Comedy Night -- September

Our monthly Comedy Night returns, with Dave Fulton and Parrot.  MC, as always, is Paul B Edwards. Licensed bar.  

Whoever it was who decided that Americans don't have any sense of irony, they forgot to tell Dave Fulton. This wry Seattle wag is positively brimming over with ironic invective. He even fronted an amusing and perceptive report - for Newsnight, no less - begging Brits to celebrate their own heritage, rather than aping American pop culture.

Yet you'd never know from the look of him. With his stringy beard, straggly long hair and rock 'n' roll black leather jacket, Fulton looks more like a refugee from a defunct British heavy metal band than an all-American stand-up... there's a salty flavour to his live club set that you'd scarcely describe as feminist. It's these contradictions that make Fulton so fascinating, and fun to watch, especially when he's riffing with British punters half a world away from home.

Dave Fulton is opinionated, isn't afraid to pull punches in his observations, yet has a deceptively laid back stage manner that disguises a raw aggression. A varied melting pot of issues that sometimes even he doesn't want to explore. This is un-missable comedy from one of the most dynamic and innovative comedians breaking on the comedy circuit at the moment. His mother would never have thought it possible from someone who holds a Masters in Music Composition.

"Whiplash delivery and relentless pace" - The List 

Founder member of Scotland's ground-breaking comedy collective, The Funny Farm, Parrot has long perched on the shoulder of decency, shouting in its ear with his slightly-skewed invective and dark view of the world. One of stand-up comedy's great mavericks, Parrot has garnered much praise as he ploughed a furrow for others to follow; an early pioneer from the days when alternative comedy was a vast, unexplored frontier.

Since then, Parrot has performed highly-acclaimed solo shows at five Edinburgh Fringe Festivals, headlined at some of the biggest comedy clubs across the UK – including The Stand, Jongleurs and the Comedy Store in London.

Parrot’s massive influence on the modern comedy scene extends far beyond his own stand-up act, having written for such stars as Dave Allen, Jack Dee and Jo Brand. He has explored all comedy terrains - from TV to radio, both off-screen and on as a writer and performer of extraordinary class, with credits including The Stand-Up Show (BBC1), Rab C Nesbitt (BBC2) and Jonathon Ross Live (R1). His radio credits also include appearances on Mark Goodier and Mark Radcliffe’s shows and as co-host, (with Kevin Day), on Loose Talk – subsequently nominated for the Sony Radio Awards and the New York Radio Awards.

Recently he's been seen on the BBC series The Stand Up Show, and Channel 5's The Comedy Store series where he took the roof off the prestigious club with his highly inventive perspective on life. Dave has also presented a feature for Newsnight on American culture to tie in with an exhibition at The Barbican.