LOL Comedy - Ladies Night

Having never been to a Laugh Out Loud (LOL) night (an amateur comedy night run by UEA drama students) I didn’t know what to expect. We got there early (thank god we did) and sat down with a drink. There was a bit of a hubbub as groups started coming in, and a rough collection of entry money (which all went to CoppaFeel charity aimed at raising awareness of breast cancer).
 
The area allocated in the Rose Tavern for the event filled up quickly, with loads of young female faces, all with pints in hand. We’d managed to cop a decent seat, and as people began to settle the whole room was brimming. Everyone seemed to know each other, but I guess that’s how you feel at a UEA event when you’re no longer a student there.
 
Proceedings were opened by Jess Cuthbert who quietened the bustling room, and introduced a first timer, who was clearly nervous but landed some decent jokes about her family. The acts rolled through smoothly, (despite the mic constantly cutting out) with each girl getting about a five-minute slot. Stand outs in the first half were an asexual first year with a guitar who performed some great half song/half spoken word comedy, and at one point completely bailed on the guitar “fuck this guitar I can’t play it anyway”. Another girl commanded the stage in a live one-woman rap battle with big name supermarkets as different types of people. Waitrose: “posh twat”, M&S: ‘fit’ and Tesco, “big dick, because ‘every little helps’”
 
The second half saw the entrance of another host, who is apparently a big name in LOL nights, and for obvious reasons. Molly Rose entered fashionably late with a skit about how she’d been at a dinner with Francis Bacon, which ended with one lucky audience member pulling out a pack of bacon from under their chair accompanied by hysterics form the crowd. With everyone getting progressively more drunk, it felt a bit like each of your mates telling funny stories at a boozy pub night; the solidarity of the crowd with all the performers meant that there were no tumbleweed moments or awkward silences. The night was closed by two confident (most definitely liquid confidence) women going on hilarious rants about ex boyfriends and bad sex.
 
Overall the solidarity of all the women supporting each other was really refreshing to see, and you could really feel the comediennes flourish in such a safe space. Personally, I think it was the perfect setting to raise some feminist issues, but all the girls played it pretty safe (only one tampon joke!) This didn’t detract from the fun or DIY nature of the event however, and everyone left beaming. My first LOL will not be my last.