Dead Leg Comedy: The Library Pub, Oxford – Dec 16th 2024
It’s Andrew O’Neill’s monthly evening of comedy and music in Oxford. Venues don’t get much smaller, so it’s not a surprise that it’s standing room only by the time the comedy begins. It’s a little bit like being at school with any late arrivals being told to sit at the front. If you’re wondering why the name is familiar, Andrew is a regular on the heavy metal festival scene, as well as the award winning writer of the History of Heavy Metal. Tonight comes fresh off the preview night of their new show, the History of Punk, and their commentary includes plenty of references to niche punk bands as well as excited sharing of punk music streamed from Andrew’s phone straight into the microphone.
The night starts off with Andrew’s house band and a selection of covers from the 60s and 70s. After a few songs by The Who and Black Sabbath, among others, it’s then on to the comedy. There’s a tight schedule so the acts are doing a few minutes each, but it’s not rigidly enforced.
First up is Pete Kinsella, a big lad who jokes about BDSM from the perspective of his day job where he’s a health and safety advisor. It might not be the usual comedy material but he’s proof that you can find the funny in any subject if you look hard enough. He’s absolutely hilarious.
Alice Hadland is next up and we shift to jokes about landlords and plumbing, among other stories from Alice’s life. She’s just as funny as Pete was though and leaves the audience going into the first interval with plenty of laughter.
The mid section of the night opens up with Sophie Sconcia who regales with her stories of growing up in a deeply religious household. It’s demons and LGBT jokes all the way down. Great fun.
There’s a synthesizer onstage which means our first musical act of the night from Laurie Black. There’s a few technical mishaps but we get through several comedy punk songs. Check her out online, especially Body Mod which she opens her set with.
After another short intermission it’s the main headline act. Boothby Graffoe might not be a name recognized as much now, but there was a time when he was considered a rising star in comedy. His show blends elements of physical comedy that shows a love of the kind of slapstick that’s reminiscent of Tommy Cooper as he makes an entire opening act out of putting his guitar strap on. Between songs he tells wild stories that border on the absurd, mixed with sometimes controversial political opinions. While the political talk shows a serious side to him it is the surreal songs where he stands out. By the time he’s finished his show Andrew O’Neill has jumped onto the drums in the corner and Boothby is persuaded to do a few requests from Andrew. As comedy shows go it’s one of the funniest that I’ve seen in ages and I’m left with tears of laughter rolling down my face. Boothby is self-deprecating, but he shows that maybe newspapers aren’t the best judges of comedy. The best judges of comedy are the audiences and this small audience on a Monday night in Oxford has clearly thought he’s hilarious. It’s a reminder that comedy doesn’t have to “challenge the audience” by being controversial, sometimes you just need a guitar and a song about a spider.
Review and Photos: Mark Bestford
(Left to Right: Andrew O’Neill, Laurie Black, Boothby Graffoe)
