Akmal Saleh at Sit down comedy club
What a night it turned out to be! Having seen Akmal Saleh on TV on 'Thank God You are Here' and 'Rove', we decided to catch his comedy routine live at the Paddo Tavern. We reached a little early, so had to cool heals in the bar, which wasn't too bad as the Broncos were thrashing the Bulldogs with an inspired play. The show finally started late by 45 minutes. Note to the Sit Down Comedy club: You need a better way of getting people in. The lines were too long!
The show started with the supporting act of Joel Ozborne. Funny guy indeed, but his act was interrupted several times by a lady sitting next to the stage who had a laugh like a hyena and kept laughing after everyone else had stopped. It was so embarrassingly obvious that I was convinced that she was art of the act. Joel kept up gamely, and even tried to use her for the laughs, which worked pretty well, thus reinforcing my view that she was part of the act. Nobody could have that kind of laugh and come to a comedy club!
Of course, she wasn't! When Akmal came one, and the lady kept her routine, Akmal tried to use her again for some more laughs. He even got her on the stage to umm.. show her tattoo. By this time, she was too drunk and couldn't contain herself. When she got down, she kept chatting to people around her, in spite of warnings from Akmal (comedic at first, serious later). Eventually, he had to get the owners of the club to get her to go out, which of course, she wasn't happy with (nor the people with her). The whole mood of the place got spoilt while they waited to get her out of the club, which she wasn't doing without kicking and screaming. To his credit, Akmal kept his composure as much as he could, but everyone could see that he had lost his rhythm. The woman's complaint was that the comedians (Joel first, and Akmal later) had used her when they wanted the laughs, but were now throwing her out when she got out of hand.
In spite of all that, the comedic routines were funny, and a good night was had by all (except of course the lady and her friends). Akmal and Joel are highly recommended!