Cochrane performed at the Assembly Halls last year, and seemed out of place in a venue sprouting neo-classical architecture right left and centre. Appearing this year at the Stand – a venue about beer, laughter and little else – he seems much more at home. Cochrane remains an unpretentious comedian, giving the audience laughs rather than rambling thought out monologues about contemporary issues, lessons in pseudo-philosophy or psychology.
This highlights the difference between Cochrane, a natural comedian, and performers with too much money, opinions and time on their hands. He is capable of using the starting point of ‘Spag Bog’ and somehow drawing minutes of laughter from what seems to be a thought that has just popped into his wandering mind.
Wielding an often blunt and slightly warped laughter stick, Cochrane nonetheless pounds away at his audience with great success. Exactly what stand-up should be about. I didn’t come away with any new views about the Gaza strip or profound philosophic revelations but I did laugh a lot.
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