Andrew Clover: Dad Rules

Andrew Clover imitates half a dozen breeds of dogs, perspires a lot, and turns his audience members to the dark side. The last is probably easiest, given that eight-year-old boys are inherently evil; it’s also the most amusing part of Clover’s storytelling-based routine, which has an unfortunate tendency to lurch into dark alleyways of character-based monologues that don’t make much sense. Clover’s segue into describing the characters of his novel causes the audience to begin wandering – sometimes literally, in the case of the younger children – and the let’s-create-a-story-about-a-dog segment turns distinctly shaggy. To his credit, Clover takes the huge risk of relying on suggestions from an audience obsessed with potty humour. This pays off with occasional breathtaking inspirational leaps, but too often ends up in the toilet. If nothing else, though, Clover instils his young listeners with the fundamental rules of both storytelling and comedy: it’s funniest when things go wrong.