Dan Antopolski and Simon Munnery: Du Pre Music Building (From The Oxford Times)

Dan Antopolski and Simon Munnery: Du Pre Music Building

2:19pm Wednesday 7th April 2010 in

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The comedy double header of Dan Antopolski and Simon Munnery has been billed as one of the standout events of this year’s Oxfringe Festival. Both are seasoned campaigners of the comedy circuit with over 30 years between them, making them the most defined acts on the festival’s bill. With this in mind, then, it is a surprise that both have such a scattergun approach to their sets. Munnery is up first, a man who is now, at a minimum, pushing 50 and has seen his approach to stand-up soften in recent times. Most of his material is now inspired by the antics of his three daughters, giving his set a slight, whimsical feel. It’s actually in these sections that Munnery is at his best, mocking domestic foibles rather than attempting to ridicule Richard Dawkins, critique John Lennon’s Imagine and indulge in some comedy songs, none of which quite work. He leaps about, jumping from subject to subject, making the whole set a little difficult to follow.

Antopolski (pictured) is a little more polished, if only in that he uses three or four visual aides to help his material along. Much like Munnery, he seems at his most comfortable telling the audience of his household based ineptitude and not when he’s tackling bigger topics or spooling out boring jokes about male genitalia. Best of all are readings from his two books in progress, both in Mills & Boon style prose, one telling of a parliament consisting entirely of mice and the other about a troubled May to December relationship.

These two are a good pairing. Both have their moments, occasionally firing off slick, well-timed one- liners and each has a good line in kitchen sink comedy. Both, however, could do with tighter sets and a more cohesive narrative yarn to tie their set together. Not bad at all, but both comics inspire more wry smiles than the belly laughs audiences ultimately crave.