Live at Brighton Dome is one of those evenings when the Dome pretends it’s a comedy club with a compere and four comedians on the bill.  A bit like the Komedia but with nicer seats.  Generally they work as they are biggish name comedians and the crowd are up for it.  The price is comparable as well.    These nights rest on the compere whose job it is to keep everyone in the mood and not show up the headliners.  

This time the job fell to Ivo Graham.  He is a bit posh but he also mucks in and works the crowd.  What seemed like an awkward moment with a heckler  near the start ended up with a very unusual climax to the show.  For reasons we won’t go into, asking a heckler where they are from ended up with him, two hours later, sellotaping a Freddo chocolate onto a frisbee and throwing it up into the balcony.

First up was Fatiha El-Ghorri, a Moroccan from east London.  Bottom of the bill implies newness to the game and you got the feeling this was not really her usual crowd.  Still, she put up a good fight and got some chuckles.

Second was Amy Gledhill a plucky lass from up north.  With a squeaky toy hidden in her bra she soon got the crowds laughing.  The highlight of her set was the tale of her and her boyfriend accidentally doing too many drugs and tripping out in a pizza express.  I think her partner is Nick Helm, so nuff said.  She is probably one to watch.

Quick interval and then it was Rachel Parris’ turn.  Rachel is in a bit of a pickle as most of the people there knew her from hard hitting satirical show like the Mash Report.  She however loves theatre  studies and is happiest belting out a show tune.  To this end, she starts with a song about how the audience don’t want her to sing a song.  In the end there was a bit of tory bashing and a sea shanty all about Nick Hancock. So best of both worlds.

Finally Ed Gamble takes to the stage.  He does a podcast with his mate James Acaster called “Off Menu” and frankly it is the most middle class podcast you have ever heard.  A bunch of comedians and celebs talking about their favourite meals and restaurants and surprisingly they tend to be at the posher end of the market.  Anyway he admits to being middle class and the set revolves around going to hospital after a nasty kitchen accident making dauphinoise potatoes.  He is a professional and the jokes come thick and fast. Just what you want from a headliner.