By Jennifer Beasley.
A barrage of comedians, a stressed MC and a flowing bar turn the upstairs tap room of the Hofbrauhaus Restaurant into comedy central.
When you are reviewing a medley of comedians, you can expect the unexpected.
In this case, as I rocked up to the venue with my son after a fabulous meal at Hofbrauhaus (great food, and the comedy is next door, upstairs in the taproom), I knew that at 10pm, the best laid plans of a MC, DJ and any mice that dared to stay sober, would be quickly shuttled.
The set begins.
Six comedians, that’s SIX, are scheduled to do their spiel. Okay, all good here.
The MC, whose name I couldn’t quite catch due to the Scottish burr (let’s stick with that reason), was very good at warming up the crowd. However, I did struggle to hear the names of the scheduled comics.
Those that stood out included one-of-a-kind Gavin Sempel, whose ASD gives him some brilliant and bespoke one-liners, the adorable Aliya Kanani, who I have already reviewed in Bad Dates, Dan Rath whose oddness is brilliant, AND, a standout, Billy D’Arcy, with a brilliant act which is 5 stars all on it’s lonesome.
Then, it changes up. Our poor MC now had comedians coming out of the woodwork as he tries to contain their chaos, getting stroppier with each new comedy pop-up. Kinda like Whack-A-Mole but with comedians!
Totally unscripted, but I found this Monty Python- like comedian intrusion hilarious. The audience, most of them sloping onto the floor by the time the clock ticked over to midnight, were loving every act!
This Jester invasion overran our MC, as the monumental talent that is Rory Lowe hit the stage.
Working the room as if it’s his own personal kingdom, Lowe expertly captures the audience with easy gags, visual ability and improvisation that threatened to lift the roof from the laughing crowd.
But wait! Our MC, now admitting that perhaps he’s had a few too many, realises the time, as he tries valiantly to wrap up the session. Lowe wasn’t having any of that!
In the push-pull that ensured, our MC won, mainly I think because the bar tender wanted to go home.
Absolutely fabulous fun. I didn’t get home until 2am (at least the trains were running).
And the comedic body count? Twelve. I think.
With a revolving line up of comics, enjoy the show and be entertained.
Best Of The Fest now playing at the taproom at Hofbrauhaus at various times until 19th April 2026.
