Comedy Review: Carl Donnelly @ Soho Theatre

By Londonist Last edited 166 months ago
Comedy Review: Carl Donnelly @ Soho Theatre

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Carl Donnelly: Armchair romantic
Friday night at the Soho Theatre could have been a tough gig - all the punters had come in from the glorious sunshine and as Carl pointed out, they generally had big smiles decorating their faces at the start of the gig so he’d soon know if things were going badly. There was no danger of that, with gags about ‘danger wanks’ (anyone heard of those? Apparently you need to be under 21 to be in the know) and his time as a binge drinker, his self deprecating style and ease with the audience made for a perfect Friday night’s entertainment.

Anyway, we spoke to Carl about a few things London - here’s what he had to say:

We’ll start with a simple one - what’s your favourite London boozer and why?

My favourite central London pub is the Lamb & Flag in Covent Garden. Before I got into comedy, I used to work across the road from it so spent many a drunken lunch hour in there. It is also over 300 years old so has that amazing historical feel to it. My favourite local pub is the Hand in Hand on Wimbledon Common as it is 10 minutes from my house but feels like you are drinking in the countryside.

Another easy one - your favourite London restaurant?

You can get a cracking selection of English pies in Porters in Covent Garden. It’s not too pricey either. Another big winning factor is their selection of English desserts (spotted dick etc). What I learnt in Porters is that I find it almost impossible to order a spotted dick without turning into Kenneth Williams.

Ok. Date scenario - you have a whole day in London to be loved up with a new/existing other. What do you do?

I’m pretty unromantic (my wife would happily confirm that) so I’d be lying if I said this was something I’ve ever actually done all in one go but in theory it would probably include the Tate Modern, a sushi lunch, some drinks by the river ending with dinner at Galvin at Windows (an incredible restaurant on the 28th floor of the Park Lane Hilton). The reality of how most romantic days end up with me is we have a Nandos, go to the cinema and I have a couple of drinks and pass out!

We heard you have been given membership at a fancy Soho club - what's that like?

It’s a very cool place called the Hospital Club near Drury Lane. I have only been a few times since getting the membership but each time has been very chilled out and nice. They have a couple of different bars if you fancy getting drunk but if you just fancy hanging out with some mates, it also has a games room with an American pool table and an Xbox. Last time I was there I was a bit drunk and found a meeting room on one of the floors so me and a couple of friends snuck in and had a 2am drinking session around a conference table!

Have you dragged much material out of the election? Or has it depressed you too much to bother?

Not really, I struggle to talk about politics onstage as it genuinely winds me up so rather than being funny, I end just sounding like an angry young man with a working class chip on his shoulder! It was quite a depressing state of affairs though wasn’t it. Watching Gordon Brown leave Downing St was heartbreaking. And I don’t mean that on any political level, just on a human level. He literally had to resign and then just walk off into the distance. It was like the end of an episode of ‘The Incredible Hulk’

Can you tell us something about London we might not know?

There is only one remaining sewer powered street lamp in Central London (as far as I am aware). If you want to see it, pop to the Savoy Hotel just off the Strand and it is outside.

Carl plays the Udderbelly with Pete Johansson on June 2, tickets available here

Last Updated 28 May 2010