Last updated 11:24, Thursday, 10 April 2008

The Howling Owl Comedy Club, Spirit, Crosby Street, Carlisle FRIDAY night has long been recognised by TV schedulers as the natural home of comedy. The weekend starts here: time to sit back, pull up a pint and chortle. n The next Howling Owl takes place on Friday, May 2.

This particular penny has finally dropped in Carlisle with the arrival of The Howling Owl, which debuted at Spirit last Friday. A decent turnout of about 40 in the compact upstairs room was entertained by three comedians and compere AJ James.

AJ welcomed us while performing a balancing act which he combined with a spot of knife-juggling. The comedians were just as sure-footed.

First up was Barry Dodds, the very essence of genial Geordiedom. His best material cannot be repeated in a family newspaper but Dodds’ style and substance quickly endeared him to the audience.

Vince Atta discussed the perils of living in Moss Side and looking like Danny from Hear’Say. A woman who frequently interrupted him was on the receiving end of some audience participation as Atta orchestrated an enthusiastic request for her to shut up.

Headliner John Scott’s easy confidence immediately hooked the audience. There are, he explained, a lot of undiagnosed Tourette’s sufferers in Glasgow. Most passers-by would see them and think: “Now there’s a confident young man.”

The majority of material throughout the night was observational rather than political and extremely well received by an enthusiastic crowd. There were a couple of opening night glitches, such as an unscheduled interval being called when Barry Dodds was disturbed by some latecomers, but the quality of the venue and the acts suggests many more fun-filled Friday nights.

ROGER LYTOLLIS