25 – 27 March 2007: John Ryan, Phil Butler and Rudi Lickwood
CH-uckles got off to a rip-roaring start with three excellent acts from the UK, three ideal venues for comedy and three very receptive audiences.After a few teething troubles (ie Rudi missing his flight!) the inaugural CH-uckles show got underway in front of nearly a hundred expectant punters with more nationalities among them than a Panini sticker book. John Ryan, playing host with the most, proved that a little knowledge goes a long way by managing to crack a joke about all of the countries represented in the room, though he'll have to brush up on his Serbian accent for next time...
Next up was Phil Butler, whose audio/visual brand of comedy would have even non-English speakers rolling in the aisles (as long as they understood a few naughty words). From cigarette-juggling and money-burning to a child's toy with Tourettes, his act had it all.
Half-time saw the joke competition, with the challenge being to find the difference between Paris Hilton and a spoon. John showed that it had only taken him a few hours to get into the swing of Swiss life by chosing the wonderfully Helvetic "The difference between Paris Hilton and a spoon is... We cannot enter the competition as we have no table number". You can't write comedy like that – worth a CH-uckles t-shirt in anyone's money.
The third act was Rudi Lickwood, who was a particular hit with the ex-pat Brits in the audience, harking back to the days of Chinese burns in the schoolyard, plimsoles with no soles ("they should just be called Plims, innit?") and how he misses curries – the electrical goods shop, not the Indian food.
From the bistro-style seating of Maiers in Zurich, it was on to the neat, compact little theatre that is the Burgbachkeller in Zug. The venue had been sold out for a good few days before the event, and John, Phil and Rudi certainly went down a storm down in central Switzerland, both in Zug on the Monday and in Lucerne, at Der Knascht, on the Tuesday. The audience also treated us to such gems as the difference between a blender and Prince Harry is that with a blender, at least you know what the original ingredients were (can't think what they mean, he says, trying to avoid a charge of treason...)
And as for the difference between Tony Blair and a rubber glove, I'm not at liberty to divulge. Suffice to say that there were some "probing" answers given...
