Catherine Bennett resumes the weekly look at the performing arts world, with the sad end of Jerusalem, the luck of a cabbie, and French revolt. Do you hear the people sing?
Adam Alcock reviews Nigel Kennedy playing Vivaldi's Four Seasons and his own Four Elements at York Opera House.
Catherine Bennett highlights the trends in the performing arts world today.
Jonathan Cridford reviews 'Ghosts', one of the Freshers' plays for this year.
A pre-show scan of online reviews increases The Yorker’s apprehension: Tomlinson received 5 star reviews at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe but more than one writer remarks on his ability to make an audience 'uncomfortable'.
He’s been labelled 'a strange but brave man' and you can add ‘likeable’ to that list. From the moment he bounds onto the stage to the Star Wars theme you want him to do well.
Tomlinson works by having audience members write down lines from favourite books, songs or films and randomly choosing a suggestion which he then has to work into a sketch. Working with just a rack of clothes, a few props and a collection of brilliant masks which he’s accumulated from performances around the world, he performs ten minute pieces on whatever theme his public demands. This, he promises, will provide “a buffet of different experiences".
For starters love is the topic, and we enjoy Tomlinson as a shy vicar romancing a mannequin, for this purpose a nun who’s taken a vow of silence. He twists and turns to adapt the set to each random quote, a kind of comedy so completely self reliant that few would be able to maintain a coherent show.
Indeed, part of the humour of improvised comedy is the shared experience of performer and audience when the show’s content becomes increasingly absurd and fragmented. It’s the only kind of safety net he’s got but luckily, Tomlinson is good enough not to rely too heavily on it.
The risk with taking suggestions becomes apparent as one audience member has written ‘I had sex with my mother’ on their shred of paper. Tomlinson fails to dodge the bullet.
But we’re reminded why the comic has been called ‘strange’ when it comes to a sketch on drugs, and Tomlinson chooses to wear a dress. The risk with taking suggestions becomes apparent as one audience member has written "I had sex with my mother" on their shred of paper. He fails to dodge the bullet. A slippery slope later and he’s created a monster: a "tranny” who’s been sent to hell for having sex with his mother whilst high on magic mushrooms. Added to that, his punishment is to be raped by the devil and force-fed more mushrooms. It’s painful to watch.
Even the crude kid in the school playground won’t stretch to these lengths. The BBC are rumoured to want Tomlinson to create a sketch show and for the sake of license fee payers I hope that interest isn’t based on the “tranny”.
“I think that’s the rudest my show’s ever gone,” he confesses, and the ‘brave’ side of his character comes to the fore as he launches a strong recovery. The next sketch examines the relationship of a random couple from the audience, acted out with a pair of Barbie and Ken style dolls. It’s obviously a tried and tested way to win the laughs. Not quite so improvised admittedly, but still responding to unpredictable circumstances, such as the hilarious revelation that this couple are at the ‘three weeks of snogging’ stage.
For the remainder of the show Tomlinson retains subtle control over the content of his performance by adapting audience suggestions to what are clearly pre-outlined, if not fully realised, ideas.
But what, then, of improvised comedy? Tomlinson is supposedly its chief practitioner in the UK, and received 5 star reviews at the Edinburgh Fringe. Few, if any of the top stand-up comedians, with their painstakingly memorised performances, could keep pace with him. Yet even he can get it wrong on occasion, as tonight proved. If you’re looking for guaranteed laughs, there are more reliable ways of getting them. But if you fancy yourself as a comedy connoisseur, this is well worth a look.
You must log in to submit a comment.
