December 2010.

Docklands Sinfonia Presents Love The Earth. St. Anne's Church.

The first half was conducted by Imogen Heap. Nature clips were shown on a screen at the back of the alter while the orchestra and choir made beautiful music. It was pretty awesome to say the least. Heap conducted the audience during the final piece - balconies and all.

Joke Party.

Kevin Eldon, Clever Peter, Tommy and the Weeks, William Andrews and Tony Law.

Jam-packed audience. Lots of fun. RiP, Joke Party, I shall miss you.

Richard Sandling's Perfect Movie.

Quite a lot of the filming couldn't be completed due to SNOW CHAOS, but it was still bloody good (despite my lack of film knowledge). Dmitri and Vassily were tops and Nick Helm secured a place in my top 10 comedians.

Joseph K.

A modern adaptation of Kafka's 'The Trial' written and starring Tom Basden; also featuring Tim Key, Pip Carter and Sian Brooke. Outstanding! I really like the way the actors played a variety of different characters.

Financial Times review here and YouTube clip here.

Karaoke Circus.

It's lost is funness for me. Not knowing any of the songs may play a huge part... Kevin Eldon and Pappy's gave my favourite performances. Oh also, it was great to hear Danielle Ward sing during the final song.

Dead Cat Bounce. Pleasance Theatre.

My staff Christmas party was the same day and I was a bit drunk. It seemed to be over very fast. I loved hearing 'Midget' live - very talented chaps.

An Event Of Some Kind. Cavendish Arms.

I rushed over from The Pleasance to catch the second half. I'm not that familiar with Norman Lovett, but I very much enjoyed his stand-up which was pretty silly and a bit surreal. It's always a pleasure to see the Junior Ministers perform. H Anthony is so much like Tim Key in the sense that he always looks so different every time I see him.

The Special Relationship. The Invisible Dot HQ.

Tom Basden's Christmas themed story about a youth discovering that a shopping centre nativity has been turned into Santa's grotto was particularly good. I also really enjoyed local poet Paul Birtell. His poems were chucklesome and rather dark; I must buy his book. My night was made when Tom Basden signed my Joseph K text.

The Horne Section Christmas Bash. Union Chapel.

Oh man! This gig was COMPLETELY AWESOME. It featured Frisky & Mannish, Bruce Airhead, Jeremy Lion, Oompa Brass, Tom Basden and Tim Key ('Little Donkey' was played as he came on, but the words were changed to "little Tim Key, little Tim Key, walking on the stage"). The banter between Basden and Horne about Alex's chickens was incredibly funny ("you keep chickens, so you're not a real man") as was Tim Key's plastic bag of goodies (which included dill as "Tesco didn't have mistletoe"). This also happened. The night came to a close with a Christmas Medley lead by the bassist, Will, singing 'Once In Royal David's City' a capella from the pulpit whilst being conducted by Alex Horne using a drum stick.

Spoonfed's review of the evening is a cracking read.

Tim Minchin vs His Orchestra. O2 Arena.

My first trip to the O2 couldn't have been better, an ace gig and the most wonderful company made this evening the highlight of 2010. Brilliant new songs, great old songs and a 55 piece orchestra left me open mouthed and speechless. My only criticism is that the stand-up fell very flat in such a big space.

My friend Anna has written an eloquent review of the evening here.

Roisin Conaty: Hero, Warrior, Fireman, Liar. Soho Theatre.

An amusing tale about preparing to make a speech at her old high school which is full of anecdotes about her life since she was a teenager. A really lovely show which made me smile throughout. Enjoyed the character comedy at the very beginning - i'm a fan of silly.

Nine Lessons And Carols For Godless People. Bloomsbury Theatre.

So much snow fell earlier in the day and I was concerned that I wasn't going to make it. It doesn't feel like Christmas until i've gone to one of Robin Ince's festive gigs. Frisky & Mannish, Josie Long, Jo Neary and The Mystery Fax Machine Orchestra made me giggle the most.

Lady Garden's Nativity. Wilmington Arms.

Lady Garden (Mary) were joined by Tom Allen (Joseph) Ginger & Black (narrator), Toby (angel Gabriel), Tom Bell (shepherd), Pappy's (3 kings) and 2/3 of The Penny Dreadfuls (wise men) to re-create the Nativity.

My goodness it was funny. I really liked that the sketches, material and styles of all the performers were incorporated into the show. The Nativity with a song about technology? Why not.

FREEZE. The Invisible Dot HQ.

Some pre-Christmas fun from Messrs Basden and Key. With the help of the ultimateguitar.com, Tom Basden and Tim Key led the audience in singing Bon Jovi's version of 'Silent Night' to finish.

Ronna & Beverly. Soho Theatre.

I was meant to go to the cinema for a post-Christmas catch up with a few friends, but then we found out about this gig and decided to give it a go. The guests being interviewed by character comedians, Jessica Chaffin and Jamie Denbo, on this particular evening were Sara Pascoe and Humphrey Ker. Good stuff.

A thought.

Matt Forde, Jermaine Clement, Phill Jupitus and Tim Key have the best laughs in comedy.