Last a night a full house gathered at the Sherman Theatre, Cardiff. A colourful mix of students, radio 4 listeners and people looking for something to do on a Friday - all in turn serving themselves as people watching entertainment extraordinaire. Yes, I had wine in hand and slightly nervous conversation to make. The reason for the milling? Mark Watson; sometime radio and TV funny chap, who was out to entertain with his ambitiously titled "All the thoughts I've had since I was born' act. Unlike most of the things I blog about he did actually play Aberystywth a few days earlier, bless him.
Within minutes of Mark's somewhat eccentric appearance the crowd were completely disarmed and delighted. His engaging manner, impeccable delivery and self-deprecating ways were winning and witty, as was his anecdotal set. Mark Watson isn't surreal, he doesn't have catch phrases, and he's not witheringly sarcastic: he is a rare gem of an observational comic possessing a charming way with words...
Be prepared though - those words come out at a rate of around a million a minute. My gosh no wonder he's so thin! Not that Mark bounds back and forth around the stage, it's just that the sheer energy and enthusiasm he invests into his ramshackle tales punches home an admirable work ethic. As a consequence stories tend to ramble breathlessly, and not all get wrapped up neatly. For the most part that's okay - firstly there's usually something very, very funny waiting to spring out from reminiscence prison; also the whimsical nature of the musings means that you find yourself chortling away to a turn of phrase, not caring that there wasn't quite an end to the narrative, whilst you're lead down a garden path of a completely different, sometimes dark, nature.
The show was great, and faults were few; maybe there seemed to be a lack of control over the audience in the second half - things became a bit too pally for my liking. Some members rattled on and on. Then again the general high levels of interaction served to spawn one or two big laughs, and the idea of a competition encouraging people to be nice to each other certainly brightened some lives- £3 cash prize not to be mocked in these hard times.
The only other flaw seemed to be the haphazard introduction of general themes, such as compliments or 'Little Book of Calm' style de-stressing; these touchstones of structure didn't quite scaffold the show and seemed slightly cumbersome. Like Eddie Izzard, Mark riffs (about his life, not bees), and I suspect just like Izzard, those riffs are carefully worked out, but they sometimes clashed with the broader musings, throwing out the pace slightly.
Mark's been performing at the fringe and touring generally since 2004 , garnering accolades and praise, but he's still a young comedian and the small niggles are easily consequential of that. I thoroughly enjoyed myself, laughing along to an original, warm and mirthsome soul. I'm looking forward to more of Mark's wry comedy in the future.
Four Stars and a big grin for Mr Watson. You can stalk Mark on twitter, or find his tour dates listed here.
2 comments:
He seems to have grown up about ten years in the last six months - or at least his persona seems to have done - I quite liked his fairly shambolic self a little while a back but I think I like him more now he's all grown up and that.
I've only been listening to him since around December, but you're right, he is getting better.
Despite loosing Tim Minchin (who I have tickets for in October and can't wait) the second series of 'Mark Watson Makes the World...' is consistently funnier, and he's well worth seeing live, even if you do (like me) pick up his tendency to over emphasise words immediately after!
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