An Englishman, An Irishman And A Scotman

In a night where much of the English, Irish and Scottish population of Perth seemed to converge on Riverside Theatre, the laughs were flowing for the annual An Englishman, an Irishman and a Scotsman. Attendees slowly made their way from the bar to their seats, the mood for the night was set with some authentic music from each of the countries ranging from music straight off the Riverdance soundtrack to the Proclaimers' 500 Miles.  After a brief introduction from MC Jeff Green it was straight into the show and first off the rank was Scotland's Vladimir McTavish. Walking on stage and addressing the crowd by saying that he knew most of us were sitting there thinking, “f*ck me, Rod Stewart has let himself go”, McTavish's set focused on a lot of drunk Scottish people jokes as well referencing the weather here compared to Perth, Scotland.  Next up was Irishman Ian Coppinger, who came onto stage and within a minute had the crowd roaring in laughter, which hardly stopped for his entire set. Coppinger was definitely the highlight of the night, with jokes ranging from his short stature and likening his sexual prowess to an epileptic meerkat, to his experiences in Perth and the bathing habits of the Irish.  After a short intermission MC Jeff Green took to the stage. As an Englishman now based in Melbourne, Green's set was funny, but not hilarious, with jokes mainly focusing on his children and the global financial crisis. Following on from Green was another representative from England, Gavin Webster. Webster's personable style made him likeable but as with McTavish and Green, you almost had to know the country-specific references to fully understand the jokes. But for those that did, the laughter did abound.