Comedy review: Greg Davies at Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury

The affection Wem-born Greg, 44, has for his county of birth was evident throughout his sell-out show, called The Back of My Mum's Head, last night.

The former teacher grew up just 12 miles from the theatre where he delivered his take on how strange everyone is in their own unique way.

The 600-strong crowd, some of which were his old friends from childhood, were in hysterics as he delivered a soundscape of his most favourite sounds and recalled a phone call with his parents with volunteers from the audience standing in for the parental roles.

Six feet eight inches tall Greg, who has also appeared on TV shows such as Mock the Week and Live at the Apollo, said he genuinely loved coming back to the county and thanked people for turning up on such a rainy night. He joked: "I will spend your money wisely!"

Greg Davies rose to fame in The Inbetweeners as the strict, sarcastic, and slightly cumbersome looking head of sixth form Mr Gilbert.

But Davies is now getting the plaudits he deserves from his main passion and judging by the reaction at Shrewsbury's Theatre Severn yesterday he had better get working on some more material for a third sell-out UK tour.

The 44-year-old was back in his home county for his latest show 'The Back of My Mum's Head' which went some way to proving that everyone, in their own way, is 'mental' as Greg so bluntly puts it.

"It's not normal, love," is the key theme running through the show which is the phrase Greg's mild-mannered mother would often come out with in disgust during his childhood before turning on her heels and walking off in exasperation.

Part of his success stems from mocking himself, perfectly illustrated when describing his horror at catching a glimpse of himself when stepping out of the shower recently – describing his body as looking like 'something a kid has sculpted from processed ham'.

The top five involuntary noises and most shockingly inappropriate lines he's heard brought the house down, as well as his take on the children of today and a tale of a racist London cabbie with a pie obsession.

The show ended with a song about a bonsai tree, before a real-life, costume-wearing bonsai tree entered the stage to be mocked by Davies.

It was all strangely bizarre, hilarious and larger-than-life comedy which we have come to expect (and love) from someone who is, well, strangely bizarre, hilarious and larger-than-life.

By David Seadon