Touching
on a variety of themes including homosexuality, marriage, school and varying
degrees of success of the buffets he’s attended, Tom Allen easily sets a
light-hearted and comfortable atmosphere for his ‘slice of life’ style of stand
up in this show. From quick witted quips about audience members’ occupations
(“You sell luxury hotels? Why on Earth do you live in Blackpool?”) to the early
establishment of recurring themes which are made to feel like inside jokes
between him and the audience (“Ford Fiesta Finesse” “Bar-be-que Hu-la Hoops!”)
Allen impresses with the confidence and flair of a veteran of the comedy
circuit, even if – as he mentions often – he does still live with his parents
at the age of 35.
In
completing what Allen describes as the “legal requirement” of stand-up –
interacting with the first two rows of the audience – he engages and teases
those in attendance warmly, asking people’s names/occupations and continuing to
reference back to those people throughout the show. To say Allen is quick-witted
is an understatement; his ability to respond quickly and humorously to the
information these people provided was gripping to watch and I found that the
part of a stand-up show that I usually dread, due to its propensity for
awkwardness, became one of my favourite parts of the performance.
Allen
managed to deliver a routine that is incredibly relatable in different parts
for different members of the audience. He talks of Grindr, Tinder and Twitter
and then jumps into a joke about the harrowing ‘John Major years’ (spent in
council-built leisure centre pools with a wave machine), he covers decades with
ease. He uses a charming delivery to get away with observations that most
people would think but never say, apologising to members of the audience immediately
afterwards; “I’m sorry to use such awful language Gwendolyn, especially when
you’re wearing such a lovely top.”
He
interweaves heartfelt and amusing stories from his life into his comedy,
including his lack of success on gay dating apps, the slightly more successful
recent passing of his driver’s test, and being the second choice “token gay” in
attendance at a hen party to ‘Kevin’ from school – who, unfortunately for
Allen, is a “professional dancer, quite rich and actually rather talented”.
Allen’s
take on marriage was an audience favourite. He talks of how marriage becomes
not much more than staying together to pay off a mortgage and then, ultimately,
it’s a competition to see who wins a free house when the other dies. He also
talks fondly of his parents, and of being from Bromley (“suburbia”), and how
their accents sound as if they’ve “just walked off the set of Eastenders” which
creates a humorous juxtaposition (as he “sounds like Noel Coward”) whenever
they are seen together – he jokes that on his first day of high school he
walked in with a monogrammed briefcase to make sure that they could “identify
the body”.
The general theme of the show was his
feeling of never really fitting in anywhere – a brilliant one as it’s so
relatable. Allen has the audience on his side from the off, he comes across as
very sincere (if a little dramatic) and it’s clear that while he may have felt
rejected in different ways for most of his life, he is certainly at home on
stage – at least more at home than he feels in Bromley.
Reviewer - Jen O'Beirneon - 5/9/18
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