What do you think of when I say "Papal Conclave"? You think of set-in-their-ways Cardinals; a cold church in Rome; some smoke; and a dead Pope. You don't think game shows, raucous laughter, and a young comic named Simon Bird. But, that's what happened on Tuesday night at Cardiff University's CF10...Simon Bird came to play, and came to find a potential anti-Pope.
Simon Bird's comedy-fest was opened by a strange man whose name actually escapes me. He was the compere, but I believe his name was Dan. He looked like the strange bastard-son of Boyd Clack (writer of High Hopes and Satellite City) and Huw Stephens (of Radio 1 fame). He was a pretty good compere, even if he did leave a lot of the audience stuck to their seats in fear of yet more audience participation!
Skipping out the opening act, who, in all honesty, isn't even worth mentioning (even the five minutes I stood next to him at the bar, he was no more noticeable or interesting than the fast-emptying fridge of Carlsberg, or the painfully stiff seats that had been laid out in make-shift rows), Simon Bird insisted on participation.
So, let's cut to the chase:
Was it funny? Possibly. I have no idea. I laughed, yes. Was I laughing with Simon Bird, at his witty little experimental, Catholicism-based "game-show", or was I laughing at the silly things he made people do in order to become "Pope" for the night? I think it might have been the latter - sure, he had some witty moments, like "Choose a Christian!" as a category, naming not only people like Christian Bale, Hans Christian Anderson, and Chris(tian) Rock, but also lesser-known Formula 3 Danish racer Christian Bakkerund (of all people).
Was it worth the money? Yes. I can't say that £6 to sit for two hours in a Students' Union building and watch a vaguely high-profile comedian, and two relative unknowns, was far too much. I'm paying less to see Steve Hall in December, but that's because he is relatively unknown to the majority of kids on the block. So, value for money there was.
Would I go and see him again? Not really. Given the chance, I'd like to know what the hell he plans on doing next time. Warwick S.U. had a lovely poster saying it was an Experimental Game Show, while Cardiff's S.U. just advertised him as Simon Bird (of The Inbetweeners) at the Comedy Club on Tuesday 29th September. He might be good doing stand-up; he might be good sticking to this; I just don't know if I found him terribly worth it all.
Overall: 6/10 - Good attempt, Simon. It wasn't my cup-of-tea, but I enjoyed, and so did everyone I went with. Well done.
