Place on bill: Compere
Venue: Creased Up - The Hawth,
Crawley
Date of show: 8th September 2005
Rob Collins takes his task of compering very seriously; he knows that it's up
to him to make the evening as comfortable as possible for both the audience and
the comedians. With that in mind his first course of business is to try to pull
the audience forward to occupy the front row of empty seats. It's early and
inhibitions are inversely proportional to the amount of alcohol imbued but he is
adamant to spread us out a bit and eventually coerces a few couples forward with
his amiable attitude.
And that's Collins defined to a tee; dedicated. Not one of these
Johnny-come-latelys who think they can get away with just doing a few bits of
their standard set but someone who's willing to make the effort to get involved
with his audience. A comedian experienced enough to be able to adapt his
material to wherever the conversations take him and skilled to make every
punchline a hit to ensure a good time is had by all.
Collins is relaxed, confident and, seemingly, genuinely enjoying himself.
Neither aggressive nor confrontational when addressing the audience one-to-one
and with anecdotal material accessible by all makes him a faultless compere and
all-round great comedian.
