Angelos Epithemiou @ the Latitude Festival Comedy Arena 2010

Best known to most as a music festival, comedy has always played a big part at Latitude, and this the fifth edition of the ‘best small festival in the UK’, with the strap line, ‘it’s more than a music festival’ was no exception.

With each year the Latitude Festival grows some, and each year the Comedy Arena attracts large crowds, especially for comedians that have appeared on television.  Once again the Comedy Arena rivalled the music stages for large, appreciative audiences wishing to see top comedians not only from the UK, but from all over the world.  Emo Phillips was commonly seen on UK TV in the 1980’s but this was apparently his first UK stand-up performance for eight years.  Another American comedian headline act was the wonderfully dry pan and very funny Rich Hall.

Other household names performing over the weekend included Rufus Hound, Phil Jupitus, Ardal O’Hanlon (best known for his part as Father Dougal McGuire in the classic sitcom Father Ted) and Stephen K. Amos, as well as what has become a regular feature at Latitude, the very amusing Early Edition with Marcus Brigstocke and guests.  But there was a jaw aching two hour slot on Saturday afternoon that was truly brilliant.  It started at 3pm with Dominic Holland who, to be perfectly honest I had seen several times on Have I got News For You and never been over impressed with his wit.  But his performance was very good, with material based on married life, having kids, fatherhood and the pains of middle-age.

Kevin Bridges had a tough act to follow but kept the laughs coming with an act that turned up the heat on the adult language and got even bigger laughs than Dominic Holland.  Kevin Bridges recent TV performances on Jonathan Ross and Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow meant the Comedy Arena was packed.  As a 24 year old Scot his experiences and anecdotes were somewhat different though there was a common thread between both comedians. Latitude is known to be a middle-class festival as much as a family-friendly festival and the middle-class knives were definitely out!

At one point Kevin Bridges was heckled from someone with a, shall we say, well spoken voice.  This worked in Bridges’ favour, especially when he found out his name was Harvey and he was studying archaeology.

After a quick break and another amusing altercation, this time between a narrow-minded idiot at the back of the audience took offence to what he perceived to be a racist joke from the compere Mark Oliver.  Firstly, the joke wasn’t at all racist, unless using the word ‘turban’ is deemed racism and secondly the twat was made to look like a cock – hope he reads this!

Following on was Micky Flanagan who received rapturous applause as he took to the stage and put a nail in the previous heckler’s coffin by joking he was going to have to change his set as 80% of it was racist, followed by saying ‘blacks, they’re everywhere’.

Though he has been a stand-up comedian for over 10 years, Micky Flanagan’s popularity has increased recently with TV performances on Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow.

Like Dominic Holland he is another comedian who talks about being in his forties with very funny anecdotes. He also draws on his upbringing in the east end and how he is now middle-class. By taking the piss out of himself there was yet another dig at the middle-class families sitting cross-legged around the arena.

There was a group of young teenage girls in the front row whom Flanagan used to his advantage, explaining how teenagers say they are doing “fuck all” when they are playing around with their computers and Facebook accounts.  But when he does fuck all he does “proper old school fuck all” which sometimes involves just staring at the ceiling.  He then gave some useful tips on how to do ‘fuck all’ around the house.  Examples included watching the bath fill and boiling a kettle.

The beauty of Micky Flanagan is in his delivery and how he makes mundane and everyday observations amusing. And after one part of his act that was particularly rude he said to the parents in the audience that he didn’t know how they were going to explain that to the kids that were present, but that’s up to them as it was their choice to bring them.

Micky Flanagan was very funny and had myself, a friend and my 14 year old son crying with laughter, as were the whole crowd.

The last of four great performances was greeted with an even bigger cheer.  Angelos Epithemiou is the slightly retarded comic creation of Dan Renton Skinner and known to most people for his appearances in the new series of Shooting Stars with Vic Reeves & Bob Mortimer, though he has appeared on several other TV shows including The Office Christmas Special, My Family, and The Armstrong & Miller Show.

Angelos Epithemiou walked on stage with an old coat, ankle swinging trousers and a plastic bag.  This was proper stupid comedy performance, not stand-up.  He had the audience laughing with every movement, without even saying anything. This was genius comic stupidity!

It was a show which Angelos Epithemiou had already performed on a UK tour, so I was grateful that I hadn’t spoilt the moment by watching YouTube before seeing him live.  Mixing the show up he played some music tracks whereby he attempted to sing-a-long to UB40’s Red Red Wine, played along with Going Up The Country by Canned Heat and danced to Mud’s The Cat Crept In.

Angelos Epithemiou was brilliant and along with Dominic Holland, Kevin Bridges and Micky Flanagan was a perfect way to spend a Saturday afternoon at the Latitude Festival 2010.

Comedy at The Latitude Festival 2009

The pioneering, award-winning Latitude Festival returns to England’s Sunrise Coast for another spectacular year. Taking place on 16th – 19th July, near Suffolk’s stunning seaside town of Southwold, organisers Festival Republic are promising Latitude will be the perfect British summer destination.

Now in its fourth edition Latitude Festival continues to inspire and innovate offering the very best from the worlds of music, film, comedy, theatre, cabaret, dance, poetry, literature and art.

The Comedy Arena at Latitude is one of the main draws of the weekend and this year includes the likes of Ed Byrne, Mark Thomas, Adam Hills, Sean Lock, Marcus Brigstocke, Sean Hughes, Andrew Lawrence and Rufus Hound.

Irish Perrier-Award nominee Ed Byrne is a familiar face on the comedy circuit and on the small screen. He has presented television shows Uncut! Best Unseen Ads and Just For Laughs, and is a regular guest on various television panel games including Mock The Week, 8 Out Of Ten Cats and Have I Got News For You. His amiable chatty style of observational comedy, colourful anecdotes and whimsical tangents that lead into innovative ideas and threads has won him a legion of fans selling out three UK tours and five sell-out show at Edinburgh Fringe.

Political activist, stand-up comic, author, multi-award winner and general thorn in the side of corporate companies and politicians, Mark Thomas joins the line-up. He has lobbied, demonstrated, protested, fought and made a mockery of people in power and is renowned for his political comedy shows, The Mark Thomas Comedy Product on Channel 4.

He is also a regular on Radio 4, has presented many Dispatches programmes, and tackled the multi-national powerhouse of Coco-Cola in his book ‘Belching Out The Devil’.

Thomas will be bringing a manifesto – a policy paddle to help steer our way out of shit creek. It’s a roving comedy think tank of a show where the audience gets to nominate and vote for their favourite policies. Mark road tests them and then sets off to make them happen. It is somewhere between Jim’ll Fix It for anarchists and White Collar Crimewatch, with a passing nod at Bill Drummond, the Fluxus art movement and Anneka Rice.

Antipodean comic Adam Hills has achieved international acclaim as one of the world’s best stand up comics. His combination of positive uplifting comedy and rampant spontaneity, have seen him receive many awards, glowing reviews and fans from all over the world. He has been nominated for an if.comedy award three times, his 2002 show, ‘Happy Feet’, took the inaugural

Best Of The Fest Award in Edinburgh, and his follow up show ‘Cut Loose’ won the Radio Forth Award for Best Comedy. Adam has also won a Chortle Award for Best Compere in the UK, and his 2007 show ‘Joymonger’ won a Helpmann Award for Best Comedy Performance in Australia.

He’s also appeared on many UK TV programmes including ‘Mock The Week’, ‘The Charlotte Church Show’ and ‘Never Mind The Buzzcocks’, as well as having his own half-hour special on The Paramount Comedy Channel.

Sean Lock is one of the UK’s most highly acclaimed and original comedians, his stand-up is the product of a hyperactive imagination combining hilariously surreal imagery and insightful observations on the human condition.

Lock has been nominated for the prestigious Perrier Award and has also received a British Comedy Award for Best Stand Up (previous winners include Jack Dee, Eddie Izzard and Jo Brand). Sean has also won a Time Out Comedy Award.

Best-known to TV audiences for his long-running stint in the mould-breaking quiz show ‘Never Mind The Buzzcocks’, acclaimed drama ‘The Last Detective’ and guest spot in ‘Coronation Street’, Hughes’ eclectic TV career has also taken in two series of his critically-acclaimed sitcom ‘Sean’s Show’, and despite a nine-year break in performing stand-up, he was recently voted No. 40 in Channel 4’s World’s 100 Greatest Comedians poll. His quick-fire wit shapes each performance into a one-off, unique experience for his audience.

Marcus Brigstocke hosts The Early Edition – a bit like BBC 4’s Late Edition… but earlier. The morning papers, comedy, and special guests take to the stage to wake you up with a start! Swapping its usual late night slot for one at the festival, the show interviews politicians, campaigners, pundits and experts with an agenda that is irreverent, honest and fearless.

Marcus Brigstocke began his comedy career at Bristol University where he performed stand up and character shows and soon won the BBC New Comedian of 1996.

He has since emerged as a major comedy, writing and acting talent, performing in the UK and beyond and has become a regular voice on BBC Radio with an impressive list of TV and film credits that includes current lively debate show ‘Argumental’.

The buzz about comedy’s best-kept-secret is fast making Andrew Lawrence a cult classic, with his 2007 Edinburgh Fringe show – ‘Social Leprosy for Beginners and Improvers’ – gaining him a nomination at the prestigious If.Comedy Awards, a show which Andrew performed for the last time in a very successful week-long residency at the Soho Theatre. Andrew has received rave recognition in all the key new act competitions and is now a regular favourite on the comedy circuit, gigging at all the major clubs across the country and building a base of discerning fans addicted to the bleakly dark comic world he creates.

The quick witted comic and tv presenter Rufus Hound and his beard, will be joining the fantastic Comedy Arena line-up. You may recognise him from various TV appearances including presenting Top of The Pops and Glastonbury coverage and Dave’s current comedy panel game ‘Argumental‘. Hound was a finalist at Channel 4’s Edinburgh Festival Award ‘So You Think You’re Funny’ with his sharp, sarcastic and relaxed approach to comedy earning him plenty of fans.

Also in the Comedy Arena, Jack Whitehall will host the Latitude New Act Of The Year – the search for the next comic genius. Six finalists will perform on Saturday morning in front of the Latitude crowd who’ll be given the power to choose the winner.

Here’s a clip of Sean Hughes from his excellent 1995 stand-up live show Thirty Somehow, DVD talking about cats and dogs.