Review - Tim Vine's Chat Show, Oakengates Theatre
[gallery] "Hands up all those who don't know how to point to the ceiling?" Boom boom! And we're off on the Tim Vine comedy express.
The world's fastest joke-teller hit the ground running in Telford last night with a barrage of one-liners that had the sell-out audience in stitches from the start.
"I've got a new chicken-proof lawn . . . it's impeccable. My chicken lost her eggs . . . she's probably just mislaid them."
And on it goes; punchline after punchline drawing laughs and groans galore from the funniest, cleanest comedian in Britain.
"I only ever get drunk crossing from one country to another . . . I'm a borderline alcoholic."
Big Tim could go on all night and he often does. But his live shows need to be broken up to avoid the audience being washed away by the one-line tidal wave.
And so this new tour is loosely (very loosely) based on a chat show format with the star asking people in the audience to write something ridiculous about themselves in advance.
Thus we were treated to the delights of a window fitter's fall from grace (well, a ladder actually), a student's live action calendar poses, a teaching assistant's hilarious spelling class and the joys of a man who once stroked a hedghog.
Sounds a bit surreal? It was – but very funny all the same and good to see a comic step out of his comfort zone on a magic night of comedy gold.
Review by Keith Harrison
