Review: Simon Amstell, Festival Theatre

Published on Wednesday 4 November 2009 08:39

Simon Amstell **** Festival Theatre

TOUSLE-HAIRED torturer of pop moppets Simon Amstell showed his vulnerable side last night to the Festival Theatre audience and left them happy but uncertain whether to clap him or cuddle him by the end of the night.

Mining the rich vein of social inadequacy and sexual ineptitude, Amstell gained sympathy and laughs in equal measure from the tales of his search for the perfect, thin, pale, vulnerable boyfriend. He came across like a character from a good Woody Allen flick – over-analytical, self-flagellating and with a grab bag of excuses as to why he shouldn't ask his fantasy man out.

This easily could have become irritating shtick but peppered throughout the were some wonderful scabrous one-liners as well as truly well observed comic anecdotes – one in particular about getting his grandmother's approval will stick in the mind.

For those who only know Amstell from Never Mind The Buzzcocks and Popworld, where his sharp tongue was used to prick egos, this version of the man may have come as a surprise, but it would have been a very pleasant one. Lonely, insecure and constantly haunted by past mistakes, this is an infinitely easier-to-identify-with version than the cocky, self-assured TV star.

Amstell's analytical streak came to the fore in the latter part of his show. He'd obviously had a lot of time to think about why he never got his man and had also clearly been delving into the self-help sections of the bookshops to find a solution. Fortunately, although this meant at times the show was in danger of becoming a lecture on the great one-ness of humankind and our need to seize the moment, the slides stayed in the box and he managed to pull the rug from under his own sincerity.

This was a tightly put together piece of performance; there was a strong feeling about the show that it had been written, re-written, polished, timed and rehearsed, which makes the fact that Amstell managed to deal so well with various distractions – particularly the front row audience member who insisted on texting throughout – all the more admirable.

To paraphrase Arnold Brown, Amstell is gay and Jewish, two stereotypes for the price of one. Unlike many comics, however, he doesn't take the easy route and trade solely on his ethnicity or sexuality to get laughs, his material is about the universal lessons to be learned from his experience.

There are many excellent storytellers on the comedy circuit but few are as engaging as Amstell. A large number of young women attended last night's performance and, much like Russell Brand, many of them would have liked to take him home with them. Unlike Brand, however, they probably would have given him a bowl of soup and a shoulder to cry on.