Fred Macaulay and Bruce Morton Comedy Night, The Bungalow, Paisley. Sunday 20th November, 2022

I had tickets to see this pair at The Bungalow in 2020, a gig that got postponed because of the first lockdown. I took a refund then and didn't even realise that gig had been rescheduled to last year. So, it was a pleasant surprise to see on Friday a Facebook ad promoting the pair at the Bungalow tonight and for there still to be tickets available (at the bargain price of £12 no less, plus fees of £1.52).

Another surprise was to see Parrot, a comedian from Greenock I first saw back in the nineties, jump on stage to introduce them. I think it was a surprise to him too because he'd only made the journey along the M8 to see his old pals perform, not expecting to compere the evening. It showed too. He was not so much a warm-up man as a let's kill this gig stone dead man. I think Monty Python might have been inspired by his performance. To be fair though, he hadn't been on a stage in nine years and was as rusty as an iron nail left exposed to the elements for that length of time. 

The same could be said of the first act, Bruce Morton. He admitted he also hadn't been on stage since last year's Bungalow gig. His material came across like a work-in-progress, especially as he kept referring to his two pages of scribbled notes.  Some jokes landed, others died. He salvaged the set by throwing in some old material I recognised from the nineties. Given the circumstances, I'll forgive him for the unevenness of his performance.  

Fred has been touring so his material flowed well, although, given he opened with his COP 26 material, he might have been using it for a while now. His set was good, despite the interruptions of Helena, a forty-year-old woman from Falkirk, who'd come through with her family and friends to see him, even offering to drive him home if he performed for longer (there's a joke in there somewhere but, as a male of a certain age, I'd never be able to find it).  

This was my first time in The Bungalow since it has been refurbished and I liked it. The raised stage provided good visibility and the sound was good, despite Parrot suggesting the 'music' microphone turned down the funny. My only complaint was that the LED spotlights pointing at the audience were kept on during the show causing me eye strain. Comedy gigs work better when the audience isn't illuminated. Just saying.

The offending spotlight