David Trent @ Joshua Brooks
Usually a den for dirty basslines and other such dance terminology a comedy reviewer has no business dabbling in, Joshua Brooks was transformed into a basement comedy club with a suitably underground cast of characters performing. Tony Basnett’s Trapdoor Comedy nights have a tendency to crop up in the most surprising of spaces, but make it work better than a lot of established ‘comedy clubs’ through great bookings and a wonderful and friendly atmosphere.
From the off we were told to leave had we marched in that day’s White Pride gathering in Manchester, but thankfully no one rose from their seat. Not even for a cheap laugh, which was an encouraging sign for the calibre of comedy fan in attendance, and the lack of horrible racists that go to stand-up gigs (they mustn’t have a sense of humour or something).
Up first were the jittery, spaced-out stylings of Benny Boot. Lightning-quick and always in control, despite looking like he hasn’t slept for two weeks, Boot is a phenomenal performer whose delivery might come across as pretentious navel-gazing were it not thrown out through a broad bogan drawl. Danny Sutcliffe once again cemented his position as one of Manchester’s brightest comic acts in the middle section, with a mix of broad swipes at popular culture and more subtle gags that most won’t see coming when they hear his Manc twang.
The main event was yet to come, a visceral and ironic takedown of today’s popular culture the only way society knows how: Powerpoint and vitriol. David Trent takes a look at the modern world and doesn't just find it lacking, but also finds its very minutae appalling. While in lesser hands this might amount to broad and easy swipes at the likes of Robin Thicke, Katie Hopkins and Nick Griffin, Trent manages to go into great detail about the irksome and toxic nature of such individuals; shining a light on their cartoonish behavior and the very real threat that modern culture is going down the toilet.
Poptastic culture and its infiltration into everything we hold dear is a big gripe of Trent’s, though he doesn’t come off as a curmudgeon. His sardonic take on Michael Gove singing the Wham Rap! (George Michael and Andrew Ridgley's ode to life on the dole line) hits home because he reacts in the way we assume the progenitor wanted him to, or at least thought he was going to – a gullible whelp who needs Heat magazine to form his views of the world. Turning societal norms upon their bonce, he is able to make light of a world that takes itself far too seriously.