At Chortle's Fast Fringe

July 2011

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Paul Foot: Still Life
Live Review

‘That was a lot of effort for three laughs,’ says a punter leaving Paul Foot's latest Fringe show. It's a view succinctly put and it get to the heart of this latest display of lunacy from the louche comedian.

Certainly Still Life is not without charm and, by the standards of some previous outings, it's quite tight, almost as tight as the pair of white Seventies-style slacks Foot wears to complete his Rod Stewart chic, along with a leather jacket, a kipper tie and a mullet.

The show starts by not quite starting, Foot ekes out the backstage announcement as much as possible and then comes from behind the curtain to map out what will happen when he actually does make it to the stage for real.

This doesn't happen for a good 20 minutes but in that time he has won the audience over with his OCD-like preparations and his description of the applause he expects to get at certain stages, one level corresponding to how much we would applaud a certain historical event (to give it away would spoil one of the best jokes of the night).

When finally on stage Foot reads some prepared material from postcards, including one half-yarn or ‘glimpse of comedy’, about an accident-prone prostitute. Soon after, he introduces a brilliant time-wasting wheeze, a toy stick horse, that, depending on which way it is held, determines whether Foot will speak English or gobbledygook or a mix of both.

There can be little doubt that Paul Foot has got some front when it comes to wasting the time of his audience, groping around for inspiration or embarking on semi-improvised musings on the virtues of lever arch files. At times prancing and pathetic, at other times eloquent and inspired, the lasting impression of the show is an enjoyable bemusement.

If that can be the case even when you know what he's about, well that must mean he is doing something right, mustn't it?

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Saw him do Set List in Nottingham, and for me he was both a revelation and the stand-out act of a distinguished bill. The pacing was excellent: he clearly thought things through before launching out into his impro, but at the same time was doing little comedy bits, to keep the audience happy, while his mind was working overtime to create a routine. Very imaginative, very funny.

Geoff F, February 2012

One of the funniest and most original comedians in the world. He is a wonderful, uplifting act and his Edinburgh show this year was terrific. Those who do not enjoy him must lack imagination and be dead inside

Matt, October 2011

People seem to love him or hate him, I'm in the latter category, he's not remotely funny, his humour is idiotic especially the horse head gibberish thing and the part where he pretends to be a women. Couldn't wait for the show to end!

Rory, October 2011

Paul Foot. Well very hit and miss and my real criticism of the show is that the 'gibberish' part with the horse's head was intrinsically an excuse for a lack of real material. I know Paul has been busy gigging but I wish (Pre-Edinburgh) he would have really put some proper time into writing at least 55 minutes of material, I think he genuinely wrote twenty - shame as he has some real potential BUT that seems to be the case now for quite a few years. At Edinburgh 2012 I expect/hope to see Paul finally reach his potential.

WB, October 2011

Worst comic I have ever had the misfortune to see. It didn't feel like he actually knew what he was doing. At one point he was playing some sort of game whereby the holder of a toy could decide whether he spoke in gibberish or English while he did improv according to audience suggestions. Fine when we couldn't understand him and he was speaking gibberish (although this quickly became tiresome), but when he had to continue his improv in English, he had nothing interesting to say. 99% of his jokes were boring and lacked any sophistication. The intro was drawn out and uninspiring. I wish I had asked for my money back.

Lydia, August 2011

Saw Paul last night, very poignant. I loved the show, not every one will, but that's not a bad thing, very adventurous. I agree with Paul Foot's comment!

Stevie, January 2011

Wonderfully original and brilliant, Paul Foot is.

Higgeldy Piggeldy, January 2011

Terrible, just terrible.

Pete, October 2010

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