Last night was my very first experience of a comedy night and my high expectations were not disappointed.
The night took place in The Rotunda, a pub directly in front of the SSE Hydro. It was my first time in The Rotunda, and my first time in a circle shaped building.
I loved the modern but cosy atmosphere with different mirrored playing cards making up most of the space on the walls along with dark wood and leather spacious booths keeping the pub modern.
The cosy aspect came from the theatre-like dark red velvet curtain that is drawn across the back of the seating area during the show and the closeness between the stage and the guests at their tables.
The stage itself was small and directly in front of the audience, the tables full of guests were practically onstage with the comedians giving the whole evening a really personal feel.
The Rotunda hosts comedy nights every Thursday, Friday and Saturday and always has a minimum of four comedians on each night.
Last night there were five comedians including the host Liam Withnail who got everyone in the room laughing from the minute he walked onstage. He had the entire room involved in his act and made great care to get to know his audience and used various guests in his gags.
Billy Kirkwood was the opening act, not the easiest spot in the night to get the audience laughing as no one is really sure of what to expect yet. However, Billy proved this theory wrong with his ludicrous jokes about his family and children, receiving a particular number of laughs from the mums and dads in the room who could relate to the woes of being a parent.
Billy kept the audience fired up by talking to different guests and asking about their own experiences if they related to his stories, he also kept a lot of attention on a group of women celebrating a birthday by singing to them and using them in his gags at various points.
After Billy there was a short ten-minute break to top up the drinks and empty the bladders before the second act of the night, Liam Farrelly, took to the stage.
Liam received the biggest response from the audience, he didn’t have a single joke or story that didn’t have the audience in stitches.
Liam is local to the Glasgow area and mentioned this throughout his act along with tales of being part of a family from Paisley, every single person in the room had at least two or three stories they could relate to personally making the gig feel all that more intimate.
After Liam we had Chris Henry who had tonnes of entertaining stories from his travels around Australia and various other countries. His stories gave the audience members who had come from a little further afield than Glasgow something to relate to.
There was another break to get the audience ready for the headline act of the night Joe Bor.
Evidently worth the wait the audience cracked up laughing at Joe’s side-splitting anecdotes featuring embarrassing parents, everyone has one, even more embarrassing young children, we’ve all had to deal with one, and the various surprises that come with being in a relationship.
The entire night was extraordinarily well organised and put together with as many tables and chairs as possible without it being cramped and hard to move. Guests were shown to their seats quickly and efficiently and the bar staff were extremely friendly and helpful.
While the acts were onstage staff members occasionally walked around the tables to take drinks orders and deliver said drinks to save anyone missing any of the show.
Overall a fantastic night, and I think the first of many comedy nights I will now be attending at The Rotunda.
You can find all of the comedians and the venue on Facebook or Twitter:
F: Liam Withnail T: @liamwithnail
F: Liam Farrelly Comedy
F: Chris Henry – Comedian
F: Joe Bor Comedy T: @josephbor
F: Rotunda Comedy Club
