Welcome Home Captain Fox

With the Donmar Warehouse's £10 front row tickets (if you are quick enough) we got to see this excellent entertainment. the play is set in the States in the early Fifties. US marine with total amnesia has returned home having been released from an East German sanatorium. he can remember nothing of his pre-War life.

A social climbing yankee woman takes on finding his real home as a natural successor to her previous charitable work in finding homes for orphan dogs. Her wise-cracking rich but elderly husband suffers her antics because he enjoys what he euphemistically describes as "putting out the trash", although putting out would suffice. Anyway, our do gooder comes up with a list of families who came from an area which matched the soldier's accent and who had lost a son in the war, missing in action.

The first family on her list was chosen because they had the best breeding and her best chance of social advancement. the good news is she struck gold first time; this family is his. The bad news is they are not at all the family he would like, and the original Jack Fox was the not the guy our amnesiac dreamed of being. Having found his true identity all he wants to do is get away from it.
This was a beautifully acted amusing piece of theatre. Perhaps a trifle over long, but nevertheless with enough jokes and twists to make it well worthwhile. Honours go to Katherine Kingsley with a wonderful over-the-top portrayal of Marcee Dupot-Defort, the society seeking wife, still riled at having been taken for the hat girl at a restaurant.

Frankie Boyle at Hammersmith Apollo

Back on tour as middle-aged man - "My body looks like a dropped lasagne" - this was of course worth waiting for. Frankie is brutal. None of these subtle put downs of hecklers. You don't mess with Frankie. "Shut the f*** up, you c***. No one has paid to listen to you. They would only pay to see you if you were the star in a snuff movie." He described how a member of the audience was once upset by a routine on depression. Eventually the bloke left ostentatiously shouting "Suicide is never funny" to which Frankie retorted, "Why don't you kill yourself and I'll see if I laugh". Yes don't you just love that gentle whimsical humour in the British tradition...

So, you have to find abuse funny. Luckily I do. Downside? Well he does tend to press on with easy targets, posh Tories, paedophiles. Ok, but gets a little repetitive. Although I did like his theory that Renaissance cherubs just evolved those little feathery wings so they could fly out of the clutches of d hook them back down.the catholic priests. And that Catholic bishops had those long crooks so they could try and hook them back down. You had to see it with arm movements.

Yes a good set (although a trifle short) but not for the easily offended. But as Mr Boyle would say, if you are easily offended you can f** off.

Paul Sinha at SohoTheatre

I took two friends to see Paul at the Soho theatre for a show entitled Postcards from the Z-list. Now I had seen him do stand off before and thought he wasn't at all bad. What none of us had realised, and what was the subject of the show, was that he does an ITV tea-time quiz show called the Chase. So he was basically explaining what it was like being a minor celebrity to three people who didn't realise what he was a minor celebrity for.

But what he is is a quite erudite man. A former doctor who gave that career up for comedy, he isn't a gag a minute merchant, but the hour of his performance never dragged. I f you weren't laughing you were at least entirely engaged in his stories. He does come across as an interesting person, Gay, non-camp, Asian, beer-drinking sports fan he doesn't fit a stereotype. We enjoyed it all, from being recognised by a teenager on the bus as the bloke from the Chase, to being "de-recognised", "No that bloke is much fatter than him" to his best gag in my view, that having broken up with his boyfriend he then moved on with his life and downloaded that app that allows you to meet other single, middle-aged Asian men - Uber.

Definitely worth seeing. Another good comic you won't have heard of that you can see in a small venue for under £20.

Tame Impala at Alexandra Palace

Sadly I couldmn't persuade anyone to go with me to this gig. Most people I now haven't even heard of Tame Impala, although they have now completed three albums and sold out Alexandra Palace Friday and Saturday night. And Ally pally is a big venue (7000). 

But as I had taken Friday off work I was able to get there early, queue with a somewhat teenage crowd, collect my pint of cider from the craft beer stall (their first customer of the night) and bag my customary spot down the front.Support came from fellow Australian psychedelic band Jaguar Mas. A good fit for the main act (which often isn't the case). A trio they seemed a little lost on the vast stage. Lead singer had a bit of charisma, decent enough sounding band but not one I would dash to see.

 

Tame Impala I feel are the inheritors of prog rock. They have a number of unusual features. For many bands one harks back to the brilliance of a debut album sadly never quite matched but subsequent efforts. For Tame Impala however in my opinion its only with their third album Currents that they have really hit their stride. Its a superb effort, with a number of delightful tunes that float happily out of the cd.

Lead singer Kevin Parker has a nice, but rather non-rock voice. high-pitched but not straining. Its easy listening but without the downside one normally expects of that term - ie there is nothing bland about their music. Great hooks but on quite intricate songs. Try listening to "Let it Happen"

 

 I got myself at the front but found myself next to one of the confetti cannons. Which were used more than once during the show. You pretty much have to turn away when those things start blasting, but they do create a fine effect.