Stewart Francis's unique style of comedy, alongside his acerbic but excellently observed wit, his penchant for puns, wordplay jokes, and the so-called 'one-liners' has made this Canadian comedian one of Britain's most well-loved and respected on the current curcuit. It is very sad to think that this was the last time he will be doing a live tour, as the clever title of his show suggests, 'Into The Punset' is his stand-up swansong.
However, to review the evening in the correct order, I must first mention Francis's support act this evening. A comedienne from Manchester with her "sexy" Mancunian accent came on for a 20-minute spot. Her style and comedy differed so greatly from Francis's that it was either the worst pairing ever, or a deliberately cunning move on behalf of Francis's PR. Either way, Rachel Fairburn (I believe this to be her name) was certainly "the starter we didn't order but were too polite to send it back!" She took a long time to find her stride, and had it not have been for a couple of young men on the front row heckling her [I am pretty certain these two were 'plants!] then she wouldn't have garnered anything more than a polite titter the whole set. However they managed to bring her out of her shell a little and as they bantered with her she became funnier. Overall she came across and somewhat vulgar, slightly common and not particularly funny.
However, after a short interval, and Stewart Francis danced (and sang) his way onto the stage to deliver a non-stop hour of clever puns, one-liners, and some very silly routines which were so cleverly done, they were almost an art form! Francis is also excellent at 'call-backs'. This means he references earlier jokes in his material, and so certain phrases, 'punchlines', or just a silly noise or movement becomes a leit-motif throughout.
His style, erect and deadpan, which changes at lightening speed into a cheesey smile for an 'nth of a second before going back to po-faced again is legendary. His timing superb, and even when he did genuinely lose his place in his set due to the same two young men on the front row standing up and leaving half-way through, listening to him re-tell the first half of the joke was actualy very funny too!
We learned about his 17 brothers from 17 different wives and their curent occupations - and we enjoyed it: #callback!. We listened to the tale of his B+B experience in Scotland, jokes about his therapist and his life in Barnstaple among many other varied and unrelated topics.
It is understood that Francis is looking at pursuing other activities once this tour comes to and end in early December. One of these we learn, is to return to acting. If he has as much success in that field as he has had and continues to have as a stand-up then he will indeed be extremely successful.
It is also worth noting here that Francis's whole hour of comedy was entirely without a single extraneous profanity. Only those absolutely neceesary for the joke to land were used, and in this regard, he is also one of very few comedians who are capable of allowing the jokes to tell themselves without finding the need to swear continually - unlike many many more I could mention.
Thank you Mr Francis for giving me and so many others so much laughter over the years. We are very sad you will not be performing live again, but wish you well in your future projects.
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 2/5/19
The support act was Rachel Fairburn and not Bevan as you stated. We were sat next to the lads who had drunk too much before it even started and proceeded to bring two more pints in with them before Stuart Francis had even started. They didn't leave together, one went and it was a good 10 minutes later that the other one left after realising no doubt that the previous idiot wasn't coming back. If you are going to issue a review, at least get the facts right.
ReplyDelete...and it is STEWART Francis, not Stuart. but thank you - comedienne's name now edited. Matthew - Editor.
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