Nick Revell @ The Stand
Nick Revell provides a mixed bag of storytelling and cat sounds
Nick Revell begins his show with an apology as he’s been unable to write a new show because of the ludicrous last year he’s had with his cat Lily. It all starts off simply enough with a trip to Los Angeles and some Brexit banter about coming back through the EU queue, possibly for the last time, and his unexpected adoption of a cat. The shift to talk of artificial intelligence starts off subtle, with talk of automated taxis and a ‘smart house’ that includes a fridge that speaks in emoji, before turning into a new world order of an authoritarian cat and her army of zombie rats; a tale as old as time.
Revell is a fantastic storyteller and his riotous pace, flair for accents and scene setting is breathtaking at times but this speed and grace of narration means that jokes are forgotten about, or just plain forgettable. It’s an engrossing tale, well told by a master of his craft, very smart at times and intermittently titillating, but the whole show seemed like a poor imitation of that Rick and Morty episode in which the family dog is given artificial intelligence, with less jokes and less emotional connection.