Love and Laughter for Haiti

I thought I'd start off a new little bit on here. Y'know, just to keep it in the mix. So, welcome to the new Review section. Isn't it all shiny and brand spanking? Ooh, I can almost see my face in it...

The first event that I am dipping my e-pen in the e-ink for is the Love Haiti fundraiser that took place on Sunday 21st February at the beautifully dilapidated Wilton's Music Hall.

The evening featured a varied line-up with the one name that popped out at me personally being Rich Fulcher as Eleanor the Tour Whore. Anyone who has seen him in the Mighty Boosh would know why. Mental in all the right places.

As it turned out, unusually, my favourite act of the night was the first one. Pete Firman had the self-depricating, magician act down pat and his non-stop self-aware banter was also on the money. Describing his look as geography teacher/sex pest, he pulled off some oldie-but-goodie type tricks sych as the nail in the face and cutting and re-attaching ropes.

With a sly, mickey-taking nod to Derren Brown his was a brilliant and succinct act.

He was closely followed by, well, the next act, The Penny Dreadfuls who with a nod to the music hall era performed a series of extremely well acted sketches. Contorting their faces and voices the ream of characters that they created were funny and pitched just right. The details that had been thought through such as the actions of the Creep character and the hitting of forks for sword-fighting sound effects were brilliantly imagined.

After a short break and another opportunity to wonder at the shabby glamour of Wilton's, the second part lulled a little with Rufus Hound's slightly laddish Men Vs Women comedy and the frankly incomprehensible yet inexplicably transfixing Wingnuts. A sketch group seemingly playing on Madchester culture but I had a constant feeling of having missed something...

The enormous Tom Davies, as I'm sure he's been referred to on many an occasion, gave a genial little warm-up about living with his parents before the headline act, Eleanor The Tour Whore strode on.

The words poured forth as a surreal stream of consciousness based loosely on the rambling diary of this self-confessed 60's/70's groupie. Eleanor doesn't tell jokes, she tells pathos.

Coming across as a delusional and dark raconteaur, it constantly felt as though it would go off the rails and stray too far but somehow Rich Fulcher managed to keep it slinging along and still hilarious.

The cherry on the cake of the evening was The Real Brian Blessed, the secret, mystery guest. Huffing and puffing through the trap door in the stage, the act was physically and vocally spot-on in it's impersonation of that uniquely British legend. Reading from the spoof Blessed diaries and flecked with realistic Blessed spittle, it was a great end to the show.

The entire show was compered by the oft hilarious, excellently astute and, indeed, hirsute, Jarred Christmas bouncing off the crowd with bonhamie.

Mad props to Bop Pipe as Director and Aisling Bea and inimitable Rachel Stubbings as Producers.

However, don't think this ends here! Lest I remind thee all of the FUCKING IMPORTANT CAUSE that this is for. Figures have been placed on the amount of investment and aid money it will require to put Haiti and it's long-suffering people back on their feet and currently the global effort is falling short.

Every little counts. Especially given that it's payday today for many of us...

Make your contribution, however small or large HERE AND NOW.