Greg Davies (I)

Review: Greg Davies at The Concert Hall

The range of the performance is testament to Greg Davies' background in drama - drawing on songs, sketches and sight gags in a rich repertoire to keep the jokes flowing and fresh.

The best bit of this comedy panel show has to be the ingenious 3D models that illustrate the pet hates of Frank Skinner's guests. What will they come up with for Extreme Fishing With Robson Green, which gets Janet Street-Porter's goat? Among Ben Fogle's bugbears is the suitcase on wheels, while skyscraper comedian Greg Davies - The Inbetweeners' stern head - really, really, really hates pointless TV interviews with members of the public. Let the squabbles commence.

Radio Times review

You wouldn't expect Janet Street-Porter and Ben Fogle to agree on much and they don't. But they give Room 101 exactly the injection of friction it needs as they clash on the rights and wrongs of multichannel TV and wheelie cases. Fogle disdains both, but Street-Porter's first beef is more specific: she loathes Extreme Fishing with Robson Green for its shoutiness: "Simplistic twaddle!" argues the journalist famed for her calm and nuanced approach.

But it's Greg Davies, the man with the angriest eyebrows in comedy, who really gets the programme's comic juices flowing. His rant/routine about pointless TV interviews with members of the public is a joy.

Host Greg Davies roams the Apollo like an angry giraffe, railing against the perils of being middle-aged, which include having an underpants emergency just before he was due to go on stage. There's a long, discursive rant about a hideous taxi journey with a cab driver, which involved an existential discussion about the nature of "pies", before things get quieter with charming guest Hal Cruttenden. He has a good riff about the similarities between Germany and Dr David Banner in The Incredible Hulk. The evening ends with Simon Evans, who makes jokes about hen parties and fat people.

Greg Davies: The Back of My Mum's Head review

Despite the rather abortive final passage of Davies' second solo touring show, there's material here strong enough to be a pleasure to repeat, both from his perspective and ours.

Review - Greg Davies

Comedy's puerile Zeus, Greg Davies, is spoon-feeding us comedy's lower-hanging fruit, but it tastes gooooood ...

Greg Davies's favourite childhood activities

Adulthood is the central theme of comedy giant Greg Davies's new show. But Ben Williams discovers he hasn't lost his silly side as he shares some of his favourite childhood activities.