Tom Towelling @ Pleasance Courtyard
An engaging and engaged comic with unflappable confidence, Tom Towelling proves he's ready for the big time
Before we’ve sat down, Tom Towelling is blasting his way through a karaoke rendition of Elton John’s Rocketman. With people still filing into the room, he already has an audience member upon the stage, mic in hand, taking on a verse on their own. This is the unexpected and unpredictable energy of Tom Towelling Teaches You to Knit.
The Birmingham-based comic has complete control of the audience before the lights go down, through nothing other than pure playful wonder. He introduces himself as a maths teacher early doors and this is echoed wonderfully in his delicate, teasing interactions with the crowd. He seems genuinely energised by every member of the front row, giddily goading them further into his routines, but never in a way that risks derailing his material. It’s this kind, affectionate ribbing that anchors the more surreal tangents of this loosely alternative hour.
The backbone of the show is centred on his life as a schoolteacher and the parallels he can draw between that and his comedy ambitions. The deviations, however, are as delightfully full of life as the show's skeleton. There are songs covering an array of topics, there’s his wonderfully pantomime physical comedy and the lurking presence of a ‘forbidden joke’ that, if an audience member asks for it, will ruin the show. We were in on such a night where the forbidden joke was prompted, and although I’m confident that the material would have been faultless without it, this added layer of jeopardy was perfectly navigated.
As alternative comedy goes, there’s rarely a performance or performer as readily packaged for the mainstream as Tom Towelling; an engaging and engaged comic with unflappable confidence, equally exciting on and off script. With a devilish magnetism and a mischievous penmanship, we challenge anyone to not enjoy a night surrounded by the elaborate shenanigans of Tom Towelling. This is a comedian primed for massive things, and we cannot wait to see them.
Tom Towelling Teaches You to Knit, Pleasance Courtyard (Attic), until 30 Aug (not 26), 9.45pm, £13.50-£16