Subterranean and claustrophobic, Monkey Barrel 2 is the fringe venue where performance can most easily be mistaken for a hostage situation. Joe Kent-Walters isn’t the first to turn that to his advantage, but with this buzzy debut as his alter ego Frankie Monroe (winner of last year’s BBC New Comedy award), he’ll be among the most memorable. There’s nothing uncommon about Monroe on paper: he’s the old-school MC of a Rotherham working men’s club, a vanishing culture of velvet jackets and meat raffles that’s inspired many a spoof before now. But Kent-Walters takes this cadaver of an idea and electrocutes it back to life in a late-night show that both hymns this retro entertainment world, and pitches it halfway to hades.
