I bet you’ve never seen a stand up comedy show with a castle and a sunset in the background before… Dylan’s got the recipe right when it comes to views, windows – and a fantastic events schedule.
In my 25 years of living in Pen Llŷn, I’ve been to several comedy shows. I’ve had to travel to places like London and Manchester for it, but I’ve seen quite a few! I’ve even been to comedy clubs in Amsterdam and California too, so you can call me a fan for sure. But I’d never think this wonderful art form on stage would come so close to my home.
When I saw on Dylan’s schedule of events that there was a comedy night coming up, I booked a slot for myself and my friends as soon as possible. There were no details at the time of what it was or who was performing, but I adore comedy, especially stand up, so I thought I’d give it a go. I naiively thought that it was just some sort of local act trying out their skills on a familiar and friendly audience, I had no idea that Dylan’s had gone all out in securing some brilliant comedians from all over the country. For £9 a ticket, we got so much for our money!
We arrived at 8:30 for the 9pm start having just caught a quick dinner at Mei’s Fusion (see my previous blog post – I wasn’t lying when I said I’d be back!) We were greeted by the most beautiful sunset sky over the castle – Dylan’s views of Criccieth never fail to impress. As it happens the posters on the door into Dylans were the first time I had seen the title of the show – ‘Kill for a Seat’ – which turns out to be a fantastic travelling comedy club setup etstablished in 1994 and organized by the one and only Silky, also the words ‘SOLD OUT’ – made us feel especially excited.
We grabbed some cocktails from the bar and found our seats. The room was packed with a jovial atmosphere, I got the impression a lot of people had just had a lovely meal next door in the dining area of Dylans and were happy, full, and possibly a couple of drinks in- the comedians couldn’t have asked for a better atmosphere and audience. I was delighted to discover that there were four acts in store for us, and the show began with the beautiful sky outside still glowing pink providing an amazing backdrop. Tiernan Douieb, our first act and compere, commented on the view observing that it was very rare that he was upstaged by a sunset. Tiernan brought the energy from the very start, chatting to and bouncing off members of the crowd and cosying up the room by getting us all acquainted. Tiernan was getting some wonderful energy from the crowd (although some more than others!) from the outset so when it came to introduce the next act, the crowd gave them a warm (and loud!) welcome. Jonathan Williams is as close to home grown talent as I think we may ever experience. Hailing from Felinheli (near Bangor) this ‘local’ boy was very familiar with the area and this worked to his advantage as he entertained us with some observations and quips about the local area and it’s people.
We had a short interval in which table service was provided by the lovely waiting on staff, and a large wooden slab full of slices of Dylan’s well known and delicious pizzas was handed around to the crowd. Even though I was full from my meal earlier I still managed to enjoy a slice!
Our next act was Kevin Caswell-Jones. Kevin hails from Wrexham though you wouldn’t have known it from his slightly soft-spoken but distinctly posh accent. We soon learned that Kevin is a nurse by day and a comedian by night, (or perhaps the other way round knowing how NHS shift patterns vary!) Kevin had an air of experience about him, like he was completely comfortable on stage (how true that is from Kevin’s perspective I have no idea) and kept the crowd laughing throughout his routine.
One more interval to keep us well hydrated and it was time for our headline act. Silky kept up the momentum with skill moving fluidly back and forth from the sophisticated to the silly, at one point had the whole crowd in stitches acting out the many uses of a £30 guitar stand. (You have to see it to understand the hilarity – but trust me- it worked!) Between bantering with the now very tipsy crowd and joking about his own life he had us laughing from start to finish. Silky rounded off the evening in style by singing (and might I add – playing his beautiful guitar extremely skillfully) a couple of his funny songs. The first was a soulful but catchy lament dedicated to police community support officers, and the last was an upbeat song that described life from the point of view of a dog with playful accuracy, ending with a hilariously abrupt punch line that brought the rolling energy of the show to a raucous pinnacle.
The whole room was enjoying themselves from start to finish, I know myself and my three friends enjoyed the show thoroughly, we’re looking forward to the next!
Dylan’s do have more comedy nights planned, I will be watching their facebook page like a hawk, from the wonderful success of this night I’m sure tickets will sell fast the next time round.
If you’d like email updates when ‘Kill for a Seat’ might be returning to the area, you can sign up for the mailing list here!
You can also find Dylan’s schedule of events here.
We Love Llŷn 