an experienced comic when he dealt firmly with a drunken heckler who, having slept through the first hour of his act, started to shout incoherently.

A good comedian draws you into their world, settles you into your seat with an introductory gag or two and then takes you on a journey looking at things you might not have thought you were going to spend your evening contemplating.  So it was with Justin Moorhouse.  Gay sex, teenage masturbation and paedophilia were probably not topics that the audience were expecting to be listening to as they sat eating their pre theatre madras in the curry houses of Chorley, nor where they thought Moorhouse would be taking them when he stepped onto the stage and blinked at them from behind his spectacles.  But that’s where he took them.  And they loved him for it.

Sean Lock, Chorley Little Theatre, 11th March 2013

Sean Lock brought his Purple Van Man tour to Chorley Little Theatre as a work in progress.  The almost full theatre was treated to an hour and three quarters of material, some of which was clearly taking shape on stage as Lock delivered it.

Lock’s laconic delivery will be well known to TV viewers as one of the stars of 8 out of 10 cats.  Voted amongst Britain’s Top 20 comedians by Channel 4 viewers in 2010, and arguably the first comedian to play Wembley Arena (he was the support act to Newman & Baddiel at the time and so preceded them on stage) Lock has sold out three nights at The Lowry in Salford with his current tour so getting him to Chorley Little Theatre was quite a coup.

And since the tour was due to get fully underway less than two weeks after this show, the only real sign that the Chorley audience wasn’t getting the full article was a flip chart on the side of the stage that Lock occasionally referred to as an aide memoire.

His act comprised musings on a number of topics, such as the cost of food at the cinema, the state that most cinemas are left in by the departing audience, and the questions that children ask.  Lock has three young children and questions flow all day at a rate of one a minute, so whether it’s okay to lie to children (it is – better to say that there are monsters under the bed than tell them about the monsters out in the real world) was one subject around which Lock chatted for around ten minutes.

He also spent several minutes expressing his views on Sir Richard Branson (not repeatable in case I get sued!) and considering whether Ronnie Wood of the Rolling Stones or Radio 2 presenter Jeremy Irons would make a better sleeping bag companion, which gives a flavour of how left field some of Lock’s thoughts are.

Lock has a reflective style, and throws in the odd old fashioned gag every few minutes accompanied by an Eric Morecambe style shuffle to illustrate the showbiz nature of his delivery.  It may have been work in progress, but for the Chorley audience it was job done.

Tull, Octagon Theatre, Bolton, 2 March 2013

Tull, a play by Manchester United scout Phil Vasili about the life of Walter Tull, runs at the Bolton Octagon Theatre until 16 March 2013.

Walter was the first black player from Britain to play professional football (Arthur Wharton, who played in goal for Preston North End and who was the first black professional footballer, was born in the Gold Coast, now Ghana) and served with distinction in the First World War.

The play tells the story of Walter's life from the death of his mother through his football career at Tottenham Hotspur, where he was hounded out by racism from fans and opposing players, to his death in the spring of 1918 in Flanders.  Tull finished his football career at Northampton Town, chose to enlist and, had he survived the war, was ready to sign for Glasgow Rangers on the cessation of hostilities.

The play is performed by a cast of eight people who between them perform over 100 different parts. There is no scenery and no costumes. Despite this, the play works thanks to dramatic lighting effects, an able cast and a tight script.  Nathan Ives-Moiba, who plays Tull from the age of 6 until he dies on the battlefield is the one constant, with the rest of the players taking on the roles of Walter's family, key political and military figures in his life and football people that he encountered.

Tull encountered racism throughout his life, none more so than when he was at Spurs, and his relationships with Northampton's legendary manager Herbert Chapman and Suffragette Annie Williams are at the heart of the play.  This is a gripping tale and a must see for football fans as well as anyone just wanting to see great drama.

The final chapter of the story, as directed by David Thacker, has yet to be concluded.  For being black, Tull was denied the posthumous honour of the Military Cross that a white army officer would have been granted for similar acts of bravery in combat.  Until that wrong is righted (and there is an online petition to government calling for it to happen) this play serves as a fitting tribute.

Richard Thompson, Liverpool Philharmonic, 1st March 2013

Richard Thompson's reputation is built on that of a folk guitarist who, since his days as a founder member of Fairport Convention, has forged a solo career that now spans six decades. But Thompson likes to mix it up a bit and his latest UK tour features him at the heart of a solid three piece band with his new album Electric at the core of the show.

Accompanied by bass player Taras Prodaniuk and a powerful drummer in the shape of Michael Jerome, Thompson presented a set at the Liverpool Philharmonic that was at the rockier end of the folk rock spectrum, verging on heavy rock at times.

Opening with a trio of songs from the new album, most of which is played during the course of the following two hours, Thompson led the band through a thunderous set played mostly on a fetching pink Fender Stratocaster.

Dressed in his customary black clothes and black beret, a two hour performance saw Thompson displaying the virtuoso guitar skills that have led some to place him up there with Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton. And when the band encore with a cover of Cream's White Room, the comparisons are easy to make.  Thompson was cribbing from a lyric sheet for the song, but whilst he smilingly struggled to remember the words, his fingers never missed a note.  Clapton, take note.

As well as expert musicianship, part of the attraction of Thompson's live act is his witty repartee and he cheerily reminds his audience that no evening's entertainment is complete without both a murder ballad and a sea shanty, the latter finishing in 9/8 time.  When an audience member calls out for a song that the band hasn't rehearsed, he jokes that 'I’m the only one up here that knows that. Not that it's stopped us so far.’  And when fan favourite Beeswing is requested from the front stalls he responds ‘I’ve got the wrong guitar for that - unless you want the punk version,’ and then proceeds to play a couple of bars in just that style.  Beeswing later features in the encore, beautifully played on the acoustic.  Since it wasn’t on the original set list, Thompson presumably decided to accede to the shout from Row D.

Alongside staples such as Wall of Death and Did She Jump Or Was She Pushed, new songs Saving The Good Stuff For You and Salford Sunday stand up well.  Thompson remains one of Britain's foremost singer songwriters and whilst this current tour does not reflect the full range of his songwriting talent and the extent of his impressive back catalogue it does showcase his immense skill as a guitarist.  Rock on, Richard.

Terry Alderton, Chorley Little Theatre, 4 February 2013

When you go to see a stand up comedian it's reasonable to expect that the act will stand up and tell jokes.  But with Terry Alderton what you get is a running, jumping and falling over comedian with at least two voices in his head and a range of sound effects that would put the BBC's radiophonics workshop to shame.  It was entertaining and non stop, and the term 'stand up comedian' really doesn't begin to describe Alderton's act.

Much of the humour on display at Terry Alderton's gig at Chorley Little Theatre was visual.  The venue was barely a third full but an enthusiastic audience saw this Essex stand up deliver a tour de force.  Billed as 'work in progress' some of the gags fizzled out, yet it was still interesting to see and hear how the character of Liam at the Apple Store in the Trafford Centre is developing.  Similarly, Alderton's discovery of a vibrator in his wife's bedroom drawer was a theme that he appears still to be working on, as he returned to it several times during the evening.

One of Alderton's stage tricks is to turn his back on the audience and pretend his inner voices are talking to him with the audience able to eavesdrop. This device works both as a means of delivering a joke but also as a way of parking one that hasn't quite caught light.

At times the sketches - they are too unformed and flow into each other too much to be called gags - seemed to go nowhere in particular, but it is not due to a lack of material on Alderton's part.  If anything, watching his performance was at times like flicking through the channels with a TV remote and only staying with each programme for a few seconds.

The performance is full on.  Alderton is a ball of energy and a brilliant mimic too, whether it's pretending to be two feuding neighbours in Northern Ireland or a call centre operator in Mumbai.

Alderton was supported by affable Geordie Seymour Mace, whose act included his take on a visit to Botany Bay and an enthusiastic performance fulfilling a 'lifelong ambition' to be a backing singer with Gladys Knight & The Pips.

All in all, a good night's entertainment and the Chorley audience left feeling they had their money's worth. At £8 for a ticket this was excellent value for a comedian who has already been on the small screen in various guises and is determined to make it as a stand up and an equally funny support act.

Jack and the Beanstalk, Canolfan Dewi Sant, Eryrys, 19 January 2013

If the decision last summer by a group of pub goers in Llanarmon-yn-Ial to stage a community panto early in 2013 needed validation, then the clamour for tickets when the performances were announced such that a fourth show had to be added was surely reassurance enough.

Four sold out shows of Jack and the Beanstalk at St David's Village Hall in Eryrys were the result.  Co-written by Denise Deegan, Jenny Parks and Bob English, this classic tale was revisited with a distinctly rural feel, with joke after joke about matters agricultural.

As with any panto, a good villain is needed and the duties were shared between the evil landlord Gareth Jones and the ubiquitous Chris Lees who, as the Health & Safety Man, frequently appeared to quote the Government or EU regulations that cast members were breaching, from transporting of livestock to growing of beanstalks. Suitably knowing groans from the audience were the result.

Highlights from a spirited performance were Wendy Holifield as Jack's sister Jessie, Richard Martindale as Jack's mother Dame Trott and the Ugly Cousins Erma and Elsie, played by Oliver Beardwood and Richie Birch. For the audience who witnessed the latters' food preparation sketch, Saturday Kitchen will never be the same again.

Ruth Evans, as the vigorously thigh slapping Jack, and Ali Rennison as Jack's girlfriend also deserve a mention, as does Stephen Loughlin as the Giant's mum.

Such was the popularity of the show with cast, production team and audience members that 2014's production is already being planned.

Chris Ramsey, Chorley Little Theatre, 27 November 2012

Chris Ramsey likes Chorley. He was back at the Little Theatre within 18 months of his last visit and has already booked a further gig at the venue in April of next year. With his Feeling Lucky tour he was bringing a brand new stand up show to town and on more than one occasion in front of a full house told the audience how pleased he was to be there.

Hailing from South Shields and most recently starring in the BBC comedy Hebburn set in the North East, Ramsey often laughs at his own jokes because, as he admits, he doesn't always know what he's going to say until a second before the words come out of his mouth.

In a 95 minute set, he focused on how lucky the audience were to be there in the Little Theatre, and how genetics and historical chance had brought them all to that point. In his own case, having his Dad drop him on his head as a two year old and then Ramsey almost drown himself in a swimming pool whilst on holiday in Spain were particular adventures that he was lucky to survive.

Although there were a series of themes that developed from his central argument about luck, the main theme itself could have been better developed and in truth the set flagged at one or two points.  However Ramsey’s engaging style of delivery kept the attention of his predominantly youthful audience and kept the laughter flowing.

The climax of his act wove his account of a sky dive and the recurring theme of his Dad's taste for practical jokes together. If you are a nervous flyer, Ramsey's description of preparing to leap from a small aircraft ('it was like a van with wings') will not make you any more likely to want to board an aeroplane.

Ramsey made headlines earlier in the year for being accused of breaking into his parents’ house, and his photograph on the mantelpiece and his driving licence carrying his parents’ address did not immediately convince the constabulary of his innocence.  He had something to say both about Russell Brand's predilection for female company and Roy 'Chubby’ Brown's reputation for telling racist jokes, neither of which he seems to appreciate.  He also had to admit to being kicked off Sky TV’s Saturday morning programme Soccer AM for making inappropriate comments.

But Ramsey is hardly controversial.  His material is no more filthy than that of many modern stand ups, although he possibly bases more of his material around using public lavatories than most.  Ramsey admits to not using public toilets if he can avoid them, but has various stories about encounters with lavatory attendants with whom he seems to have the unhappy knack of encountering, usually immediately after they have cleaned their establishmentand are leaning on their mop admiring their work and when he is desperate to use their facilities.

Ramsey engages with his audience, laughing at their jokes and making barbed comments as appropriate that take the crowd along with him.  He didn't  fill the Chorley Little Theatre in 2011.  In 2012 it was deservedly packed out for his return.  Grab tickets for his April appearance while you still can.