ALUN COCHRANE: ME NEITHER | LIVE REVIEW
St David’s Hall, Cardiff, Thurs 19 Feb
Alun Cochrane is something of a veteran now. He’s been performing at the Edinburgh Festival for ten years and has enjoyed a television presence that has seen him appear on Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow, Mock the Week and 8 Out Of 10 Cats. It’s therefore more than a slight mystery as to why he continues to play to relatively small crowds, especially when one considers his talent for observational humour, coupled with a dark and dry side that distinguishes him from swathes of other comics.
Despite his experience, he surely cannot have played too many gigs as unconventional as this one, held in what he described as ‘a foyer’. To be precise, it was the area of St. David’s Hall that you walk through to get to the toilet.
Cochrane of course makes light of this; “We couldn’t have the big room tonight because there are music stands and stuff in there.”
More than any art form, comedy needs a captive audience in order to truly thrive. Otherwise, both performer and punter suffer. This unfortunately was the result here as the sparse and frantic seating arrangement made a stand-up gig feel more like a badly attended wedding.
Cochrane’s material itself was as reliable and amusing as ever. Despite being in his late 30s, he has managed to maintain an innocent and youthful look which gives him a shy and awkward persona that endears him to his crowd. The awkward and grumpy style feels authentic too; there doesn’t seem to be an act here like you would get from some other comedic misanthropes.
Cochrane is genuinely grumpy, laid-back and slow-paced, which is refreshing and funny in equal measure in a world full of worry and overreaction.
It’s just a shame that only a few people in a glorified corridor were there to see it.
words ROB HARRIES