When I saw the line up for Laughter Lines I was over the moon to see Isy Suttie and Paul Foot billed as consecutive shows at The Carriageworks Theatre on Thursday night, the penultimate night of the festival. I hadn’t seen either of them perform before, but I’d heard great things about both. I thought £8 for each show was a really good price, and seeing more than one show in a night certainly made it feel more festival like. “Show me the funny!” I promise I didn’t say (out loud).
In her one-woman music-filled, character comedy stand up show, Isy Suttie tells the story of her childhood penpal Dave, and his old flame Pearl who met many moons ago on holiday at Butlins in Skegness. We live in hope for both Isy and Dave on their individual quests for true love, as they exchange handwritten letters (mailed – even though they lived on the same street) which later became emails about their lives growing up, and their relationships.
The story begins in a time where people had to wait patiently for letters, and wrote from the heart. As time goes on and technology progresses, both Isy and Dave reach out to the internet to connect them to long lost loves and potential new mates, opening up a whole new world of opportunities and of course, problems – such as Mothers becoming involved with online dating profiles *shudder* and the issue of unflattering lighting on those sort of Skype calls.
Dave, characterised wonderfully with a gentle but gruff Derbyshire voice, had a habit of writing “C’mon Dave” as a self motivational boost in the margins of his early letters, which might now be replaced with emoticons and the extreme use of exclamation marks. This is more likely to be a sign you’re not being honest says Isy, quoting Pearl in a well spoken Surrey tone as she defends her unhappy marriage. “He only goes to lap dancing bars because they serve real ale there!!!!!!” The story is funny, sweet yet tragic at the same time. You could hear hearts melting in the audience as we longed for a happy ending.
Highlights of the set included the lengths we go to when distracting ourselves from failing relationships. Even though I can’t say I’ve ever made a partner a 6ft penguin from paper mache and chicken wire as a last ditch attempt to show willing (maybe that’s where I’ve been going wrong), I could appreciate the sentiment. There was also a wise warning, in the form of a song, not to listen to Tom Waits with anyone until you REALLY know they are the one, otherwise you’re essentially ruining your enjoyment forever. I’d probably disagree with this and say listen to it and let it remind you that you might have better taste in music than you do in partners, but that’s FINE!
I’ve just heard the news that Isy currently writing a musical sitcom, which could be a disaster waiting to happen if it wasn’t in the creative hands of such a likeable, talented person, but I’m actually really excited about it. When I’ve mentioned the name Isy Suttie, people say “Awwww I love her!” which is the warm feeling we left the show with.
Following Isy’s touching tale, the next comedian Paul Foot offers something completely different. There is less swooning and more tittering going on now.
Paul is both fine and dandy. I’d describe his look as shades of a young fair Rowan Atkinson, with access to Paul Weller’s most eccentric mod wardrobe and the hairdresser of Dave Hill from Slade… when played by Bob Mortimer. He’s a sight to behold, but we had to wait for this sight. The man sat next to me was practically combusting with giggly anticipation as soon as he heard Paul’s voice in the off stage introduction. The introduction actually lasted for twenty minutes, the first five of which we spent looking at a darkened empty stage, whist Paul took us to an almost awkward level where we’re utterly confused even when he was talking us through what would happen during the show.
There was a lot of laughter, some of it nervous, but hearty nonetheless. It was a little bit hard to relax until he’d declared the introduction complete and announced we were finally ‘watching the show’. The structure was both shambolic and well rehearsed, allowing him to show off both his professionalism and eccentricity. His finale was actually made up of him talking about what would happen after the show – him personally selling his merchandise from a suitcase in the lobby.
So what happened in the middle of the long introduction and long finish? Well, there were ‘glimpses’. A series of absurd scenarios, which were sometimes elaborated on and sometimes left dangling without explanation. Even the jokes that fell somewhat flat, were saved by his assurance that “If you didn’t laugh at that, the mistake you’re probably making, is searching for any sort of logic in it.”
There were also ‘musings’. And I’m pleased to say, they were amusing. These were essentially things that frustrate Paul to the point of going into a high pitched voice along with a full body tick even just thinking about them. Amongst my favourites: How firemen are show offs on the poles “Why can’t they just play cards on the ground floor?”, his intolerance of modern day food allergies “What happened on that day in the mid nineties which stopped people being unable to cope with bread?”, and the smugness of Baby on Board signs “I’m going to get a sign for my car that says: There are between 1 and 5 people in this car between the ages of 0 and 115 who may or may not be in a relationship or fertile but none of which deserve to be killed in a car crash.”
His style is observational with an angry tone, softened by his surreal edge and slightly childlike qualities. If the Monster Raving Loony Party were ever in need of a new leader, I’d recommend Paul Foot in a heartbeat.
To conclude, I had a great time at both shows. I feel it necessary (although it isn’t) to point out that during the first performance, a BABY in the audience cried! It stopped very quickly (hopefully silenced humanely) but we assumed when we saw someone take the baby in that it must be someone to do with Isy Suttie, as it’s not something you see every day at comedy gigs. Polite and professional, Isy ignored it although later described it on Twitter as her weirdest heckle yet.
I couldn’t be too annoyed as at the very start of the show, my phone – which I HAD switched off and put away like a good audience member – accidentally started going off. It was a repeat alarm I’d forgotten to delete from a disco nap I’d had the week before. This resulted in me ripping my phone to pieces in seconds within the depths of my bag, hopefully before anyone heard. I got away with it luckily, although I doubt I would have during Paul Foot’s show. Later on when I put my phone back together, it tried to tell me it was 1980. Had I travelled back to a time before food intolerances and Facebook? Would you believe me if I said I had? Oh good, thanks.
Roll on next year’s Laughter Lines festival, and well done to all involved.
You can find out more live dates for Isy Suttie here www.isysuttie.com and Paul Foot here www.paulfoot.tv