Matty Hutson @ Pleasance Courtyard

Matty Hutson is a genial presence in this nicely low-key show which aims ‘to make a room full of strangers into a room full of friends’. It’s a tongue-in-cheek manifesto, given Hutson isn’t the best at meeting people (one of his songs is precisely about this problem), but he’s giving it his best shot.

The managing of that awkwardness becomes an opportunity for Hutson’s dry wit; using pre-recorded jingles to assist with his crowdwork (we can tell its crowdwork because the screen helpfully tells us so; see also signposting of 'Musical Comedy' and 'Stand Up'). A positive moment with the audience gets a message intoning ‘that was a pleasant interaction’ – AI-generic instead of warmly specific (the final gag of the show neatly flips this conceit). On occasion, though, that quality of social unease does make for a slightly strained atmosphere.

The show has plenty of good songs: one a forlorn lament for Hutson’s hair, another about his recent discovery that the meanest girl in high school is now a life coach. The sequence of tunes that answer back to legendary hits gets a warm response from the crowd – Jolene, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds and Jaws all get their say.

Hutson dutifully promotes self-acceptance, a supposed advantage of age, and he assures us he’s grown more comfortable in his skin. Yet the irony of this is revealed in a later song when he fantasises about a whole array of plastic surgery (and ‘Matt Hancock’s brain, because he feels no shame’). Hutson’s wry acknowledgement of dissatisfaction and yearning hits all the right notes, and even offers a fellowship of sorts – not quite a room full of friends, but companionable all the same.

---

Matty Hutson: Don't Hold Back, Pleasance Courtyard (Attic), until 27 Aug, 7.15pm, £11-13