Stand Up For Cider 2024 – Heat 4

On Friday 27 September we held the 4th heat of Stand Up For Cider 2024! As usual we were hosted by the awesome Creative Innovation Centre (CICCIC)

It was an utterly brilliant evening! This is one of my favourite photos of the night! It clearly shows all our awesome sponsors on our pop up banner! Also, as I had a broken toe I wasn’t able to receive the hugs so I told the winners to hug Wayne instead! I swear he actually puckered up!

Oh I should probably explain the lack of our resident MC the adorable David Arnold! David was away working his comedy magic on a cruise ship! Wayne stepped in to help me and was wonderful….David will be back for the final on 22 November. Wayne did a brilliant job of trying to blend in with the art at CICCIC….all we could see was his head!

First up was a chap called Chris Broadbent – He came from Oldham. His set was well rehearsed. When asked whether he wanted jam or cream first on a scone he replied GRAVY! He told a tale of a Russian Wife then swapped to a wife from Bridgwater called KIm….there followed some hilarious jokes about posh food. His set ended with a really good tale about Taylor Swift!

Next up was Jessica Otterwell – She started with a Taylor Swift joke! Straight after the 1st contestant! A lady from Bristol who now lives in Brighton. She has some excellent material about dating apps and adventures. Her advice is to date someone with a great accent instead of a personality! She went on to have a go at people called Dave….my poor nephew Dave was in the audience!

Our third contestant was Joe Greenslade – An ex local lad! Lots of family jokes about his mum and dad and growing up. He is endearing and very likeable! Apparently only his mum laughs at his joke but not tonight. The audience warmed to him and his self deprecating material. Charming and a little unique.

Next up was Jack May from Devon. Full of energy and a full on stream of jokes! Quite dry material including mental health, child abuse and coming from a rich family. The audience really enjoyed his set!

Next we enjoyed a yummy beer break! The bar at CICCIC is fully stocked, quickly served and very well priced and affordable….it is a wonderful venue!

Following the break, next up was Tony O’Hara. He started at a very high joke rate! Being asthmatic and his greatest enemy being dust! An extremely polished performance. He is from Dublin but now living in Brighton. He called Twerking as Parkinsons for the arse! The audience adored him and he had plenty of applause breaks and huge laughter!

Next up was Christina Varga! A Romanian powerhouse. She was sparkly bright and energetic. She has had loads of jobs including an English Teacher in Barcelona! Very funny jokes about the things she taught the Spanish kids. She came across as super confident and with some excellent jokes! Everyone enjoyed her set. She also did some very good Brexit jokes!

Josh Whatmore was next up. Full of class distinction jokes. Confident and with great delivery. Some brilliant mother in law jokes that were fresh. I like the one about an Asda trolley in his nan’s garden that became a climbing frame and then a barbecue! Another popular act with out audience.

Next up was Capriella Monique – She has taken part before a few years ago, but was very welcome back. She showed a lot of progression since her first appearance. She writes some incredibly funny songs. I love the one about her ex boyfriend Tyrone! She also takes dating advice from her nan!

Last up was Chris Somerset – never an easy spot to fill. Lots of material about being an ex gambler.

Now to explain the scoring and winners – As we made Heat 3 a champions of champions show for the winners of the previous 10 years we had quite a few spaces for the final in November!

So the winners was Tony O’Hara – Second place was Josh Whatmore and third was Jack May. We then proceeded to offer Wild Cards to Capriella, Christina and Joe! We look forward to welcoming back all our finalists! This show is almost sold out already so if you want to be there please book quickly.

I want to give huge praise to our Headline Act from Friday! Ian Murphy! Ian actually took part in Stand Up For Cider exactly 2 years ago. His career is flying and to be in a competition and being a headline act is an incredible achievement! He is a loveable scouser! He is writing material all the time and honing his act. He told me it was because of Stand Up For Cider that he decided to pursue his comedy dreams! I feel super proud of this!