Eddie Izzard, Reginald D Hunter and Dylan Moran open the first Laughs in the Park (From St Albans & Harpenden Review)

Eddie Izzard, Reginald D Hunter and Dylan Moran open the first Laughs in the Park

11:29am Monday 27th September 2010 in Reviews

An Englishman, an Irishman and an American go to a park in St Albans. They all stand on the first purpose-built comedy stage in the UK, surrounded by 5,500 seats, 450 crew members, 66 trucks and 167 portable toilets. The Englishman says: “This should work…”

Laughs in the Park saw comedy giants Eddie Izzard, Dylan Moran and Reginald D Hunter share a unique stage in Verulamium Park last weekend (September 24 -26).

Each day comedy fans enjoyed around three hours of top-quality stand-up, refreshments including pizza and warm cider during the breaks and a rousing fireworks display to finish.

The massive stage area comprised three large screens which, as well as showing close-ups of the performers, had live Twitter updates from Eddie’s fans around the globe. During the intervals they even had a ‘crowd cam’, which excited some and embarrassed other audience members who saw their faces on the screen before them.

Eddie Izzard worked with promoter Mick Perrin to produce the event, and said he wants Laughs in the Park to become a comedy festival. He said: “Since Woodstock, people have been perfecting how to do outdoor music festivals. Comedy has always been the poor relation. There’s often just a comedy tent at music festivals.”

Irish comic Dylan Moran, who wrote and starred in Channel Four’s Black Books, met Eddie at the age of 20, when he started his comedy career in a club in Dublin. “I was on and Eddie was on that night as well,” he said. “To go from that to us both being on in a field in St Albans with several thousand people is quite strange.”

US-born Reginald D Hunter has just performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and has found British audiences enjoy his comedy as much as American ones. He said: “British people seem to have an ability to laugh at themselves, which may come from having a certain degree of superiority. I really admire that.”

Those in the audience lucky enough to have VIP passes enjoyed a reserved hospitality tent, which the comedians frequented between sets. On Saturday evening, artist Rich Simmons wowed them by spray-painting a portrait of Albert Einstein’s famous ‘tongue out’ photo from scratch. The work was then auctioned off for £350, which will be donated to The Prince’s Trust.

At the end of the (very cold) night, Eddie Izzard finished his set by walking into the crowd to admire the impressive fireworks display. The audience left, cold but happy, and fervently anticipating the next Laughs in the Park.

Michael Dias www.michaeldias.com