Stand-up for the lawyers

The packed basement of the Star of Kings near King's Cross, last Thursday evening, did not feel like your typical legal event. Jeans and t-shirts were much more in evidence than suits and ties, and the venue, with black walls, low ceilings, flagstone floors and hip hop playing on the PA system, was nothing like Gray's Inn or Temple. This was Law Smash, and the nine legal professionals taking to the stage were out to prove that the law can be a laugh.

The Law Smash participants had been coached in stand-up by Steve Cross, a scientist and stand-up comedian who also compèred the evening. Steve has made stand-up comedy a key part of his role as head of public engagement at University College London, and has set up two comedy events where academics communicate their research to the public through stand-up - Bright Club and Science Show Off. Following a stand-up workshop at LawFest 2014, lawyers decided that anything scientists could do they could do too, and Law Smash was born.

Thursday night's performers came from both sides of the profession, with barristers Rachael Agnew, Sean Jones QC, Daphne Romney QC and practice manager Jeremy Hopkins joining solicitors Simon Harper, Tim Bratton, John Miller and Laurie Anstis, as well as solicitor advocate Myles Davies.

Cross remarked that, true to stereotype, the solicitors had turned up to workshops armed with pages of notes and preparatory reading, while the barristers were more inclined to just stand up and wing it.

The event was a sell-out, with colleagues, friends, family, curious legal bods and the legal twitterati (#LawSmash) coming from far and wide to support the performers. The audience was up for a laugh, with one man behind me laughing so loudly that I occasionally missed parts of the jokes. When it was the turn of the rookie legal stand-ups to perform we were exhorted to be kind, but there was no need - the laughs were genuine.

For me, the jokes were funniest when they drew on the comic aspects of life as a lawyer. There was the junior criminal barrister who, while filling out a legal aid form with a client who declared his profession as "thief". Then there was the solicitor advocate who had to explain to the court that certain more unusual forms of bestiality are not, in fact, outlawed by the Sexual Offences Act. And then there were Sean Jones QC's tales of life as Queen's Counsel (it turns out that her Majesty has never yet called him up for advice).

The laughs weren't all legal though, with routines covering creepy B&Bs, the Acid Rambling Association (it's all about hikerdelics), death, the perils of train toilets with automatic doors, social media, career decisions, half marathons and naked mole rats (check out @tehnakedmolerat for a taster).

So, should lawyers be binning the briefs and becoming professional stand ups? Some of Law Smash's excellent performers probably could, but I'm not sure they would really want to. Should lawyers take time to rejoice in the funny side of our profession? Absolutely. Bring on Law Smash 2015.

Joanna Purkis is a trainee solicitor at Bircham Dyson Bell

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