Comedy Hut review - The Mitre Inn, Stourbridge (From Halesowen News)

Comedy Hut review - The Mitre Inn, Stourbridge

4:00pm Friday 4th May 2012 in Nightlife By Paul Jenkins

ANDY Robinson headlined for the first time at The Comedy Hut in Stourbridge which is amazing in itself considering how prolific he has been over the years with over 2,000 gigs under his belt.

But it was clear from the start that Robinson is very much at home in a small, intimate, Black Country setting, which is apparently how he started, and didn't have to do much to win over the crowd with local references and humour.

At times he seemed stuck for content but this may have been part of the act and after a short pause he would launch into a great joke like a clean one about a painting in a charity shop, as if pulling it out of the bag to get the act back on track.

Robinson certainly has the charisma, charm and banter with the audience to be successful as five years solid gigging, warm up and television work shows and it was a welcome debut performance from him.

Another West Midlands comedy stalwart Dave Dinsdale hosted and as normal for me, outshone some of the support acts, though Johnny Greatrex showed great promise in opening the night, again using youthful charm and this time northern humour, to get the crowd warmed up.

The normal host Frankie Peoples did a short set where he tried out some new material he will be using during his first appearance at Birmingham's Glee Club later this month, and it sounded as though it will go down well.

Gary Delaney, perhaps the most popular headline act so far, returns to The Mitre next month on Wednesday June 6 and The Comedy Hut is also hosting a three-day festival over the weekend of July 20-22 with Chris Ramsey appearing.

For tickets and details for all events, go to www.comedy hut.org.