Posts with the label comedy
Showing posts with label comedy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label comedy. Show all posts

Thursday 14 December 2017

Jack and the Beanstalk (Pantomime), New Wimbledon Theatre | Review


Jack and the Beanstalk (Panto)
New Wimbledon Theatre
Reviewed on Tuesday 12th December 2017 by Olivia Mitchell 
★★★★

Now I must admit, I'm not the biggest panto fan but I thought I'd give it a go this year so popped along to Wimbledon to see Jack and the Beanstalk and I was pleasantly surprised! Festive favourite and seasoned Dame, Clive Rowe takes on the role of Dame Trot whilst comedian Al Murray is a panto newbie as the landlord, Al.

Directed by Thom Southerland, Jack and the Beanstalk focusses on the humourous rapport between Rowe and Murray rather than an actual storyline. Panto isn't Shakespeare and of course the plot isn't meant to be dramatic or emotive, but at times it did feel a little too bare and in-cohesive and was somewhat of a let down. However, the witty one liners and and magical moments saved the show.

Despite some of his jokes falling a bit flat, Murray is hilarious as the Pub Landlord and his audience interaction is fantastic. He really knows how to warm and audience up. I also appreciated how much he was able to not take himself seriously and just brush off when a joke doesn't work. Clive Rowe as Dame Trot is fantastic and again, works the audience wonderfully. The two are really a winning pair; bouncing off one another and pushing each other to corpse at every possible moment. I loved this interaction and they really made the show.


I personally wasn't a fan of the music used. The songs are forgettable and felt put in for the sake of it. The children involved however, seemed to be having the time of their lives which was lovely to watch.  Liam Tamne was great as Jack but I would've liked to see more of him. Despite being the title role, he was barely in the show and his relationship with Princess Apricot came and went at lightning speed. The second half especially felt like a mad dash to rap up the story.

The special effects were magical and definitely make the show for the children and adults alike. The dramatic helicopter scene at the end of Act 1 was unexpected and exciting and the 3D scene in act 2 added another level of interest. 

At the end of the show everyone was buzzing and seemed to have really enjoyed their night at the panto. Don't expect a masterpiece, but for a fun, lighthearted show full of one-liners and audience interaction, take a trip to the New Wimbledon Theatre and experience this show for yourself.

Jack and the Beanstalk runs at New Wimbledon Theatre until January 14th.

photo credit: Craig Sugden

Jack and the Beanstalk (Pantomime), New Wimbledon Theatre | Review

Thursday 14 December 2017

Tuesday 12 December 2017

Jayde Adams is Jayded, Soho Theatre | Review



Jayde Adams is Jayded

Soho Theatre
Reviewed on Monday 11th December 2017 by Shaun Dicks
★★★★★

Open on the West End, Soho Theatre. A hotbed of theatre and comedic excellence. We find ourselves in the Downstairs space, the set up is of a comedy club. The bar, a scattering of tables and chairs, and an elevated stage that’s dressed with a park bench and a piano. We are welcomed with music from Musical Theatre and Pop Culture. As I wrote before the show, we are in for a hell of a night.

A hell of a night was had by all. Jayde Adams is a beautifully voluptuous woman who takes us on a journey full of laughs. She takes us through a wonderfully crafted set all about popularity and success. Through various devices like mime, song, best friend tests and audience interaction Adams made me cry laughing. Her timing was so perfect, so on point that despite a few word stumbles, everything landed. 

One of the highlights of the show was Adams use of song, her original songs were Tim Minchin esque and her not so original songs were executed perfectly. The musical aspect of the show was truly satisfying. Another highlight was Adams’ use of the best friend test. This involved using a member of the audience, which by nature is a tricky thing, but Adams navigated it perfectly. This writer was buying what she was selling when Adams broke out the wigs and fan, giving the audience a BeyoncĂ© moment that we will never forget. She was willing to improvise and play with the audience as the show went along. She had the audience in the palm of her hands. 

As Adams said during the show, she smashed it. Adams reminded me of my Aunt, with her warm Bristolian accent shewas crass, boisterous and unapologetic in the best way. It is a show that deserves to be seen, it’ll be the best decision you’ve ever made. You will cry with laughter. A sprinkle of happiness in the holiday season.

Jayde Adams is Jayded, Soho Theatre | Review

Tuesday 12 December 2017

Friday 4 August 2017

In Conversation With... Rufus Hound | Interview | The Wind in the Willows

Rufus Hound started out his career as a comedian but over the last few years has been a frequent star of the stage and is currently making audiences laugh starring as Mr. Toad in The Wind in the Willows at the London Palladium. He was lovely enough to do an interview with me where he talks about his transition from comedy to theatre and much more...



For anyone that doesn't know, could you explain a little about your career and highlights so far?


Sure. I started off as a stand-up comedian having grown up as a kid always wanting to be a stage actor and when the opportunity to do actual stage acting arose, I couldn't quite believe it. Jumped at it with both hands and that's really what I've concentrated on doing even since. It's been how I've earns a living I think for the last sort or four years, five years. Starting with Utopia at the Soho theatre, then One Man, Two Guvnors, then Neville's Island for Chichester and then Dirty Rotten Scoundrels at The Savoy, then War of the Roses and the Kingston Rose and Don Quixote for the RSC and I'm currently in The Wind in the Willows. So there are my career and highlights so far.


I read that it was during a summer job with a PR agency that you decided to go into comedy. Had you always wanted to perform or did you have other career paths in mind when you were younger?


I guess I've sort of already answered this but from about the age of three I watched The Muppet Show and thought "that's what I wanna do, I wanna do theatre". And the lovely thing about theatre, well one of the lovely things about being a kid is that your opportunities to show off are largely limited to school plays and the like. So yeah, from about three to seventeen I was like "that's all I wanna do". Then as eighteen dawned on me and nineteen dawned on me I realised that that was something that was going to cost a lot of money to train to do and the likelihood was that I wouldn't you know, succeed in trying to do it. So, I put that dream in a drawer.


I decided to go into comedy because I always liked standing up, I liked showing off, I like making people laugh. So I started going out with a woman who was a judge at a lot of new act competitions, saw what people were doing and thought: "I could do that". But as I say, once the opportunity to do more acting came up, that was what I did!


Was the transition from comedy to presenting to tv and eventually theatre a difficult one or was it a natural transition?



It wasn't really natural, it's just that in life you get somebody saying "do you wanna give that a go?" and then if you're smart you can kind of have a look round, work out what other people are doing and how you could best do it, and hopefully don't muck it up so badly that that you never get another chance. Each job you learn on and you grow in each way. But yeah, I've never learnt how to do comedy or presenting or radio or theatre. No one's ever taught me how to do those things, you just give them a go, keep your ears pinned back, keep your eyes open and try and work out how the best people people bring about their best.




What keeps you motivated to keep working even when you get knock backs?

I have a mortgage and I have two children!


Do you have any hidden passions that you'd like to pursue?


Yes. They're not really so hidden but I really enjoy woodwork and currently where I live there's no space to have a kind of workshop or anything like that in order to do woodwork. But yeah maybe in the next couple of years we'll move somewhere with a bit more space and yeah, you'll largely find me under a pile of wood shavings.



The Wind in the Willows is a wonderful family show. What attracted you to the show in the first place?


When I was working on One Man, Two Guvnors, Pete Caulfied out of the blue, said to me "If you ever get the chance to play Toad, take it you'd be brilliant." A couple of years later, out of the blue, Matt  Kingsley in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels says to me "you know, if you ever get the chance to play Toad, you should take it" and I went: "you're the second person to say that to me". And because both of these were really out of the blue, it just totally stuck in my mind that I was, in the esteem of people that I respected, a good person to take on this role. So when the opportunity to play it came up, I jumped at it with both hands!



What do you think people will be saying on the train on their way home from the show?


Poop poop probably! We now live in the age of social media where people tweet you what they're talking about on the way home from the show. By and large it seems to be that anyone with kids is having to deal with and overexcited young person who is shouting to them about the flying, the sets, the mice, the weasels are very popular, the weasels and stoats! So yeah, people just come away from it knowing it was a big, warm hug of a show really.



Besides yourself, who else would you like to see play Mr Toad?


Crumbs. That's literally the last thing in the world I've thought about! I've been so focussed on doing it myself that I would never really deign to think of how somebody else might do it. Who would I like to see play it? Er...... I really don't know, I'm really struggling on that!





Can you sum up The Wind in he Willows in five words?


Yes! Big, warm, family, massive... hug!



What are some of your dream roles in theatre?


I'd really like to play Thenadier in Les Mis for a short run just because nothing would make my mum happier. I'd also really like to be in anything Tim Minchin has ever done.



What's a fun fact people might not know about you?


Ahhhh, I dunno. I think in this day and age everyone knows everything about everyone pretty much! But.... I was a Klansman in the first production of Jerry Springer: The Opera. There were some photographs taken and the protagonist is there surrounded by Klansmen and I was one of those. I was also a hillbilly having the tar knocked out of him on the floor. So if anyone has got any connection to Jerry Springer: The Opera then I was in it at about the age of twenty, in a very minor way.



Whats your number one piece for can aspiring performer?


Don't give up. The only thing that stops you from being a performer is stopping!



A huge thank you to Rufus for taking the time to do this interview. The Wind in the Willows is at the London Palladium until September 9th.


Interview by Olivia Mitchell, Editor

In Conversation With... Rufus Hound | Interview | The Wind in the Willows

Friday 4 August 2017