James Alderson Presents... at The Spring, Havant REVIEW: 'A brilliant evening for stand-up comedy fans'

For comedy fans, there’s no better gift than a night at James Alderson Presents...

With five comedians in action, it’s excellent value for money.

The evening was expertly pieced together by host and comic, James, whose audience interaction just keeps getting better. Be it picking on a pair of navy medics, to asking a Russian lady to sort out the election; he is never afraid to delve into the crowd to find some comedy gems, and that he always does.

On this occasion, the first two acts billed were unfamiliar to me but both impressed. Stefano Paolini did some excellent impressions from the world of sport, film and politics; his Donald Trump was spot-on. Meanwhile, Will Mars’ largely self-deprecating set about being a middle-of-the-road, 5/10, bloke was hilarious; he barely paused for a breath in his exhausting but highly amusing set.

Tom Deacon was up next. A very likeable guy, his observational comedy is always delivered with aplomb. From recounting a nervous trip to a new barber, to seeing someone getting stuck in his coat on the tube, he was certainly popular with the audience.

Finally, headlining the evening was Chris McCausland. The blind comic assured the audience if at any point they didn’t like it, they could just sneak out. In an unfortunate gaffe, he was guided to the stool centre stage only to find it wasn’t stationery: ‘a swivel stool? God knows which way I’ll be facing at the end!’

His set was absolutely brilliant from start to finish and his anecdote about a recent embarrassing trip to the doctors is something that I am not likely to forget any time soon.

A brilliant evening for stand-up comedy fans.