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| Roger Monkhouse |
Just the Tonic is pleasantly full for a Sunday night and host Roger Monkhouse has a kind smile for the expectant crowd. He’s a genial and reflective host, his saggy t-shirt, shorts and sandals a far cry from what you might expect from a whip-sharp comedy club compere but his gentle demeanour hides a sharp observational wit and a willingness to cross lines that you wouldn’t expect from his disarming exterior. The audience are initially quiet, except for the couple from Mansfield on the front row, for whom the presence of electric light and a roof are enough to stir into a fever pitch of excitement, but are soon warmed for our first act, Philberto.
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| Philberto |
Ted Bovis, the comedy guru from 80’s sitcom ‘Hi-De’Hi’ used to offer his protégé Spike the wise advice “First rule of comedy Spike, never insult your audience”. Philberto has clearly not sat at the feel of the great Bovis and opens with a series of jokes and observations that initially wrong foot the crowd. After this wilfully unsteady start Philberto gradually wins them over, steadfastly refusing to play to them and rather drawing them into his world and then onto the palm of his hand. If I told you my favourite line of his was a response to a female heckler “I’ve got a massive cock but it’d be lost in your mouth”, you might think he was a crude comedian, but he really isn’t. It’s a hard act to categorise and it’s all the more enjoyable for that. He doesn’t seem quite sure if his act is character based or gag based and it’s to his credit that he could take it either way and still be a big success. As good as Philberto is now, you feel there’s a lot more to come from this talented young comic.
Rufus Hound
In contrast, Rufus Hound is a performer who’s already made it. He’s is a well known face from programmes as diverse as ‘Richard and Judy’ and Charlie Brooker’s ‘You Have Been Watching’, as well as being the winner from ‘Let’s Dance for Sports Relief’ where his version of ‘Fight for your Love’ triumphed. For a performer who is so effortlessly funny and sharp on all manner of TV shows, he seems curiously unsure of himself tonight. As he says to us a couple of times, “I should be on a big tour and have a DVD, but I can’t write those sort of jokes”. After a funny but uninspiring opening section, on what could probably be categorised as ‘sexual politics’, he moves on to tackle religion and the meaninglessness of life. While the act never loses its way, the out and out jokes rather dry up and it’s a steady polite laughter that rolls around the room rather than something more spontaneous and gut-felt. He rallies for a more conventional finale and leaves a happy crowd and to a fine ovation but there’s definitely a sense that we’ve seen a performer who, while not in crisis, is grappling with his chosen medium. Lesser comedians would be content to milk the sort of popularity he enjoys but he’s clearly chafing under the constraints he feels he’s operating under as a ‘TV funnyman’. Hound is unquestionably very sharp and very witty when operating in the narrow confines of a panel show format. When given more space to fill on his own he’s much less sure of his direction. I’ll look forward to him finding the best medium to explore his ideas but I’m not sure it’s stand-up comedy and I strongly suspect he’s not sure either.
Overall it’s a typically entertaining, clever and ambitious night in front of a generous and switched on crowd. Once again ‘Just the Tonic’ shows why it’s the best place to watch comedy in Nottingham.
David Millington
15th May 2011
Nottingham
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