RATING: 4/5
ALI WOODS brings his debut stand up hour to the small Underbelly venue, Clover, where the sold-out show had the audience packed in like sardines.
It becomes immediately apparent why the show was sold out, as Ali starts early with some high-quality stand-up worthy of a pro.
Ali’s show focuses on wellbeing – more specifically other people’s wellbeing.
He tells us he’s been trying to become a better friend and tell people he loves them more.
Stemming from a lockdown experience with his flatmate developing depression, Ali decides he needs to get better at checking in on people.
The whole hour focuses on mental health, a volatile area for a comedian to poke fun at, but Ali does it with style; unapologetically and satirically ripping down stereotypes around people with poor mental health and how we treat them.
He does include some badly executed accents, funny voices, and a few cliched jokes, and the set in general could use a little polishing up, but all in all Best Friend Ever is a very strong debut show.
Ali delivers his stand-up with confidence and energy that you wouldn’t expect from an up-and-comer, but you really get the feeling that this guy is a natural comedian.
His endearing personality and the way he treats his audience as friends right from the get-go makes it incredibly difficult not to become enamoured by his set.
The cheeky half-English-half-Scottish Londoner pokes fun at British repression and covers all the major topics, from Scottish mothers to karate teachers.
The autobiographical hour tells us the story of Ali’s lockdown experiences as he giggles his way through the show.
Full of call-back humour with great continuity and solid themes throughout, Ali has done a real service to himself with this show.
Get some tickets now before the rest are undoubtedly sold out.
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