Review: Comedian Paul Foot in Ipswich - The Avenue Theatre

You know those stand-up comedy shows, where the suave, urbane comedian, in a suit and tie, works his way through a carefully crafted script - with appropriate pauses for laughter?

Even off-the-cuff remarks, you suspect, have been worked out well in advance.

That is not the Paul Foot experience.

At The Avenue Theatre, on Friday, we were buffeted and knocked about by the whirlwind that is Paul Foot (and his alter-ego Penny),

Paul Foot is no ordinay comedian - he is a force of nature.

His high energy show is barely controlled chaos.

It was wide-ranging and ranting at times, taking us through sometimes taboo subjects, including sex and relationships and the facts of life.

Paul ricocheted through the evening with his hilarious views of the world, and of people, with plenty of his own flights of imagination - he calls them his “disturbances.”

He bounced his ideas off the walls and us, like missiles.

It is always best to try and avoid sitting close to the stage (or the floor in this case).

Those of us sitting in the front row were already a bit wary, could we avoid being drawn into his performance?

Not easily.

I caught his eye once, but he moved on to others. Phew.

Another audience member, Matthew, was drawn into his act - as his straight man (in both senses of the word), and he proved a good sport, despite the embarrasment.

It is always a relief when it is somebody else!

This was no carefully scripted routine of gags.

It was a high energy show of barely controlled madness, and sometimes shocking too.

It was funny, but often through-provoking, when he took on subjects such as racism and homophobia.

If there was a great disaster in London, he said, they would have to look places like Suffolk to find some hetereosexuals to re-populate the country.

In the intimate space of Red Rose Chain’s Avenue Theatre it really was up-close-and-personal. A really share experience.

And all the better for that.

Paul Foot really is a “one-off”

Where some comedians are a gentle, warm breeze - he is whirlwind blowing through.

Insanity rules UK!