Thom Tuck @ Heroes, Dragonfly

A whimsical hour of clowning, stand-up and everything in between from Thom Tuck

Review by Eve Livingston | 10 Aug 2017

Thom Tuck’s experience is clear throughout an hour in which he holds the audience in the palm of his hand, even as the show veers between different comedy styles, subjects and even some musical interludes.

Nothing is out of bounds for Tuck, who covers topics as diverse as Snapchat nudes and the Five Pillars of Islam but does so without his charmingly quirky persona ever slipping. His comedy ranges from esoteric references to perfectly-pitched one liners, anecdotes and physical clowning, but his consistent skill across these approaches allows a show which Tuck himself cheerfully describes at the outset as “incoherent” to work.

Tuck’s ease on the stage is perhaps most obvious in his interactions with the audience, whom he charms immediately and involves throughout: one minute he has them shouting out answers to a quiz question and the next they are listening intently to his captivatingly dramatic retelling of a roller disco casualty. He moves between these routines comfortably, weaving in physical comedy throughout but allowing his exaggerated facial expressions and body language to do much of the work for him, even in the more straightforward stand-up sections.

The show is probably more coherent than Tuck gives it credit for, but its seemingly random and chaotic nature is also much of its charm. His skill and character are the only narrative threads required to produce a whimsical and absurd hour of thoroughly enjoyable comedy.


Thom Tuck: An August Institution, Heroes at Dragonfly, 3-27 Aug (not 15), 3pm, £5/PWYW