Invited: Review by Stephen Stokoe on 04 October 2026
“Welcome to the Party“
I absolutely love The Stand Comedy Club in Newcastle. Hidden away just off Grey Street in the heart of Newcastle, it is the perfect venue for seeing all manner of established and fresh comedy acts that the country and beyond has to offer. It is an intimate and inviting setting with its instantly recognisable artwork, its welcoming staff and customary food and drink offerings. Tonight, taking centre stage was the Spanish/Welsh comedian Ignacio Lopez.
Lopez is no stranger to UK TV screens having appeared in QI, Richard Osman’s House of Games, QI, and on Comedy Central Live. He is equally comfortable commanding a room live as he did this evening in a two-act set spanning the best part of two hours with an interval.
In the first half, Lopez invites the audience into his world with anecdotes, rebukes, some subtle and some not to subtle about British foibles both at home and abroad. He talks about life in a very small town in Wales and his early years in the hospitality industry and some personal stories of his past. He interacts with the audience drawing them into the intimacy of his performance.
His style is curiously both self deprecating and jokingly arrogant as he draws on his dusky mediterranean looks and sultry Spanish accent. His observations of the typical Brit abroad are absolutely on point as he implores future visitors not to ‘… s**t on the towels.’
There is a freshness about his material as he draws on his own experiences in this country and abroad and his observations using well known low cost frozen food outlets and pop references for his stories. There is a story arc to his routine which concludes with a cleverly written and instantly recognisable song to complete the first act of his performance.
The title of the tour is drawn from the tagline to it “No Script, No Plan, Nada.” And this is true. I get the distinct impression that as the audience enjoy a 15 minute break to visit the bar and stretch their legs, Lopez and his technical support team, José and Tom and busily crafting act two of the performance with feverish enthusiasm.
Lopez returns to the stage as a film noir private detective having decided stand up comedy is not for him. This links to his first act admission that when he moved to the UK from Spain, he had no clue what was in store for him.
He then cleverly cultivates a case for his new alter-ego using the information he gleaned from the audience in the first part of the show. The way he meanders through the narrative is comedy gold in itself and paired with the timing of hastily curated clips and sound effects makes for a thoroughly entertaining evening.
The Stand has some amazing comedy nights coming up in the near future and it is a great idea to sign up for their newsletters to avoid missing nada!
Discover more from InNewcastle.co.uk
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.