I made a prediction that this would be right up my street… I was right. I’m psychic. The multi-award winning comedian, Tom Binns performed as two comedy characters tonight: first as the hospital DJ, Ivan Brackenbury and then the Psychic, Ian D. Montfort. Hilariously, he was openly honest about playing a character and switching from one role to another in a metatheatrical fashion. Binns has appeared on TV and has his own BBC Radio 2 series, “Ian D. Montfort Is Unbelievable”. The pressing question here… is Montfort/Binns really gifted as a Fortuneteller or is he just speaking a load of waffle? Somebody pass the syrup. Gifted as a comedian for sure; he has funny bones. He’s good at magic too.
After a late start due to personal reasons, Binns managed to get the evening back on track. In a change to what he’d done already on the tour, he opened with his character Ivan Brackenbury. This quick-fire opening act centred on a hospital Radio DJ employed to make everyone feel better and happier. However, while there was strict censorship around swearing to protect the imaginary younger listeners, there was plenty of dark comedy material in there which got the audience laughing out loud. Certainly not appropriate for the fictional hospital ward kids, but he’s absolutely bonkers so it’s the hospital’s fault for letting him loose on the radio station. Most of the act featured a variety of songs as the punchline to jokes and honestly I could have kept listening to this and not get bored, despite the repetitive structure. Just to give one example and not spoil it too much, the legendary Australian rock band formed in Sydney 1973 by the brothers Malcom and Angus Young, OCDC had joined Brackenbury in the hospital radio booth. There were many, many puns and innuendos – the audience was infected with giddiness and laughter. Binns was great at comic timing and his casual delivery of jokes, making them all the funnier.
As if by magic, Ian D. Montfort appeared to perform the final half of tonight’s performance. There was certainly a lot more improvisation for Binns to do in this act which he did really well for the most part; bouncing off what the audience was giving him. A minor criticism would be that occasionally Binns lost track of what he was saying (but at least he recovered well) and he had to rely on the help of a backstage team member for the iPad running on low battery and misplacement of a prop. On the other hand, the whole performance were strong in terms of characterisation and story. When Montfort read audience’s minds incorrectly (which was most of the time) it was rib-tickling. When it went right, he jokily claimed he was the best psychic in the world despite the actual method being a combination of guessing and deception. When it went wrong, he manipulated the context of the reading to create side-splitting punchlines. Either way, it always went right for him. Binns was in control of proceedings.
I’ve never seen someone perform mind magic and mentalism in a stand-up comedy context – the comedy being the main focus here before the mind magic. It worked really well, especially from a misdirection point of view. All the while, making the important point that fraudulent psychics and mediums around the world exploit vulnerable and grieving people for their money. Binns’ campness and overblown serious “Mystic Meg” readings were just the ticket. He reminded me of Keith Lemon. The constant remarks like: “There’s a lovely energy here” and “Does that make sense?” became funnier every time he said them. He completely took the mickey out of the whole scenario. I’m definitely going to check out his videos on his website, one evening of hysterical stand-up comedy just wasn’t enough. I foretell Binns will still be around for years to come making people laugh.
Reviewer - Sam Lowe
on - 4/3/20
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