Nish Kumar headlines Live at Brighton Dome – review

The evening brought together the comic chops of Nish Kumar, Simon Munnery. Shappi Khorsandi, Fin Taylor, and Angela Barnes on December 14

The latter is our bold, loud and confident MC. The audience is instantly put at ease as Barnes provides the interlude before each act, simply because she is effortlessly funny. There is some cathartic post-election commentary, sparking cheers for a joke about Jacob Rees Mogg, with the topics roaming to relationships and deciding not to have kids.

Shappi Khorsandi is laid back and sardonic. She recounts her time on I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here, with some interesting insights on the reality behind ‘reality’ television, as well as the celebrity world. Khorsandi briefly mentions Brexit and immigration, but it is when she is talking about her children that she relaxes into the set and is at her funniest.

Fin Taylor’ style swings from observational to picking fun at current events and fads. There are some hilarious jokes about the plant based diet – a bold choice considering the audience comprises probably a greater percentage of vegans than the rest of the country. Some jests are a touch over the line for liberal Brighton but Taylor brings them back and he receives a warm reception.

Simon Munnery has a well-established cult following from his characters The League Against Tedium and Alan Parker. He has some whip-crack one liners which provoke many a cackle. At one moment the crowd draws a sharp breath for a joke on child abuse. Munnery’s comedy stands out in this lineup as it is more surreal. But it is a testament to how diverse the comedy at Live at the Brighton Dome can be.

Headliner Nish Kumar begins with a forensic breakdown of everything that happened at bread roll-gate. If you didn’t know, this was when the comedian was booed and heckled at the Lord’s Taverners charity event earlier in December which eventually culminated in a roll being thrown at him. It did not hit, or indeed, as was reported, ‘pelt’ him, he is clear to point out – in fact he says it landed nowhere near him.

This is freshly baked material which he seems to relish retelling in intricate, step by step detail with his characteristic style of overblown incredulity. The crowd is in uproarious laughter. Kumar then turns his hilarious ire on politics. Just two days after the election, there was plenty of material for him to drive his gnashers into.

But the act did get disturbed by some hecklers, which Kumar took on with savage clap-backs. The audience was behind him and the night ended with a standing ovation for the comedian.

Live at Brighton Dome is back next year.

Nisk Kumar gig in Brighton turns ‘ugly and hostile’ as hecklers disrupt performance