Review - Rufus Hound - 'Just the Tonic' - Nottingham - 15th May

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.



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

Doug Stanhope – Just the Tonic, Nottingham, 5th April 2011.

Doug Stanhope

Halfway through tonight’s set, cult US comedian Doug Stanhope asks the sold out ‘Just the Tonic’ crowd, “Have you ever considered putting yourself on the sex offender’s register?”.  There’s a nervous laugh, we’re not sure where he’s going with this, but after a short pause he continues, “because then you have an excuse to tell your friends not to bring their annoying kids round to your house”.  The place erupts in laughter and applause, not for the first time tonight.  He’s managed to make topics that should be safe seem subversive and made subversive opinions sound like reasonableness themselves. 

Doug Stanhope’s never played a Nottingham gig before and made only a few appearances on UK TV, on BBC4’s Screenwipe, the satirical and frequently scathing Charlie Brooker vehicle, which makes the packed house a little surprising.  And if you weren’t familiar with him you’d be a little disappointed to begin with.  His description of himself as a ‘short, dishevelled, drunken man’ sums him up with the accuracy and lack of sentimentality that he applies to his many targets.  And, as he admits to us at the start of the show, having placed a couple of bottles of beer and a shot of something nasty looking on the table behind him, he’s prepared no set for tonight.  He frequently pauses, visibly gathers his thoughts and fumbles towards the crux of his routines. 

After a little while though he warms up, taking on subjects from anarchists protesting against government cuts (“Don’t you find that a little contradictory?”), religion, addiction and how best to ruin the Royal Wedding (stick a fake brass plaque over plaque on any statue you can find in London saying ‘The Prophet Mohammed – by order of Prince William and wife to be.’ in case you were wondering).  He finishes with a routine, the subject of which could perhaps best be described as being about a childhood sweetheart, before leaving to a practically unheard of standing ovation.

(Doug Stanhope on 'Have I Got News for You' on the current tour - contains swearing)

He’s a comic who’s been called angry, offensive, abrasive and provocative and it’s certainly true he’s unlikely to be appearing on any Michael McIntyre fronted Saturday night BBC 1 comedy showcases any time soon.  His provocative and abrasive material is however also a far cry from the lazy and petty ‘Mock the Week’ style comedy, where pointing out the shortcomings of such luminaries and Susan Boyle and Kerry Katona passes for edgy and confrontational.  Stanhope doesn’t bother with such easy targets.  His anger is focussed on dishonesty, cant and humbug.  It’s the righteous anger of the idealist and the disappointed romantic.  He doesn’t want to muse on the hilarious foibles of the world, he’d rather try to change it.  He’s been compared to Bill Hicks, the preacher-like cult comedian of the early 1990’s.  These comparisons are awry.  He’s much, much better than Bill Hicks.  If you want a comparison try Lennie Bruce.  One thing is for sure, he’s not for everyone but there’s no-one like him performing on Britain’s increasingly career focussed and sanitised comedy circuit.  Very highly recommended.

Doug Stanhope's Website

David Millington

7^th April 2011

Nottingham