Tim Vine at The Bloomsbury

Tim Vine at The Bloomsbury

21 July, 2008
by: JelEHead

Many comics have violent aversion to puns, considering them to be one of the simplest forms of humour - best left as the non-plastic filling of a Christmas cracker. And while Tim Vine will never be as trendy as comics like Stewart Lee, he’s the flag bearer of a long British tradition of silly word play – Tommy Cooper being the most beloved exponent.

As the name Punslinger suggests, Vine's latest show is offering an unashamed celebration of this non-threatening but hilarious comic art form using songs, props and gags. So as part of a large audience, made up of all ages, I turn up at the Bloomsbury Theatre on a gloriously sunny Sunday evening, safe in the knowledge that I am guaranteed an hour of innocent fun from the accepted modern master of pun.

The emphasis on family entertainment is set by the supporting act. John Archer is an affable, slightly overweight, middle aged northerner who gives us 30 minutes of jokes, songs and mind reading – rather like a working man’s club circuit version of Derren Brown. His strength is in well-honed audience interaction interspersed with a few short snappy silly songs where he showcases his considerable skill on the ukulele.

Then after a short break it's time for Vine who bounds onto to the stage dressed up as a cowboy and the pun-slinging begins at pace. It’s a relentless barrage of quick fire gags as Vine runs through 7 (magnificent) jokes on cowboys before turning his attention to another subject and then another… His style is more like a prize fighter than a gun fighter as he repeatedly jabs the audience with top quality one-liners. After a 10 minute assault he acknowledges that it’s the audience who is more likely to wilt than himself. He warns that if you can’t take the ‘pun-ishment’ you’d better leave now as there’s much more to come.

Then he starts to really go to work, quickly switching from visual effects (pulling props from his bag) to musical comedy (daft little songs accompanied by his home recorded guitar and piano backing tracks). Indeed it’s the songs that are more memorable and he manages to slip in a nice Will Young impersonation too. The jokes keep coming and coming, over 250 of them in 60 minutes, sometimes raising a belly laugh, mainly chuckles and occasional groans. But as I write this I realise I can hardly remember any of them, apart from one isolated dark observation about an inappropriate comment to put on a card for all occasions.

For me an hour was slightly too much, but nevertheless Punslinger is a very funny show. You have to admire Vine’s skills and his desire to provide high quality and underrated family entertainment.

JelEHead