Gag n Bone Man Comedy Night – Review – Dewsbury Town Hall

By Steve Crabtree, March 2024

I like laughs. Love comedy. And what sometimes passes you by while you’re doubling over at the latest gag, is just how clever a joke is. Comedians are some of the cleverest people in showbiz and entertainment, and it’s great that there’s still a load of real comedians around.

Gag n Bone Man comedy nights are becoming quite a thing at the moment.  They’re popping up all over the north of England, especially in Yorkshire. In fact, they’re so popular that Dewsbury Town Hall was packed to the rafters. Over 500 of us, with a drink in hand on a Saturday night ready for a night full of funnies and close-to-the-bone quips.

And when Gary Delaney is at the top of the bill, you know you’re guaranteed all that. Plus quite a bit more…

“Unpredictability”

Our opener was Frankie Monroe, the Working Mens Club owner, from Rochdale.  He strutted on stage just after 8pm. I’d never seen him before but the BBC New Comedy Award-winning act (courtesy of Joe Kent-Walters) came at us with levels of unpredictability, tricks and wallet sniping.

Resembling a cross between The Joker and that freakish Noseybonk character that used to scare the hell out of us all as kids in the 80s, his persona and visual comedy did more than just warm us up. He started the night off in an awesome, and zany fashion.

Getting the audience involved early on, I won’t think of a pair of marigolds in the same light again. I really liked him. And I’ll forever be singing a certain word in a certain way whenever I get out in the garden and do some basic plant-planting.

“Treated like a hero”

In between the acts, host Graeme Rayner (Gag n Bone man himself) was treated like a hero every time he came on stage. That might be something to do with what a top job he does in his compere role. He’s like the extra fries at the bottom of the bag – an extra act. But, I always think it can be a risk for a comedy night to have someone so full-on funny as host. What if he’s funnier than the other guys?  Strong in delivery, clean, then not clean…heckle him if you dare. You’ll be smashed to pieces if you try, as a couple of punters found out tonight.

After a break, we had a couple of ten-minute sets back-to-back from Alex Camp and Stanley Norman.

Camp’s been on the scene a few years, and he gave us a bit of musical humour, delivering bad news through song. And Stanley Norman gave us more character stuff, with a Dragon’s Den piece (although ‘Deborah Meaden’ in the audience stole the joke on that one), and another sing-song.

But the headliner was up after the final break in play. And I think we were all itching for him. Is there any better comedian going at the moment than Gary Delaney?  As Rayner introduced him to the stage the ovation he got was pretty special.

“Killer line after killer line”

Gary Delaney was no different tonight than when I’ve seen him in Halifax, or on TV and online.  No showbiz, no props, no sarcasm. Just an endless supply of one-liners. That’s all he needs to get us on a constant pathway of laughter for his entire set.  With everything from self-depreciating stuff while giving a waitress a tip, to Stevie Wonder’s age, his partners and electric shocks…he must have delivered over 200 jokes to this Dewsbury crowd.

It was killer line after killer line. We loved it, and he took it all in his stride. He was impressed that some of his more niche one-liners were grasped straight away by us Yorkshire folk too.

What I said about comedians being the cleverest entertainers?  Well, Mr Delaney is the proof of the proverbial pudding on that score.

If this is what the Gag n Bone Comedy night delivers at a cost of between £10-£15 for most tickets, it’s a night worth getting on. Especially when some of these nights are set up in aid of great causes.

In all, we’d had three hours of top-quality comedy at Dewsbury Town Hall. The acts, the venue, the atmosphere…absolutely fantastic.  And a quick look at the Gag N Bone Man Facebook page shows there’s more exciting shows dotted around the region with more big names.

After tonight’s show, I know it won’t be the last time I come along to one of these nights.

Images: Archie Rayner