On any comedy line-up it is usual to find one or two acts you are not that keen on! Not so with SiStars at The Stand Comedy Club Edinburgh on Tuesday 7^th November 2006.

Keara Murphy, Hope Eternal, Al Kennedy, headline act Shappi Khorsandi and host Susan Calman just went on to prove ‘SiStars are doin’ it for themselves’.  Each one an absolute hoot in her own right, together they provided this small select audience with a superb evenings entertainment.

I have seen the diminutive Susan Calman in action before and knew I was in good hands with her in charge of proceedings. She is able to connect with various types of punters gathering them in and whipping them up to a receptive frenzy wanting more from each act.  Susan may be small in stature but her stage presence is huge, as is her talents in my opinion, and from the reactions of Geoff and the others at the show I am not the only one to think that way!  I think Susan could give many of the male hosts I have seen a good run for their money and in many instances on a one to one would win hands down.

Keara Murphy a Glasgow born and bred Irish girl, who’s full name could fill a whole page in any phonebook, thanks to her Irish through and through Mammy.  Her mum refers back to the land of her birth so much she actually asks Keara’s uncle, her brother, to order her shopping in Ireland and have it shipped over to Glasgow, via the wonders of the internet and Tesco home shopping!  She is so desperate for Keara to settle down, Keara’s English fiancé does some strange things to placate her. Her comedy is very much observational and personal. I do love her suggestion for the use of certain lawbreakers as overhead lighting to help save energy.

Hope Eternal could be described as an Essex woman with a motor mouth and balls. This gutsy woman was a subtle change after Keara and Susan. She is proud to be bringing up her child alone but would rather not be seen as a single mum but as a woman bringing up her child without that useless **** that was their father.  Her set was also based upon observational humour and it is obvious that the fact that a group of people’s perception of the same things can be totally different, therefore similar comedy can be so different.  Part of her act shows how simple sentences in her accent sound like threats.

Having seen Al Kennedy before I was looking forward to seeing more.  I was then warned that Al is suffering from a bad bout of the flu, despite this the show must go on. Her delivery may have been more slightly laid back than usual for Al, if that is possible but it had myself and the others in absolute stitches.  Helped or hindered by my previous knowledge I had got one punchline long before my fellow audience members and I was rolling about laughing for ages before them.  A little bird tells me both Al and Susan are looking in to pairing up and that is something I would like to see.

Finally, the stunning Iranian woman that is Shappi Khorsandi. I had had a little taster of Shappi at the BBC Stand-up Show Live during The Fringe and knowing Geoff has followed her carer so far and enjoys her comedy we decided to come to this performance of SiStars to see more.  With all the political correctness in the world going crazy it was interesting to see her personal take on life.  She is able to take the piss out of subjects many would look upon as taboo.  Shappi has recently got married and it will be interesting in the future to see if this has an effect on her material.

Both Geoff and I agree this was one of the very best comedy gigs we have ever been to with not one bad or even poor act. We were presented with a line up of five superbly talented young ladies all of which present their own unique slant on comedy and in my opinion many of the men on the circuit today could do well to observe these performers before they completely take over.  The Stand Comedy club always presents the cutting edge of comedy, new acts and superb established comedians in this case they outdid themselves. The only downers on the evening were the lousy weather and the slightly small and quiet audience.