Comedic lines out in force as Sgt Alfie attends Artrix

Buy photos » Serving policeman Alfie Moore. s

SERVING police officer Alfie Moore, who has embarked on a stand-up comedy tour during a career break from the Humberside force, built up a fantastic rapport with the audience when he performed at Artrix on Tuesday (April 24).

But, even before he took to the stage, there was comedy surrounding the sergeant's show I Predicted a Riot.

It was, originally, called 'I Predict a Riot' and was due to be taken to the Edinburgh Festival in August.

But, by a strange twist of fate, the riots which took place in London and across the country, meant all police leave was cancelled and the tour was handed a suspended sentence.

Someone once said that truth was often stranger than fiction and, judging by Alfie Moore's experiences, that can certainly be said of life in the police and being involved in riots.

His humorous anecdotes and observations, which had the audience chuckling along, were punctuated with serious points about the confrontations and the situations which led to them.

The cleverly crafted night of comedy also saw Alfie draw parallels between last year's riots and protests from years gone by, such as those in ancient Rome.

And the chat was also topical, raising issues, such as police cuts and other Government decisions impacting on policing.

In the second half, the audience got to put the policeman on the spot and pose questions in the 'Ask Alfie' section of the show.

He rose to the occasion with his frank and humorous responses and views to the job.

But the highlight of the evening was undoubtedly the fantastic finale when Alfie recalled attending an incident when a human head was found on a river bank and the red tape and rigmarole that he had to go through to report and register what had happened.

That had the audience in hysterics and as they filed out, you could tell they had enjoyed a feel-good night of comedy which had also posed a few questions about today's society and the situations it threw up.

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