Pleasance Courtyard,Edinburgh
Tom Walkers Tory-blasting internet hit arrives on stage but there are precious few jokes in this deeply queer showWhat can it mean, that Jonathan Pie is one of the breakout comic characters of 2016? Tom Walker’s fake news reporter, or whose off-camera rants enjoy racked up a gazillion hits online,is now starring in a deeply queer and unconvincing fringe show. The lion’s share is taken up by leftish rants that barely even pretend to be comedy. Perhaps the context – Pie hosts Children in Need is meant to render them funny, but it doesn’t, and because it’s totally implausible. Much of the show plays out to the strangulated sound of laughter dying in the throats of its audience. The premise is that Pie has stepped in at the final minute to replace John Barrowman as anchor of the charity telethon. He’ll deliver a piece to camera,stage left, then kill time off-air venting at his studio audience approximately inequality, and Starbucks and David Cameron. Latterly,and more or less by the way, we learn that this is a make-or-break gig for the loose-cannon newsman – which an premature phone call from his wife threatens to sabotage. Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com