Festival review: Kevin Tomlinson: Crazy Little Thing Called Love; Just the Tonic At the Caves (Venue 88)

AS THEMES go, you can’t get more universal than love, so it’s not surprising Kevin Tomlinson is playing to full houses. If there’s a script for this show, it’s one provided by the audience, as lyrics gathered from the queue form the engine of the action.

The loose format sees Tomlinson appear on stage accompanied by a box of props, a rail of costumes, a few wigs and a mask or two. The masks, it must be said, can be unnerving on first sight, but putting one on, and looking at himself in the mirror for a few seconds, helps improv master Tomlinson get into character.

Our show begins with Tomlinson joined by wickedly talented wife Abi Hood for a sketch about a blind date, with details and conversational gambits courtesy of those often mischievous song lines. The result is a scene that’s funny, true and not a little moving.

Proving an existing relationship isn’t necessary to hold your own in a Tomlinson sketch is audience member Gill. Having admitted to problems finding a nice chap, she’s invited on stage to sample some flirting techniques. Tossing awful lines at her is Frenchman “François”, complete with a nose to make Toulouse-Lautrec weep. The smart and feisty Gill winds up breaking poor Francois’s heart. C’est la vie.

The final sequence, and absolute highlight, has a game young couple reveal how they met via a horn, a bell, a Little Mermaid doll and a second-rate Action Man knock-off. Their willingness to go all the way with the sketch has the audience whooping with laughter. I don’t know how much we learnt about love in this heartwarming hour, but everyone left with massive smiles on their faces.

Rating: ****

Until 26 August. 16 August 3:20pm.