Well - It’s all over.  And I have to say what fantastic fun it was too.  Totally exhausting which is why I’ll be back with two of my own shows next year and I’ll be acting in a 3rd.  The Highlights for me were the wonderful people.  I was performing at the Argyle Pub, (thanks to Dave for being a superb host) which was a litlle out of the way for festival folk, reviewers, agents and the like so I got to perform for more Scots than I think other people did, and people resident in that area. 

Two massive highlights -  the British Soldier who asked me where I got my research for “Against My Will” and then confirmed it was spot on, and the super lady heckler who shouted “I object to the BNP being likened to c***ts, they don’t have the depth required.”

The shows were always performed in front of a warm and generous audience, and it was nice that not many, if any people walked out, once they’d found out it was poetry and not comedy (although it is kind of!)

The review below is from 3weeks and goes to show that maybe Luke Wright was, er, Right and poetry isn’t a big enough form to tackle poli-tricks (see my Newsnight post for clarity).  Not too sure about the heart and soul bit in the review as it makes me sound like Simple Stewart the slow boy…

Stand-Up Monkey Poet! - Free -

3/5 Stars

Monkey Poet/Laughing Horse Free Festival

Matt Panesh does stand-up poetry, the content of which is fairly boisterous, but also always honest and authentic. It’s clear his heart and soul have been poured into this show, and that he feels passionately about the subjects addressed. Regrettably, I found that the format of his poetry often acted as a barrier to the true meaning and the humour within. Really well written and rehearsed stand-up has a poetry of its own: it thrives on its timing and sense of rhythm. The traditional rhyming poetic style used here was just a little clunky, and sometimes required stepping out of the poem for clarification. The show has plenty of excellent insights, I’m just not convinced this is the best way of delivering them.