Tom Stade: Oh F*** Do We Need a Title Too?

With his bong-scorched drawl, and oversized head and hands, Canadian Tom Stade resembles a twinkly-eyed Team America puppet. Indeed, it’s fair to say he channels Parker and Stone through much of his performance.

His actual content, for all that it’s drenched in expletives, is pretty safe: biblical characters come in for a healthy slagging, as do the war on terror and yanks in general. However, Stade’s real genius lies in the way the works the audience. He plays them like a big piano, and frankly it’s a tutorial in how to make the audience eat out your hand.

In the first half, Stade get to know people, comes back to them, involves them in his stories, asks for their opinions – always friendly, always smiling, always deprecating about his own life. Then, after the break, he plays them all off against each other, in a marvellously filthy manner. However, because he’s made the effort to get to ‘know’ them in the first place, and everything is delivered in his wickedly cocksure manner, there’s no question of offence being taken.

A really excellent show.