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It's been three years since this this memorable duo were last at the Woodman. However, you wouldn't notice it. Although I have never heard or seen them play before, it was clear that most people in the audience remembered them, and it's no surprise why.
The evening kicked off very well with Bryn Phillips nailing a couple of excellent numbers, including the much loved 'Silver and Gold'. After him followed Tim Judson before the BICA band took the floor to entertain the audience.
Not having come across them before I didn't know what to expect at all. I
had heard this duo were 'funny' but that could mean anything. However, when they took the floor I knew I would struggle to hold back the laughter. Bob Gessey sings and plays guitar, accompanied by the very talented and very dry John Charnock on double bass. The first song was a hilarious number about going to the dentist. Bob sung about various tricks a person can play on a dentist to make sure they don't inflict more pain than necessary. It would be ungentlemanly to elaborate more but the duo had the audience in stitches from there onwards.
Reminiscent in style and content of acts like Jake Thackray and Quiksilver, Stool Pigeon shared some side splitting numbers, from songs about dysfunctional body parts, to problems with the black country dialect, from stories of Birmingham-bred spacemen to blokes who like to get in touch with their feminine side. The range of material that came out was huge and song-writers would be amazed at the words Bob seemed to get into some of the songs.
Although the whole evening was a scream, there was an absolute gem hidden in the set (which John had seemed to give up on after Bob totally ignored it). The song was called 'The Ordinary Man' and told the story of a normal bloke who not many people noticed or appreciated. It was a refreshingly profound number, highlighting the importance and undervalue of people who work tirelessly behind the scenes. Despite being a very different mood to the rest of the night it seemed to ft in perfectly.
So what else is there to say? I suppose the only other thing is, go and see them. If you like laughing at funny insights into life, quick gags and double-entendres then go and watch them.
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