Last Sunday I was asked to review a show at Leeds Student Union that I was particularly excited about. It was an event run by Milk the Laughs, a Leeds based comedy organisation and comprised of sketch and stand-up performed by WitTank members; Mark Cooper-Jones, Naz Osmanoglu, and Kieran Boyd. It should be mentioned at this point that I have seen these guys perform quite a bit – I saw their Edinburgh Show at least five times, have sat in on their stand-up sets about three or four times, have watched their sketches on Live at The Electric, and have seen them on Russell Howard’s Good News. Needless to say I was already a fan. For this reason I was a little apprehensive about reviewing the show as I wasn’t entering it with fresh eyes and I thought that wouldn’t be fair. How naïve of me.
These boys, as I should know by now, manage to bring something fresh to every performance and they very much integrate the vibe of an audience – as well as their own ad libs and blunders – into their sets. This particular show was rather on the ‘intimate’ side but compere, Kieran, managed to drum up a lively atmosphere through his charming inclusiveness. There was very much a one-for-all, all-for-one atmosphere and WitTank, if you’re reading this, good going chaps! I tip my metaphorical hat to you. There is nothing worse than watching a comedian stand on stage as if he were at the Soho Theatre when that’s clearly not the case.
While the stand-up was admirably performed and definitely showed off Kieran, Mark, and Naz’s different styles, it was their sketches that demonstrated what they were really capable of. They showed that what should in theory be a chalk-and-cheese scenario can be very complimenting if in the right hands. To put it simply; it shouldn’t work but it does. You can tell that these guys enjoy what they do and love a good mess-about but they’ve also put in the hours to develop their craft. I think the greatest testament to a comedian is whether or not you would want to grab a drink with them and I definitely think these guys pass that test. They bring a cleverly constructed bit of silly and, specifically with the help of Naz, shove it in your face.
I won’t ruin the content of their material for those who might (and should) go to see them in the future but I would like to address the structure of the show briefly. I applaud their decision of stand-up before sketch. Their stand-up sets allowed the audience to acclimate to their branch of absurdity and individual characters before their sketches rolled in. This provided a nice run-up to the mayhem of their sketches and mapped out the why’s and how’s in their character portion of the evening. In other words, you could see their personalities come through in each of their odd fictional characters. On WitTank’s stand-up routines however, I’d like to go through each member individually and paint a rough picture of what it was like; the Impressionist version of their sets if you will:
Kieran Boyd: Compere of the night, Kieran has a wonderful talent for maintaining a level of sanity to the act. He has enough charm to stuff a blue whale and he implements it in his easy going style of stand-up. Anecdotal in so-much-as he plays off the audience, Kieran’s joie de vivre is a great way to drum up the energy and atmosphere to start off any show.
Mark Cooper-Jones: The teacher you’d like to have had in school. No one used the audience as effectively as Mark. In this particular show Mark’s set was blessed by the audience. Or to be specific, blessed by Benedict. Mark plays off people and nothing made the audience engage more than seeing how much he was enjoying himself. At these types of student gigs it is common place to find a seething and bemused heckler or two. Some comedians panic and choose a sharp retort to counter the crowd. Mark chose to bring Benedict, the honorary heckler of the evening into his set and played off it perfectly. Many comedians fear the heckler and it is said that it is the mark of a good comic if they can deal with this type of scenario. So, Mark, you have been marked.
Naz Osmanoglu: IS THIS LOUD ENOUGH FOR YOU? Naz employs the tactic of presence. This, I have to say, is the personality that I felt was most sustained in WitTank’s sketches. Naz remains true to his character through and through. I personally love Naz’s style of loud Turkish energy and absurdity and he really knocked the show to another level.
Now, I realise if you’re reading this and missed the show last Sunday you may be quite dismayed in having missed out on the fun. Never fear! WitTank are coming back on February 24th.They will be performing at the Library Pub with the House of Fun Comedy Club AND… even better, they’ll be performing their full sell-out Edinburgh Fringe show, The School. Huzzah!
Time spent with these delightfully crazy balls of energy is enough to leave anyone happy so I suggest you get booking now for February! Once again, if you’re reading this boys, on behalf of everyone there last Sunday… Thank you, you were a treat.
My verdict: a pleasant evening complete with a little insight into the goings-on of these madmen’s heads.
Image Source:
1) https://www.arconline.co.uk/whats-on/comedy/wittank-presents-the-school
2) http://www.wittank.com/who/
Katya Balfour-Lynn