Johnny White Really-Really @ Monkey Barrel

For anyone who’s never seen stand-up Johnny White Really-Really, imagine if comedy was made of a cloud which occasionally threatens heavy rain. The comic’s style is gorgeously dream-like, all softly spoken with a whispered glee disguising hints of bleakness. am/pm meanders around with little in way of narrative. There’s a recurring motif of working as a receptionist and getting to know his new boss which loosely frames the hour, but does a lack of structure matter with jokes like these? A more solid shape wouldn’t harm the show, but it might hamper its style.

The comic sits at a spinning wheel, creating fibres of jokes out of a mythical material and turning them into full spools of yarn. There’s simply no telling the size of Really-Really’s imagination and we’re more than happy to follow him into the expanse, journeying blind into its darkest corners.

It’s simply magical watching Really-Really at work, creating some of the most original and unexpected punchlines in the comedy world, and landing each and every one with complete aplomb. Alton Towers, train drivers and cooking onions all feature, floating from the mouth of Really-Really’s child-like presence and entering your ears by way of the BFG’s dream trumpet. 

Unlike any other comic out there in both style and content, Johnny White Really-Really is a must-see for any comedy fan and an opportunity to sample a talent totally on its own plane.

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Johnny White Really-Really: am/pm, Monkey Barrel @ Hive (Hive 2), until 24 Aug, 12.30pm, £7/PWYW