Comedy Review: Is That Chris Ramsey?

Image Source: Metro Radio Arena

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Format: Stand-Up
Genre: Comedy
Date: March 9 2017
Location: Epstein Theatre, Liverpool, England

Chris Ramsey has brought his outgoing, audience-interactive, endearing and hilariously honest comedy show back to Liverpool with Is That Chris Ramsey?

A Georgie lad who recently became a dad, Chris emphasises that he appreciates comedy and his fans far more than the idea of being famous (he noted how he dislikes being called a celebrity). He's a normal person, a family man, but one who manages to find himself in the most unusual situations, much to the amusement of his audience.

Chris takes a friendly, almost conversational approach, frequently chatting with the audience to get to know them as his show progresses. At the same time, he is a master of facial reactions and reacting with a certain pitch at a certain time which doubles the impact of his punchlines. He's also a great ad-libber, thinking quickly on his feet to react to the aforementioned audience discussions as well as firmly shutting down one particularly disrespectful heckler.

Without spoiling the material for those who have yet to see the show, Ramsey goes into detail on a wide variety of topics close to his heart and engrained in his memory, such as the reason why a random customer service query helped him to understand how to build his self-confidence. There are also tales about a prank gone wrong, a house rule that was dumped in the worst possible fashion and an insight into his friend's sense of humour. He also covers the 2016 incident, which made the papers, where he was wrongly arrested while wearing just his underpants.

All of this and more comprises his show, and it's a nonstop journey of fun. Almost everything got a laugh, and there were many occasions when he had the audience in stitches; one attendee laughed so hard that it became part of the routine. Chris also proved how fan-friendly he is by happily meeting his followers afterwards for photographs and autographs.

I can't complete the review without mentioning Carl Hutchinson. Chris' warm-up act was also hilarious, with his 20 minute set having tons of laugh-out-loud moments relating to his previous job, his girlfriend and his occasional, erm, accidents. Far from a mere warm-up, Carl got the night off to a flying start, and so his own show at the Epstein on May 25 will be well worth watching.

A fantastic evening of comedy entertainment, then, as both Chris Ramsey and Carl Hutchinson delivered a plethora of hilarity that will live long in the memory for those in attendance. If you're thinking of going to see the show yourself, I strongly recommend that you do so!

Overall Rating: 9/10 - Outstanding