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Great Western Entertainments showcase

Published Monday 2 November 2009 at 10:35 by Mike Martin

More intimate surroundings this year for Graham Wilkin’s annual airing of largely new acts. The club is well laid out for cabaret and the smallish stage is adequately lit. With no bands on show, this was a night for solo and duo performances.

Close-up magician John Isaacs worked the tables before proceedings commenced. Although I was not close enough to appreciate his tricks, it all seemed to be well received.

First up came Jay, a young guitar vocalist with a modern look. His mid-Atlantic, throaty voice is pleasant yet not over-safe, and he proved his skill as a guitar player with some authentic lead picking on a Gary Moore number. Undemanding to watch, he is fairly inanimate, but this is nothing unusual. His easy chat and confidence whilst handling diverse material, which included Snow Patrol’s Chasing Cars, makes him bookable.

Rob Hendy’s comedy magic act works in a “kitchen parlour” way. His image is not sharp - he comes across as a worried uncle trying out tricks for the first time. However, this is a clever ploy because in spite of the uncertain persona, the illusions, most of which are rather novel, never fail to intrigue and entertain. I particularly liked the pistol trick and the table levitation.

Andy Max presents an interesting variation on the solo instrumentalist angle by playing the double bass. The instrument itself is decorated wonderfully and he plays it with funky abandon. His fifties rockabilly image is complemented by a fair singing voice, an ability he emphasises by putting the bass down to croon Stuck on You.

Stephanie Scott is an experienced club singer who confidently works the crowd with big gestures, but I felt that she piles on the affected raunch a little too heavily. She is at her best when belting out vocal statements like Its Raining Men, which she sold effectively. An occasional tendency to over emphasise her phrasing could be curbed to fine-tune her showgirl style.

MIB, a male/female duo (standing for musicians in black, which is what they were), are not an ideal pairing visually. The young girl is attractive in a goth-like way, but her tense double-handed clutching of the microphone makes for uneasy viewing. However, she had lightened up by the third song and was rattling enthusiastically on a tambourine. The male guitarist is considerably more mature, but they harmonise well. Taylor Swift’s hit Love Story was impressively recreated, likewise the seventies classic Bony Mony.

Stuart Masters had been doing a professional job throughout the evening, compering with welcome brevity, but he closed the first half with a comic patter spot of his own. He is a fine comedian with a warm, West Country style and well-chosen gags.

The second half opened with comedy vocalist Jenny Robin, who has been on the scene for quite some time. Again, she is undoubtedly a skilled performer. Her comedy timing is sharp and she sings well. Animated and expressive, she connects immediately, but inevitably she goes in the direction of appealing to the lowestcommon denominator by degenerating into “below the belt” humour. Each to their own, but when Victoria Wood touches upon this kind of thing she does it with style, class and reservation - a subtle lesson which perhaps could be taken on board.

Guitar vocalist Bennie Vee looks more like an accountant than an entertainer as he stands rigid in front of his music stand, trilling his way unashamedly through old favourites by the likes of Herman’s Hermits and Billy Fury. On one song there was a particular point where he could never quite make the note, He is laidback and likeable but I cannot imagine him working any room into a frenzy. That said, he is fine as a background club performer.

Lucy Harvey livened things up somewhat. This tall, slim, striking girl has an engaging personality. Possessing all the elements of an all-round class act, she even got a Mexican wave going around the room during her saxophone rendition of Tequila. Watchable and smile-inducing, she also sings very well. I would be most surprised if the assembled bookers were not queuing up to offer her work.

Another rock solid act is Gary Dorsey. With a strong, crystal-clear singing voice, he could hold an audience with his vocal ability alone, but he is also an accomplished comic, a raconteur with a nice line in selfassured patter and observational humour. His delivery is somehow old-fashioned but it works perfectly.

Jim Baines, yet another guitar/vocalist, had a worried look throughout his spot. Also guilty of remaining rigidly tense in front of his microphone stand, Baines opened with a reasonably played Apache. His faithful but careful rendition of the complex Sultans of Swing was more ambitious but he carried it off pretty well. Finishing with the crowd pleasing Johnnie B Goode, he left the stage to appreciative applause.

An extra turn - to fill the gap left by an artist who failed to show - came in the form of the sound man, Terry Andrews. He did a good job putting across numbers such as Runaround Sue and Build Me Up Buttercup.

Something somewhat different to close the show was one Marion Dare, who bounded on stage in a grotesque fat suit, full of coarse Irish blarney in the guise of Hairy Mary. Her humour is very “in your face”, often tasteless and somewhat intimidating, attacking the audience in a way that makes one feel that it would not be a good idea to get in a scrap with her. Stripping off the fat suit to reveal a more glamorous image (although she retained her trainers!), she presented a more sensitive side to her talents with a powerful I Who Have Nothing.

An enjoyable, and nicely varied showcase of talent.

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