2011 Edinburgh Fringe
Comedy in the Dark review
The light slowly fades on the room until you really cannot see anything. Anything except one small red light high in the ceiling which, whilst not generally distracting, caused me to spend the first few minutes with the odd sensation that 2001: A Space Odyssey's Hal was doing a spectacular impression of Shappi Khorsandi delivering some unusually filthy material.
Comedy lovers may be interested to find out how the dark affects the comics' performances - the answer is, not much. Khorsandi manages to strike the right balance between referencing the dark and delivering rock-solid material. Catie Wilkins seems extremely uncomfortable and repeatedly explains that her jokes might not work outside of the structure of her hour-long set, which destroys any confidence the audience has in her... whilst the continual plugs for her show just get irritating. Matt Green's material and delivery are solid and skilled, and thoroughly entertaining, and very little is changed by the dark, and he doesn't skip a beat as the lights come up.
Khorsandi's set is much more dirty and raw than you'd usually expect (though it's still pretty polite compared to the rest of the fringe). She says it's the dark that encourages her to be more open, and if her embarrassment after some unexpected revelations is a performance then it is acted very well - extremely funny either way. There doesn't seem to be much change for the others - though Catie might be more confident when able to see the audience's reaction.
The biggest change the unique format generates is in the audience, where cheers are louder but laughter quieter and a couple of friendly hecklers are made braver by anonymity. Part of the joy of live comedy is the way individual audience members bounce off and amplify each other's' moods and energy. In the dark, the spaces between punchlines get completely quiet and some of the energy slips away. This isn't a terrible problem though, and overall the darkness provides an interesting experience and a fun way to see acts you're familiar with take risks.