Super Premium shows at Headliners showcase some of the best of British comedy

Rory Bremner at Headliners on Friday 3 April

Rory Bremner … Dylan Moran … Ed Byrne

Headliners comedy club has a run of ‘Super Premium’ nights at the moment, and I had one of the best nights ever there on Friday (3 April). I went to see Rory Bremner, but was he was matched by two equally funny comics whose styles were totally different, and an excellent compere, Kate Barron.

I have loved Rory Bremner’s incisive satire since the 1980s when he rose through shows such as Spitting Image to have his own TV show with John Bird and John Fortune: Bremner, Bird and Fortune.

He was on top form with spot-on impersonations of Donald Trump, Keir Starmer, David Attenborough and many more, switching in and out of them at speed.

While he delivers a comic essay, a carefully structured monologue which builds to its peroration, Otiz Cannelloni is the prince of one-liners – “I do a variety act. Some of it’s funny”.

I have seen him perform several times and I still can’t work out how he does the card trick.

Ian Stone; Otiz Cannelloni; Compere Kate Barron

Ian Stone is more of an observational comic. Another regular at Headliners, at some point he mentions being Jewish. This time he broached the subject with: “We’re not as popular as we used to be”, at which point a heckle from a woman in the front row produced one of the funniest lines of the night.

“I don’t know what to say”, she commented, as if somehow she thought stand-up was supposed to be a two-way conversation and the rest of us had paid to hear her opinion on the matter, which we were all just waiting for her to deliver.

“I’ll just carry on then, shall I?” said the bemused comedian after a pause. “That’s the first time I’ve been heckled by someone who says they have nothing to say”.

Rory Bremner

Comedians seek support from government

Earlier in the week Headliners took part in the first Live Comedy Day – live comedy in 65 venues across the country from Edinburgh to Plymouth, to raise money for the Live Comedy Association, which is fighting for more support for comics from the government.

A delegation from the comedy sector recently met Culture minister Ian Murray to make the case that unless stand-up is recognised as an art form and has access to funding and policy support, the next generation of comedians will struggle to break through.

Headliners owner Simon Randall, who has run Headliners comedy club in the Boston Room of George IV for more than 20 years, told the audience on Wednesday (1 April) that unlike every other art form, they had no state support whatsoever.

Dylan Moran; Ed Byrne

Coming up at Headliners …

Coming up this Friday and Saturday (10 and 11 April) he has another ‘Super Premium’ night, with Dylan Moran headlining. The Irish comic has been doing stand-up since the nineties – the second youngest person to win the Perrier Comedy Award in 1996 at the Edinburgh Festival at the age of 24.

Known for Black Books, which he co-wrote and starred in, and his work with Simon Pegg in films such as Shaun of the Dead and Run Fatboy Run, he is a regular performer at national and international comedy festivals such as the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Just for Laughs Montreal Comedy Festival, the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, and the Kilkenny Comedy Festival.

Book tickets – Headliners Chiswick Super Premium Show with Dylan Moran, Paul Tonkinson, Tez Ilyas, Valeria Vulpe + MC

Next month (1 May) fellow Irish comic Ed Byrne will be performing, with Mark Thomas and Eleanor Tiernan.

Book tickets – Headliners Chiswick Super Premium Show with Ed Byrne, Mark Thomas, Eleanor Tiernan and more

Headliners is a member of The Chiswick Calendar’s Club Card scheme. Club Card holders enjoy £5 off tickets on Friday nights. Simply book with Simon over the phone on 020 7221 4450 (saving you online booking fees) and then pay by cash or contactless upon arrival.

The Chiswick Calendar Club Card

Read more stories on The Chiswick Calendar