The Comedy Store
19th October 2009
Terry Alderton
4 stars
Terry Alderton’s unique, hilarious and not-a-little terrifying performance simply blew me away. Having spent an hour clutching my sides as the BBC’s Shooting Stars’ presenter Paul Tonkinson delivered his excellent brand of old-school stand-up, I was prepared for much of the same after the break as Alderton took to the stage in a hiss of dry ice sporting the mandatory swagger and easy grin. However, what followed was an astoundingly off-the-wall routine in which the audience was confronted not only with the enigmatic and mad comic himself, but also with his demonic inner voices as they battled furiously inside his head, convincing him to do mischief.
The show is a barrage of exquisitely accurate impressions, spot-on accents and impressive beatboxing as his spontaneous and unpredictable brain leaps from one character to the next, switching personalities without warning and delving into shadowy parts of his own brain with rather worrying ease. The result is dark, twisted and ingenious comedy that, although seriously funny, is definitely not the easiest thing to watch. The beginning of the show was a little stilted and slow at times. Nonetheless, as the audience came to terms with the fact that Alderton’s brain is seemingly wired to a different frequency from the rest of the population, the pace picked up and the laughs came more freely.
With his inner demons goading him on, Alderton banters unrelentingly with the audience. In the performance I saw, the front row would have been a gift to any comedian: Tintin lookalike, undertaker with nervous girlfriend, line of female librarians, man who photographs lorries for a living and “Clarence” the cross-eyed lion to name but a few. However, apparently unbounded by any social norms or sense of decorum he took the rapport with the audience to a razor-sharp and hilarious new level, using every opportunity to show off his distinctive breed of physical and spontaneous comedy.
The actual subject matter of the show does not stray far from the norm: the north-south divide, Geordies, Glaswegians, women, Americans, the war against terror, teenagers playing music from mobile phones on buses and Brits Abroad all receive a fair amount of abuse. However, his unorthodox style and violent, infectious energy mean that not only does he get away with offering up much-trodden comic ground, he actually pulls it off and produces something completely unexpected.
In between the brilliant set-pieces, impressive dance (yes!) interludes, quick-paced audience repartee and conversations with himself, fleeting fragments of another personality leap unannounced from his frenetic brain – a pitiable yet comic Fathers4Justice campaigner. Just when you think it is safe, when you think you understand the mind of the “madman” in front of you and can laugh along happily to his jokes, he whips out this desperately sad character, shouting for his rights and sporting a superman t-shirt. Alderton has no fear of our awkward laughter as he jolts us from our cosy comedy bubble reminding us of the dark elements that permeate the show and that it would be best not to let ourselves get too comfortable…
Most definitely a comedian to watch, if he continues to produce such innovative and skilled material we will be seeing a lot more of Terry Alderton in the future.
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