JILLY REID

The tiny stage - I was seated front and centre

Last weekend, upon deciding to have a quiet night with a few friends, I went to see the Newsrevue up in Little Venice, London.

Touted as the ‘world’s longest running live comedy show’ the Newsrevue is a super fast paced sketch show based on the media’s headlines of the week. The act takes place in the tiny Canal Cafe Theatre, located along the canals just north of Notting Hill.

Not knowing quite what to expect, we purchased a few bottles of wine and went to our table. Almost immediately (we were running late), the lights dropped and the show started with a musical number poking fun at some of London’s headlines. Two men and two women owned the stage, with the support of one pianist in the background.

The show was great – the fast pace meant that just as the audience was recovering from laughter of one joke or skit, the lights would drop and almost instantaneously come up again with another skit ready to break into action. The humour was profane and they definitely weren’t trying to remain politically correct, with religious and political jabs framing much of the content. In this age of PC obsessiveness, it was refreshing to hear some frank and brutally honest material.

If you’re looking for a quirky way to spend a weekend evening, definitely check out this place. The Newsrevue changes every week, allowing audiences to return over and over again. And I definitely will.

The small audience pit