LIVE: Just the Tonic – Leicester Square Theatre, London

The words “Comedy”, “London” and “Saturday Nights” have been associated with each other for many years. From the Satirical 60s to the Anarchic 80s to the less historically memorable but still just as funny Noughties, people have flocked to London to drink, laugh, heckle, get mocked in front of a big crowd and then laugh some more at stand up comedy. With a cornucopia of clubs available across London on Saturday nights, is there room for one more to come in and make a big impression? Apparently so.

Situated just a stone’s throw from both Comedy Stores (the original and the more commonly known new one), Just the Tonic has left its previous residency in Tufnell Park (as glamorous as it sounds) and set up shop in the stylish Leicester Square Theatre, located on Leicester Place in Leicester Square (How do they come up with the names of these theatres in London!).

Originally from Nottingham, where it built itself into a formable comedy night force, the two hour show features a host of well established and up and coming comedy stars, eager to pass on their comedic delights to you, the paying audience.

(It’s at this point that we should highlight, that, of course, each person’s visit to a comedy club is a unique experience to them and depends on who is playing and personal comedy tastes. Writing a review about the night we turned up to this club would therefore be silly. This, regrettably leaves us in with no option but to take the “Lonely Planet” approach to reviewing for the next paragraph. We apologise profusely in advance for this.)

Venue wise, the theatre is a hidden gem in London. Unlike most comedy clubs which seem to take place in back rooms in pubs or in makeshift theatres with exhibition stand based seating and a overriding smell of either damp or week old cabbage, the Leicester Square theatre is clean, comfortable, and most importantly, you can see the stage clearly from anywhere in the room. A variety of drinks are available from the two bars located very close to the seating and are very reasonably priced for a theatre in London.

With a DJ playing classic tracks (on vinyl no less!) well into the midsts of Sunday morning, the £12.50 entrance fee seems a bargain to rival even the best vouchers the internet has to offer. With a host of well known celebrities set to play the venue shortly (Dave Gorman, Tim Vine and Noel Fielding to name but a few) tickets for this comedy night are sure to quickly become one of the most sought after on a Saturday night.

Just the Tonic runs every Saturday as part of Live from Leicester Square, a series of late night shows from the Leicester Square Theatre. For tickets and details of who will be spreading their wares, click here.