CHRIS Ramsey is an amiable young chap. Popular too. This is his first solo UK tour and the Studio at The Brindley is sold out. To cope with ticket demand they are running a second night.
He seems endearingly surprised at his popularity and engages the audience in the first half with amusing banter , inviting and asking questions.
“I didn’t bother with a support comedian, I thought there was no point in there being two acts that you had never heard of,” he tells the crowd. Clearly, though, this was far from the case. Many of the audience, young and old, had seen him perform before and were back for more.
He was last at The Brindley as support to Russell Kane, “You were funnier,” comes one shout from the crowd. Others had seen him as compere at Liverpool’s Baby Blue’s comedy nights. “You were better than the acts!” ventures another.
Ramsey’s easy and confident Geordie patter is an audience winner and his youthful good looks have no doubt helped attract the gaggle of giggly female sixth formers in the crowd. He is unsure which is the worst television viewing - Desperate Scousewives or Geordie Shore. “Not seen either?” he asks them. “Go outside, rub dog s**t in your eyes and you have.”
Offermation, Ramsey’s Perrier-nominated Edinburgh show, took up the second half, examining Twitter, Facebook , YouTube and the way in which we now communicate. It centres on the mystery of an apparently random round-robin letter, which arrives with a Christmas card, on his doormat each year. It is an ultimately heart-warming yarn that takes us from his birthplace in South Shields, to his current home in Manchester.
Entertaining enough, but the observations he drew from the letters seemed rather strained comedy material. The highlight was his study on the mix of traditional Mancs living in Chorlton and the well-to-do-noveau-riche- taramasalata- eating set who have moved in to the area.
Chris Ramsey will go far, of that I am sure. His easy manner, looks and delivery make him ideal small-screen fodder. Apparently he has already appeared on most of the TV comedy panel shows that I never watch.
But I can see why he wasn’t quite a Perrier winner. This show lacked the punch to leave me helpless with mirth. The rest of the audience left smiling, so maybe Ramsey just doesn’t sparkle for me.
7/10
