Laughter. Ageless.

Something new and something old.

The old being, as rip-roaringly, stitch-producing as always. Because nothing doubles up the punters more than a monthly dose of the usual. Everyone knows that the same-old jokes become even funnier in the retelling. Why else do we fail to switch channels when the same-old episodes of The Big-Bang Theory are replayed on our TVs over and over? And why do little and big kids the world over, laugh over and over, every time Spot peers out from every other page of the universal Lift-the-Well-Worn-Flap book?

And so it is when we are treated time and time again to the old classics:

Louie Green, the Emcee, with his gift for drawing in the disinterested. So successful is he, on this fine evening, with his dazzling wit, that he even wakes up the dozing old ladies among us, and in doing so, narrowly avoids being signed up as a participant in some local lady`s Morris dancing league.

Adam Bromley, an old familiar with a fresh new look. He arrived looking furtive but intact. The blessing of a face-mask, on his train journey over, gave him a narrow escape from a repeat encounter with his regular mob of celebrity hunters; each and every one of his deluded fans, obsessed with snatching a piece of whatever it is that keeps his doppelganger, Elijah Wood, the Bilbo Baggins actor, looking forever youthful! But, be he intact, or not, Adam is still able to churn up a few of the old jokes, a few of the old familiars, as well as throwing into the cauldron something of the fresh and new. Within seconds of taking the stage, Adam has the punters delving deep into their coat pockets, desperate to re-cover their ugly mugs, due to his astute observations about the self-improvement benefits of a face mask.

Spot the difference!

With Louie and Adam as regular pop-ups to the comedy scene, the punters of The Brewery Tap are happy enough, but nothing can stay the same forever. Times move on and our looks (cheers, Adam!) begin to fade.

Which is why the old and weary need to slow things down a bit and welcome in a pit-stop. A pit-stop in the form of our mid-way comedian, Steve Whittaker.

Steve`s sense of social responsibility soon becomes overwhelming, as generous to a tee, he invites everyone to step through his wardrobe and into the Land of Mid-Life. A land that turns out to be populated with birdwatchers and dog-walkers, wading their way through a pool full of bo***cks. Fatballs, mothballs, castrated-balls, frustrated balls.

And lots and lots of shrivelled-up balls.

But nothing plumps up and rejuvenates the skin more than a change.

Gareth Neale.

A change being better than a pit-stop. Ignoring the fact that most of us want to peel off the years, the desperate Gareth`s all for speeding ahead and diving straight into his predecessor`s open wardrobe; he`s happy to trade in his virility – if it means swapping parenthood for the relative calm of pet ownership.

With Gareth gone, the punters are still going. On and on. Up and up. Over and over.

More laughs required.

A fortuitous welcome to Suffolk Punch Comedy newbies: Victoria Shortley and Simon Hall.

The New Vic perspires her way through joke after joke, hoping to shed off so much body mass she can shrink back into a pair of pre-lockdown denims. Over and over she cracks puns about how she`s contracted the royal sweating virus. But such claims fall short of the credible for an audience confronted with the epitome of all things menopausal.

Turns out that New Vic is aka Old Vic!

And that in itself, is enough turn up the heat as a bunch of ageing punters carry on laughing. Over and over and over.

Someone turn the volume down, please!

But all is not lost; the last-remaining viable egg cracks open and out comes newbie fledgling Simon.

So shell-shocked is Simon that he`s speechless; a trait not usually an asset for a wannabe comedian. But he looks so pale, gangly and awkward that when he shows dexterity enough to peel a banana, the volume-control goes awol!

Rejuvenated, the crazy-old punters rise up, as if one person, each one clambering on top of, over and in front of the next, in a bid to be first in the queue for a signed copy of The Silent Comedian`s Big Book of Jokes.

New chart-toppers. Surprisingly good.

And old classics. Predictably funny.

Lots and lots of ageless laughter. Over and over. On and on …

Copyright of text and photographs (excepting the Elijah Wood pic!) owned by the freelance creative, Jay Cool.

^{For the full 20 Years Younger experience, please welcome in a new year by stepping into The Brewery Tap, East Street, Sudbury, on Wednesday 12th January, 2022. Gig, courtesy of Suffolk Punch Comedy Club, begins at 8pm. Free entry. Donations, in support of research into prostate cancer, always welcome.}