Cornshed Festival

I turn my back on Balham for one weekend and what happens? The bloody Balham Comedy Festival!

By all accounts it went swimmingly for The Bedford with the likes of HARRY HILL, ARDAL O'HANLON, AL MURRAY (The Pub Landlord), MILTON JONES, STEPHEN K.AMOS, ED BYRNE, JOHN MOLONEY, RICHARD HERRING, MARCUS BRIGSTOCKE, TANIA EDWARDS, STEPHEN FROST IMPRO ALLSTARS, PAUL CHOWDHRY, DIANE SPENCER… all treading the comedy boards.

But that's not the point of this post.

I spent the weekend in North Yorkshire, in a rain sodden field attached to the bizarrely named Sexhow Farm for the relatively unknown but hugely successful Cornshed Festival in, wait for it... Hutton Rudby.

 

Now in its 26th year, the festival aims to raise money for the Great Northern Air Ambulance Service. 

Weather aside the whole thing was amazing. One of the slickest and best organised festivals I've seen in a long time. 2 music stages and a comedy tent for around 700 people on each of the two nights.

I don't get up North much but you'd be blind if you weren't aware that Yorkshire in particular tends to hit above its weight in comedy legends. What I hadn't counted on was just how much support there was for home grown heroes.

Patrick Monahan

Patrick Monahan was back donating his time and while many claim playing to a home crowd is far easier than your average gig, his control of the tent was a masterclass in catering to a broad age range. This made it particularly difficult for the other acts, particularly when people are leaving straight after their hero has finished a slot but hats off to them for powering on through. I'll have updates on the other acts in my next post, two of whom in particular who caught my eye.

What really struck me about Patrick was the little techniques he adopted to control what was a rowdily fun crowd. His seemingly prodigious memory of who had been at last years festival stood him in particularly good stead and his constant reference to people he had picked on throughout the set showed an ability to control every part of the large, brightly lit tent. He's a great talent for up and coming comics, particularly MC's, to watch and learn little tricks to manage a crowd.

In the meantime you can still donate to the Festival by dropping them an email or give direct to GNAAS.

See you next time.