Laugh Til It Hurts, Bloomsbury Theatre Review
Reviewed by Bronagh for Theatre and Tonic
Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in exchange for an honest review
The Trussell Trust is a brilliant charity, supporting food banks throughout the UK. They also look at the root cause of food poverty and work to reduce the need to use foodbanks in the future. This, however, is no mean feat. Between April 2022 and March 2023, nearly three million food parcels were distributed by food banks, which is the most parcels ever distributed in one year. This is hugely concerning and shows the need to support charities such as the Trussell Trust. Laugh Till It Hurts sets out to do just that, bringing people together to enjoy some stellar comedy and raise funds along the way.
Comedy is a magnificent thing. It brings people together in the same way a One Direction reunion would bring together millennials. There is perhaps nothing better than having a good laugh on a Wednesday night in Bloomsbury in aid of an extremely important charity, watching some hilarious comedians do their thing.
Mark Dolan is our presenter for the evening, a well known comedian who isn’t a stranger to the TV screen. I found him extremely funny all evening, even if I did wince at a few jokes. But hey, what would stand up comedy be without some wincing?
The evening starts with Sindhu Vee, who I recognised as Mrs Phelps from 2022’s Matilda the Musical. Sindhu’s jokes centred around her husband and marriage, which can seem very samey to some people but I actually found it very funny and thoroughly enjoyed Sindhu’s delivery. I did not envision seeing my Wednesday evening listening to jokes about orgasms, but here we are. Charlie George is our other female performer on the bill, another talented performer whose talents also stretch to scriptwriting for many well known comedy shows.
Adam Buxton is a total crowd pleaser, using visuals and songs throughout his performance. Centred around AI, he treats us to some very funny AI generated images and songs. Ending with an ode to Stanley Tucci, I was very pleased. Arthur Smith and Simon Evans also pleased their audiences, both touching on being the ‘old’ performers and dishing out the dad jokes to the delight of everybody in attendance.
My personal favourite from the evening was Nick Helm, known for his very brash performances. He is an absolutely hilarious performer, with me cracking up for most of his performance. All of the comedians engaged in some audience participation which was a great watch, but Nick’s in particular was delightfully squirm-worthy.
Overall the whole evening was a success, setting out what it strived to do – entertaining audiences and raising awareness of a deserving charity.
There will also be a Laugh Till It Hurts performance in aid of Mind at the Comedy Store on the 11th June, albeit with a different line up. If you want a fun night out, knowing that money is being raised for fantastic charities then this is not one to miss! Great line ups, stellar performances and money raised – the makings of a wonderful night out.
