It was going so well…

Posted on 14th April 2025

Yet again, a capacity audience enjoyed  another varied night of comedy in what is fast becoming a highlight of the Corn Hall calender. Peter Flanagan proved a companionable host for the evening, encouraging the audience to say their hellos to each and every person he talked to.

With the acts involved in a complex revolving relationship with a venue in Norwich, first up was Angela Barnes, a comedian one might expect to be headlining. Barnes delivered, with her usual high velocity intensity, a routine about cake and candles that was developing nicely, until a member of audience fainted in the aisle. Rather sweetly,  Angela offered to dust off her nursing skills before deciding a break was probably the most diplomatic way out of what could so easily been a crisis.

After the interval, Esther Mantino focused on matters domestic with a set that covered everything from hen parties to hairiness, doing an excellent job of bring the evening round from what had been an unsettling experience.  It was an experience that Ivo Graham had to learn the hard way, having been confronted by the poor woman lying flat out in the foyer. “Hopefully see you later,” he said to her, only to have it pointed out that she would hope to be gone by the time he’d finished. Determined he wouldn’t be disorientated by the conversation, or finding he was still in Norfolk, he instead riffed off his undeniable poshness with such self-deprecating charm you almost ended up feeling sorry for a childhood brought up in the company of Rupert and Ophelia.

The evening closed with Flanagan – and everyone else – singing Happy Birthday to Maria, the final line reserved for those that had the good sense to bring stamps with them. If that sounds a little puzzling, as I’ve got used to saying after attending these consistently excellent evenings – you really needed to be there.