Andy Parsons: International Indoor Championship Moaning: Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh, 2006
Andy Parsons: Gruntled: Assembly on the Mound, Edinburgh, 2011
Roar with Laughter 2012: Hammersmith Apollo, London, 2012
Andy Parsons: Live and Unleashed – But Naturally Cautious: Soho Theatre, London, 2015
Always Be Comedy: The Exhibit, Balham, London, 2016
Always Be Comedy: The Tommyfield pub, Kennington, London, 2017
The Off The Kerb Showcase: The Comedy Store, London, 2018
Always Be Comedy: The Tommyfield pub, Kennington, London, 2018
Always Be Comedy: The Tommyfield pub, Kennington, London, 2019
Always Be Comedy: The Tommyfied pub, Kennington, London, 2021
Andy Parsons: Healing The Nation: Leicester Square Theatre, London, 2021
Headliners Comedy: George IV pub, Chiswick, London, 2023
Always Be Comedy: The Tommyfield pub, Kennington, London, 2023
Andy Parsons: Bafflingly Optimistic: Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2023, Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh, 2023
I have seen Andy Parsons many times over the years. He is a reliable, very funny political comedian who has a unique South Coast nasal delivery. His solo shows that I saw in 2006, 2012 and 2015 all showed off Parsons comedic skill, which was to be allowed to build a narrative throughout the performances to make the punch lines much more effective.
In 2016 and 2017, watching from my front row seat, it was great to see up-close his comic mastery when he performed extended routine for Always Be Comedy. Widely known for his appearances on the TV series Mock The Week, the rhythm and pace of Parson’s political material is always very funny and very engaging.
Parsons compered the second half of the Off The Kerb showcase at The Comedy Store in April 2018. Well-loved and extremely popular with the London audience, he proved to be an excellent compere keeping the audience highly charged and entertained with his perfectly timed political comedy.
The comedian featured in an Always Be Comedy showcase in September 2018 and then again in June 2019 performing excellent new material for a forthcoming tour. Before he walked onto the stage at the September show, I was attempting to sing (which turn into adlib) on stage with the help of resident MC James Gill, the Neil Diamond classic song and Karaoke crowd-pleaser Sweet Caroline which I think entertained the audience. Parsons did a brilliant twenty-minute try-out wittily talking about the pressures and difficulties of performing stand-up comedy referencing my dreadful singing throughout the routine.
Parsons returned to live stand-up comedy when he performed for Always Be Comedy in June 2021. Trying out new material and ideas on the audience and making them laugh with ease proved how great he was at controlling a room.
I watched his new tour Healing The Nation at the Leicester Square Theatre in October 2021. The show featured Parson’s trademark commentary on subjects such as targeting urinals, mice, and the state of the nation with what he was prepared to do about it to cheer everyone up. He was brilliant as building a story to a natural funny conclusion and the audience loved it.
He returned to Headliners Comedy Club in March 2023 and to Always Be Comedy In August 2023 in the run up to the Edinburgh Fringe, where he had a wealth of new material about the political state of the country and had some brilliantly clever and laugh out loud punchlines to topical stories.
Bafflingly Optimistic was Parson’s wonderfully titled solo show at the 2023 Edinburgh Fringe. Returning after 17 years with his famous trademark meanderings and killer punchlines, the comedy star delivered a well observed show about celebrities, politicians and the state of the country.
Parsons is a wonderfully inspired and truly gifted comedian.