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 in Windsor last night...the most 'painful' and cringeworthy stand up I have ever sat through. Not funny one little bit, considered asking for my money back...

Claire, September 2010

Saw him in Windsor last night...the most 'painful' and cringeworthy stand up I have ever sat through. Not funny one little bit, considered asking for my money back...

Claire, September 2010

He's my favourite comedian in the world

Paul Foot, March 2010

I agree with Scott for me he is brilliant, original and cutting edge. Among the few comedians I would travel to see including Trevor Lock, Milton Jones, Stewart Lee and Joe Wilkinson

Paul, March 2010

He's a genius, and his influence on other comics is immense. His is an act I'd cross town to see, and one of the few comics I'd consistently recommend.

Scott Allen, April 2009

Watching him in the Wheatsheaf in London Almost ruined a weekend in the capital. luckily I also caught Russell Howard who restored my faith in young British comedy. Paul Foot is not funny. Watching him struggle on stage trying to explain his jokes was awful. Avoid at all costs.

Alan D\'Arcy, March 2009

I thought he was awful. I spent the entire evening cringing on his behalf at how un-funny he was. To be fair, the audience seemed split - half of them were Americans who seemed to find his incoherent ramblings utterly pant-wettingly funny, while the core of the audience sitting around me seemed to recoil in horror at how this man was bombing on stage. I think the worst part was that Paul seemed to find himself irresistably amusing, often pausing to snigger at his own poor jokes. The low point for me had to be when he decided to talk at length about his theory on making 'gay babies'. Just not funny! A comedian who has to point out to the audience that he is about to tell a joke is not original - he's just bad.

Katie, March 2009

I'm not a fan of his, to be honest, but American reaction to his appearance on Last Comic Standing proved, yet again, how wide the gap between their perceptions and our reality are. Over here, he's described as "surreal" and compared to Kenneth Williams or Peter Cook. But look at all the sites and forums devoted to Last Comic Standing -- just about all the Yanks mentioned Mr Bean in describing him! Whom he's absolutely nothing like, in looks or approach. Considering they rule us now, they could at least try to get on our wavelength.

Frank Gibbons, September 2008

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