An Ideal night out

Benefit with stars of the BBC Three show

More Johnny Vegas videos

The son of strict Catholic parents, Pennington joined a seminary at the age of 11 but left after 18 months, deciding a career in the priesthood was not for him.

Instead, when he was old enough, he headed for London to follow his new chosen career, pottery, and studied ceramic design fort hree years.

He flirted again with the idea of joining the church during a period of depression at the age of 24, but instead chose a career in comedy.

CV

An Ideal Night Out
Live Review
Leicester Just The Tonic

BBC

A little over 24 hours after explaining why he was no longer doing stand-up, Johnny Vegas was back in the same Leicester venue doing, what to most observers, would have looked pretty much like stand-up.

True, in hosting a night of comedy themed around the axed BBC Three sitcom Ideal, he has curbed the self-loathing rage that made him such a mesmerising, if messy, comedian at his unassailable peak. He confessed to still having ‘waves of anger trying to get out’, but these days he’s learned to control them.

If you didn’t know what he was capable of in his previous form, you would have credited this as a fine example of the compere’s craft – a fluid, spontaneous dialogue with the audience that created unique moments of magic. The living cliche that was the drama student, a fey middle-class curate’s son in hippy garb, provided most laughs at his expense, but not all were easy ones, as Vegas’s fertile mind makes leaps and connections that are beyond the obvious.

Yet he also knows when to hold back... this wasn’t the manic Johnny Vegas Show with the other comics as an afterthought; he managed the energy of the supportive room well, allowing every other act to shine.

He was less fastidious about timekeeping though, and the scheduled end time whizzed past, so the demands of the last train home means I can’t report on the stand-up stylings of Ben Crompton (aka Colin, to Ideal fans) or the promised ‘live dubbing’ of an episode of the show. Nor can I tell you about creator Graham Duff, due to appear but medically absent by abscess.

Opening act was Mick Miller, enjoying a much-deserved career revival since being cast as the father of Vegas’s Moz. The alternative comedy pogrom cast all old-school club comics into the cultural wilderness, but Miller proves there was plenty of talent on that circuit along with the dross, and that we shouldn’t write off a whole generation. His gag rate is enviable, and while the format might be traditional he imposes his own personality – and writing – on to it. His drunk Noddy story is a classic comedy performance, but all the gags have perfect rhythm, and there’s a real twinkle to his delivery as well as a commitment to the punchline that some more anecdotal comedians would do well to emulate.

Character comedy stalwart Peter Slater – Christian-turned-killer Alan in the show – found Miller hard to follow, and acknowledged the fact, as he donned the guise of ‘king of entertainment’ Bernard Bananas. Because Vegas already so completely inhabits the persona of the shabby wreck beneath the showbiz glitz, Slater’s brand of anti-comedy struggled to emerge from that sizable shadow. We’ve seen bad jokes, bad magic and bad guitar playing as devices so often, he didn’t offer enough of a distinctive take. But when he started bantering with the particularly perspiry punter he’d volunteered, the spontaneity of the encounter proved a lot more fruitful.

After a break full of photographs and autographs for the fans, Vegas introduced Joanna Neary for a couple of one-woman sketches, which went down a storm. Her ultra-nervous presenter giving a talk about sex toys might hit a few familiar areas, but the skillful delivery makes it zing; while her stand-up routine skewers the cliches of the ‘I know what you’re thinking...’ brigade with an astute knowingness.

Overall, this is a great premise for a comedy night, given the number of strong stand-ups employed on the series who could do with a profile lift. And it delivers for the audience too: an Ideal night out is not just a punning title; it contains a truth, too.

Skip to page: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

He has the same affect on me that Tommy Cooper used to have-I just have to see him and i burst out laughing.

Alan Hodson, April 2020

Was at Just The Tonic last night and saw Vegas, the worst stand up I have ever seen, he died on stage and resorted to trying to make jokes about not being funny and ruining the show - the words 'taxi' were shouted out several times - thank god for the other acts.

Kitty, December 2010

I saw him in Nottingham last night and he basically just crumbled on stage, very sad and a waste of a talent

jane, December 2010

He's losing it - was rambling on and on, no one could understand a word he was saying at Just the Tonic Nottingham last night.... Sad to see. Embarrassing...

Jenny, December 2010

Johnny Vegas is an ARTIST. You don't expect an artist to get it right every time..He doesn't work as a painter, (or as a potter!) he doesn't work as a recording artist or as a musician.... He works LIVE! (And nobody works live anymore... Apart from people like Johnny Vegas) When it's good it's genius. It's not perfect.... (Well how good would it be to watch Francis Bacon sketch?) Respect to the Pennington and his loyal audience.

Steve Flashman, October 2010

Loved the show last night in Nottingham. It was the first time I'd seen Johnny Vegas live. He was terrifying, shambolic, sad, sweet and very, very funny. Aw, that poor lad in the front row, though. He'll probably be traumatised for life. Magnificent show.

Susan, July 2009

I think you are brilliant very funny on screen and i think you have done excellently in losing the weight, although you were cute before. All the best.

Michelle, January 2009

I think Johnny is a comic genius! If you watch him on any TV appearance you can't help but laugh so hard your sides hurt. He is a real legend!

Smithy, June 2007

Skip to page: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4