My overall impression
Nik Coppin’s “Half Black” is a non-stop fast-talking comedy routine that has you alternating between laughing and wondering, “How does this guy KNOW so much about spiders and sharks?!” In some ways, it was like flipping back and forth between Comedy Central and Animal Planet, and in a good way!
As the title suggests, Nik Coppin touches upon the fact that he is “Half Black” in the many stories he tells from his travels around the world, but he never gives you the impression that he has suffered because of it. While there were the requisite “groan” jokes about black stereotypes, Nik seemed to enjoy these as much as the jokes that got big laughs which in turn, won over the audience.
Nik’s ease with audience interaction lets you know he is a seasoned performer and his banter with them makes you feel like you have made dozen friends by the end of the show. And while he does use the audience’s experiences as a springboard into his material, you never get the idea that he is stalling or struggling for the next topic. On the contrary, I get the impression that one hour wasn’t enough time for Nik Coppin to say all that he wanted to say.
I have seen Nik’s comedy before at the Edinburgh Fringe and wondered how he would fare in the United States. The truth is he fits in better than many U.S comics I have seen lately! His love of American sports, comic books and film gives him a wealth of material from which to choose.
As an experiment, I went to The ****** (insert the name of one of Hollywood’s iconic comedy clubs here) directly after Nik’s show and found the house less full than the IDA dance space in which Mr. Coppin performed! Perhaps it was the fact that many of the comics there were hostile to the audience or that they struggled for what to say. Whatever the reason, the score at the end of this Comedy World Cup match, Nik Coppin and the British Invasion 4, U.S. Iconic Comedy Club, Nil.
