My guess is that no comedian’s perfect post-lockdown gig starts with an audience being pummelled by torrential rain and horizontal hail on the way to a gig in a slightly draughty big top.
Nonetheless Rhys James delivered a fantastically funny set for this show at Norwich’s temporary Interlude In The Close venue, rescheduled from his original tour date at Norwich Playhouse.
The pandemic inevitably made an appearance in the set but the metrological apocalypse surrounding the tent loomed larger, and were both eclipsed by James’ patter on relationships, reminiscences of school days, and the trite poetry patter of Nationwide building society TV adverts.
Mock The Week viewers will know that James’ regularly gets teased for his youthful looks, and that too cropped up here, but his ease with the crowd, verbal dexterity, and the skilfully-crafted routines demonstrate he has the talent and experience of an old hand.
He carefully poked at the audience’s sensitivities – staying on just the right side of the line – earning a lot of laughs from a room that could have been more concerned with catching trench foot than comedy.
