2010 Edinburgh Fringe
Tom Allen review
Looking at the poster for this show, those that have not encountered Tom Allen before may be forgiven for thinking they are about to watch some loud-mouthed, council estate thug deliver laddish banter about working class issues. Thankfully, the audience (which, with a raise of hands, reveals itself to be mainly made up of gay men) has already got the message that is not actually Allen at all. Anyone expecting the former would be slightly taken aback to discover the comedian is actually the polar opposite of that character. He is - by his own admission - posh, pedantic and gay.
Allen is charming and brings a nice slow laid-back pace to the show. It suits his material. He has the best voice on the circuit, with his every word beautifully enunciated - radio fans will already know him as Pip Bin, the victorian hero in Radio 4's brilliant Bleak Expectations.
The reason Allen is looking like a grumpy council estate thug in his poster is he has decided he needs to toughen up. The visuals are actually a metaphor, he is more talking about being mentally rather than physically tough here. He says that sometimes nice people have to toughen up emotionally to survive what the world throws at them.
As it happens, the premise is forgotten about for large chunks of the show to allow Allen to recount more general stories and observations. From the tedium of having to sign a communal office card for an employee you hardly even know, to the middle-class shoppers in Marks & Spencer - the topics are all familiar, but Allen comes at them in his own unique way. A couple of the stories are slightly too commonplace to be particularly funny (for example, seeing someone caught out in a train toilet by the automatically opening doors - this was not the only show of the Fringe I heard this story in), but Allen gets away with it thanks to his careful choice of words and perfect clipped pronunciation.
Allen admits he finds the 'obligatory audience banter' section of the show awkward and so keeps interaction low, but the chatting he does undertake with the audience is sweet, builds up a good bond, and reveals he has the ability to think quickly on his feet.
Overall it all made for a delightful hour but, frankly, the stories and gags were more gentle smilers. The lack of any heavy laughs left the room feeling a bit flat and muted after the hour.