Comedy Review: Literally

Published on Tuesday 19 August 2008 23:58

LITERALLY **** THE ZOO (VENUE 124)

THERE is, in the media today, a 28 per cent instance of misuse of the word "literally". So Paul Parry tells us at the beginning of this entertaining show. Literally takes a man who cares about the English language, a series of figurative expressions, a year of living decidedly oddly and the power of PowerPoint and turns them into a lovely hour.

Parry is the UK's self-appointed 'Literally Tsar'. In the interests of making his point, he has, literally, gone to Hell and back, from A to B, got to 'know his onions', bitten off more than he could chew, and discovered what are the greatest things since sliced bread. Parry is an amiable stage presence, self-deprecating but smart. His mini-travelogue taking him from A to B by tandem was fascinating as well as funny (A being in Norway, which seems to lead the world in odd place names, and B being in the USA).

His tale of biting off more than he could chew involved an attempt on the Great British Breakfast Eating Championship, hosted by Stuart Hall, a man not averse to the old mixed metaphor himself. Stuart kept his linguistic excesses to a minimum and Paul came in second.

Parry's point is a good one, cleverly and humorously made. He ends his show with the audience (well, one member of it) literally eating out of his hand and, I hope, thinking twice about they way they use language in future. It would be a kick in the ribs were Parry to have sweat blood and worked his fingers to the bone to make this breath of fresh air of a show, only to find himself spitting in the wind. He'd be gutted.

Until 25 August. Today 7:55pm.