Ok, all right, so I'm a relatively new journalist, and if I had to do it again, I probably would not sit up front this time, but yo, Clayhouse's latest comedy revue was a blast! In case you can't tell, my friends and I were snapped on quite a bit over the course of the evening, but I guess we asked for it -- you see, there was only one empty table at Clayhouse for the 11 p.m.

show on Saturday night, and that was the table directly in front of the stage -- the table right next to us.

Having seen literally thousands of stand-up comedy acts before this show, we knew that it was a bold move to sit so close to the stage, but cha -- it took Shawn Miller all of 20 seconds to start the evening long barrage of sometimes painfully funny insults.

For those who missed this show, please, do yourself a favour and get to the next one! Shawn Miller is promoting some very high quality acts and they really should not be missed. I mean, my feelings were hurt on more than one occasion, but on the whole, this show was as funny a show as I've ever seen in Bermuda! Mr. Miller was, as always, a very capable host, and the acts actually exceeded this reviewer's expectations by quite a bit! There was, however, one weakness, and that, I'm sad to say, was the local act. I mean, Spiceman was aiight, but he seemed far too preoccupied with dissin' Hamburger to really move me much.

The crowd gave him a laugh or two, but after you pay $25 to see a comedy show, you will be inclined to laugh at almost anything, won't you? Laughs galore at the New Clayhouse The Spiceman is a newcomer to the local comedy scene (which these shows will hopefully do a lot to expand) and I don't wish to slam him too much, but yo, Mr. Grenada, you got some work to do kid....

After a brief rebuttal on Hamburger's behalf, Mr. Miller introduced the man known throughout the comedy world as simply Ham-Burger! Mr. -- er -- Burger was excellent! He worked the crowd like a refined veteran -- which, of course, he is -- and even found time to thoroughly humiliate his surprise adversary (Spiceman).

Hamburger poked fun at the club (both the condition of the New Clayhouse Inn -- and you all know what he means -- as well as the night spot that calls itself The Club), immigration, the airport, women's clothing, hair weaves and rappers. But those were just a few of the topics he discussed -- this man had a truckload of material (and all of it was funny!). And, if I remember correctly, Mr. Burger was the one who forced me to reveal that I was doing a review of the show, a discovery that prompted him to make a very quick retraction of any gratuitous ridicule he had heaped upon our little Island home -- and even that was funny! Hamburger had quite a stage presence, and the crowd warmed to him quite a bit, answering questions and willingly offering themselves to his repertoire.

But perhaps his biggest laugh came at the expense of the unfortunate Spiceman, who will henceforth be known as the Mailman (boy, did you have to be there!) On the other hand, he opened up to us as well, revealing to us that there were two things that women say that he has never fully understood. Oh, and those two things were: "He's a friend'' and "I need space'' -- and here I was thinking that I was the only one who had trouble with those lines! Mr. Burger closed his set with a bit about these new school rappers that included a costumed performance of a recent rap hit (if anybody knows what song that was, please, let me know...). That white hoodie will stay in my mind for quite a while I'm sure, after all, Hamburger's performance was at least memorable! But then there was Tony Woods. This brother was straight up ridiculous! Every now and then he would come over to our table and try to see what I was writing down, well, Mr. Woods, here is the first word I wrote down in reference to you -- HILARIOUS! This guy was pure comedy! 100 percent pure, unadulterated, uncensored, unbridled, unleashed comedy! Nothing was sacred to Tony Woods; he was like a comedy beast! Please forgive me for using so many exclamation points, but yo, this fella was funny! He poked fun at Jamaica, Africa, Pygmies, midgets, marriage, this girl with a short leg he once -- er -- "shared an evening'' with, and a whole lot of other hilarious unmentionables. The guy's whole demeanour was funny, he stood up funny, he walked funny, he talked funny; kid, he even just, looked funny! And even when he dissed me about being new to journalism, I could not help but break down in impulsive laughter.

I strongly advise that if you love to laugh, and you ever hear about Tony Woods performing near you, whether it be here or abroad, go check him out! This is an insane man, and you should try to catch his act before they have to commit him (and they will have to commit him pretty soon!).

Every so often Tony would say a big word and look at me with an "isn't that impressive'' look on his face, so I guess I should report what he said ...

here goes: the first word was "rebuttal'' and the second word was "cerebellum'' -- who said comedians were just bimbos?! But for real, I really was impressed with this man, and from the way the crowd reacted, so were they.

I mean, there were playful exclamations of "He's sick!'' and "You're drunk!'' but those were made only before, during and after long spurts of hysterical laughter! This was a thoroughly entertaining show (full stop!). Shawn Miller and Platinum Plus Promotions are truly blessing us with some top quality entertainment, and Bermuda is becoming quite a hotbed of comedic talent.

Hopefully the Clayhouse will develop into a viable venue for the development of local comedy.

Do you remember when Martin Lawrence was holdin' down the Def Comedy Jam and Kid Capri was the man behind the table? Well I do, and you know what, Clayhouse is starting to feel like something kinda similar (but with Shawn Miller and Jugglin' Jason instead). Who knows where this can go?! Watch for future events, and please, for your own good, don't miss 'em! Big up to Shawn, Jason, Choy Aming and the entire Platinum Plus team, please keep up the OUTSTANDING work!