JUSTIN Moorhouse, alongside support act Danny Mcloughlin, brought his latest show, People and Feelings, to the Lowry theatre. The Manchester comic was as chipper as ever playing in front of his home crowd.
With a relativley low-key entrance, warm up act Danny Mcloughlin kicks off the show.
The Chester comic draws immediate attention to his feminine pink hoodie. The rather fetching garment got the laughs rolling.
Mcloughlin is a talented writer, his anecdotes weighing heavy with jokes. He recalls a particular clash during his teenage days as a paperboy in the main story of his set. The revenge that he took several years later, inebriated with kebab in hand, is hilarious.
The class divide is a running theme through Mcloughlin’s anecdotes, with the comic fighting the side of the working class with strong humour.
Great comedy tonight @The_Lowry with my good mate @Yafs . 'People & Feelings' is a fantastic show. Go and see @justinmoorhouse . Top stuff.
— AJS (@ajs_ajsblue1) December 11, 2016
Mcloughlin struggled to maintain momentum in his act, with the Salford audience remaining relatively tentative despite some great gags.
However, he finished strong with a hilarious rhyming poem about his uncle Rasputin that, with some well written lines, got the audience hooting.
After the interval, Justin Moorhouse made his way onto the stage while ringing a bell. During what must be the most bullish walk onto a stage in stand up history, the Manchester comedian reeled off a list of associated things that highlight how a bell is often the bearer of bad news.
Before diving into his anecdotes, Moorhouse attempts to gain trust from his audience by declaring everything in his show is the truth and explaining the tricks of the trade that tonight, he wouldn’t be using.
It seems needless for him to explain this, as though Moorhouse’s warm northern charm isn’t enough to gain trust.
The theme of Moorhouse’s show circles around growing up, as he jokes about the depressing signs of getting older before continuously referring back to anecdotes about his childhood throughout the rest of the show.
Playing out as a child is something the 46-year-old looks back fondly upon, and has several hilarious anecdotes about him goofing around with friends.
Kids today play different games than a young Moorhouse did, and whilst asking who the youngest in the theatre was, he stumbled over a twelve-year-old. In complete anguish he asked what his parents were thinking, bringing him to an adult comedy show. The reply, “he’s from Wigan,” got the comic laughing just as much as much as everyone else.
In from @The_Lowry gig tonight. Cheers everyone for coming. Appreciate the support. Merry Xmas.
“It’s ok. He’s from Wigan”
— Justin Moorhouse (@justinmoorhouse) December 12, 2016
Once the show gets rolling, Moorhouse gets continuous laughter. A dig at drivers who own personalised number plates really gets the audience going, particularly when he picks out those in the audience with the plates.
Big topics are visited fleetingly. From throwing in a direct question to whether anyone in the room was a racist, to his mum’s warning against paedophiles in which he was told not to “get got,” he picks out the funny so well that the seriousness is strangely forgotten about.
Moorhouse goes on to despair at a phrase he utterly hates – “you had to be there”. It’s the ultimate signal that an anecdote has failed, and Moorhouse has heard these words far too many times when talking to his mum and aunties.
Another fantastic routine that will live long in the memory originates from a moment in Moorhouse’s childhood, involving a friend’s sister taking an accidental knock-out blow to the chin. The telling of this story drives the laughter, with Moorhouse throwing all his energy into it.
@justinmoorhouse my wife drives an Audi with a private plate. And she's a pharmacist (last tour show) ….. she's feeling victimised ??
— Bos (@OneGaryReaney) December 12, 2016
He’s an out-and-out northern comedian, playing the roll perfectly. Up there with the best of them, he has duly gathered a loyal following of fans who adore that brand of comedy.
Moorhouse will always deliver a solid show of belly laughs and this hour is one of his very best.
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