Alistair Green: Nobody’s Twisting Your Arm @ The Stand Comedy Club

Alistair Green spends most of his show talking about his own personal failings and declares that he has pretty much given up. Some of his stories are very funny, some are a bit depressing and some you just don’t need to know.

Not seeming entirely comfortable on the stage, Green spends a great deal of the performance shaking and adjusting the microphone stand; but while he may not appear that confident in his demeanour, he does not seem at all unconfident when it comes to telling his jokes. Perhaps sharing a little bit too much sometimes, Green really opens up to the audience about some pretty embarrassing incidents and some of his experiences in his past jobs, as well as moaning about some of the things that annoy him. The only moments where Green’s jokes really fall flat are the few attempts he makes at ‘lad humour,’ which really don’t sound right coming from a 38-year-old man who clearly has better jokes in him than that.

Green’s comedy is generally quite self-deprecating but clearly very tongue in cheek, so although some of his stories seem a bit grim, he manages to put a clever twist on them and turn them into funny anecdotes. Where he really does shine is in his ability to be completely open about his own downfalls in life – and his genuine bafflement at his own behaviour often makes for the funniest moments in the show.