alun cochrane – Who's Laughing Now?

As show titles go, Alunish Cochranish isn’t the most attention-grabbing headline you’ll see, but it is pretty accurate. In fact, it does a remarkable job of signalling what to expect from the Yorkshire-born stand-up – it’s possibly the most ‘Alun Cochrane’ show that Alun Cochrane has ever done.

What that resulted in was an hour of observational comedy – a disjointed collection of stories from Cochrane’s life, performed warmly and in his unmistakably gentle way. After being ably supported by Mike Newall, Cochrane delved into material about sneezing, the prison service, and a host of subjects plucked from everyday life, from which he’d effortlessly wring layers of jokes and relatable whimsy. Continue reading “Review: Alun Cochrane @ Warwick Arts Centre, 25th February 2018”

As show titles go, A Show With A Man In It is a wholly accurate description of what ensued in this 90 minutes. Suggested by Alun Cochrane‘s son, the stand-up adopted it for his run at last year’s Edinburgh Fringe and, in its pleasing simplicity, seems to comfortably reflect the un-showy nature of Cochrane’s output.

Now a regular at the Fringe, on Radio 4 and touring the UK’s arts centres, Cochrane cuts a figure of understatement, from that title to his outfit to the self-deprecating way he describes his show and its alleged lack of jokes, though that claim turned out to be far from the truth. Continue reading “Review: Alun Cochrane @ Warwick Arts Centre, 6th March 2016”