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Paul Tonkinson started stand-up in 1992, when he won the Time Out New Act of the Year Award. The same London magazine named him stand-up comic of the year in 1997. He is now a circuit stalwart, and regularly entertains the troops.

He gained more exposure as presenter of BBC Two's The Sunday Show in 1996; and in 2001 he landed the job as Johnny Vaughan's replacement on The Big Breakfast. However, he lasted only two months before he was fired.

He was the first breakfast show presenter on Xfm Manchester when it launched in March 2006, before moving to Xfm London the following year. He left the station in early 2008.

Ealing Comedy Festival 2011: Wednesday
Live Review

In a calendar packed with comedy festivals, Ealing’s has a relatively low profile. Yet its line-up is stellar, and it packs out a 1,000-seater marquee over five nights in a West London park - so it’s an event not to be ignored.

The festival reached its midway point in last night’s rain, with the ever-impressive Jarred Christmas compering. The Kiwi’s fast and emphatic delivery instantly establishes that he’s in charge, but he comes with such a cheeky, curious and endearingly playful attitude that means he’s never going to be serious authority figure. After all, he’s the sort of man-child who can say: ‘I was googling “ninja moves”...’ without any sense of self-consciousness, just part of another enthusiastically-told anecdote.

First of the acts is professional Northerner Paul Tonkinson, a favourite booking of this festival, with his wry commentary on married life and North vs South stereotypes. There are no great revelations, but it’s nicely observed and beautifully illustrated with a wide repertoire of subtly silly comedy voices. The man’s a one-man Simpsons cast as he brings to life the likes of his effete, sexually ambiguous ski instructor or a menacing South London laugh. At his best, he reduces a marital argument to meaningless sounds, prompting lots of chuckles of domestic recognition.

Fresh from Latitude come Ireland’s ‘seventh biggest hip-hop crew’ Abandoman, with their crowd-pleasing improvised raps; first the ‘What’s In Your Pocket’ routine, basing lyrics on items the audience hold up, then the made-up musical, composed around the circumstances of ‘Stoney’ – a London Underground escalator engineer plucked from the crowd. Rap purists might spot an overuse of filler line such as ‘that’s right/you know’ to make the rhymes fit, but the duo’s frontman Rob Broderick is quick-thinking and occasionally inspired in fusing ideas together.

Next up a ‘special guest who can’t be named’ – which used to mean comedy royalty, but these days can mean anyone who’s been on TV a bit and doesn’t want to hurt their forthcoming tour sales. Tonight it meant Lee Nelson, and I don’t think the demographic of the tent quite matched up with the demographic of the unbilled comedy chav’s BBC Three audience, given that mention of sidekick Omelette clearly didn’t receive the cheer he was expecting. In fact, there seemed some sluggishness in realising this excitable rude boy was a character. That, and the sheer size of this marquee, meant that some of his audience banter was robbed of its exciting piquancy, though Nelson’s creator Simon Brodkin is still as sharp as a tack.

There are some great jokes in his tales of casual sex and equally casual misogyny, although elsewhere, especially in his take on hosting the Olympics in East London, he treads on very cliched territory, not always with sharp enough writing to excuse it. And this is clearly a work in progress – as occasional glances at notes on a bar stool attest – so isn’t quite as fluent or concise at it could be. But Nelson’s still entertaining, with life in the old Burberry yet.

For our headliner, we leaping a few strata up the social scale, with the urbane Stephen K Amos. He hasn’t always been that way, however, and he gets much mileage out of his down-to-earth upbringing at the hands of his no-nonsense parents, and their catchphrase: ‘Shut up, bastard.’

The ‘back-in-my-day’ nostalgia, before iPods and mobiles, defines his attitude that the youth of today don’t know they are born. He even brings up a crew of teenagers to prove his point... and from the moment this segment starts, you know it’s going to be a countdown until the phrase ‘boy band’ is deployed. But however predictable the conclusion was, Amos’s forte is interacting with people (a facet his recent BBC Two show failed to exploit), and he created plenty of free-form fun along the way.

He ended the set with a couple of examples of racism directed his way, primarily from Australia, but he reacts not with fury, but with a charismatic roll of the eyes that anyone could be so dim. After all, Amos is nothing if not charming every moment he is on stage.

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A very disapointing night at the Studio In Bradford. Paul was trying hard but no real belly laughs from the audience. Ive seen Paul two years ago in Leeds and he was great! Dont know what happened Paul think the Studio lacked a good audience and a good comedian that night ! better look next time

Maatthew, February 2013

He topped the bill in Cardiff (Dec 2011). While there were some who were drunk enough to raise a laugh at his material I found it overly coarse and frankly joyless. A huge disappointment.

Jon Davies, January 2012

It was being ripped apart by Paul Tonkinson at the Auckland Comedy Festival 2008 that made me want to be a stand-up comedian. Would love to play on the same bill as him - just not sat in the front row again!

Stevie Gray, September 2009

He is a really funny comedian with good material and an even better rapport with his audience.

James Evans, December 2007

Really funny guy, my only complaint is I can't get to see him much - only twice in three years. But I love him.

Bronagh, November 2007

Seen him three times over several years now and loved him the first time. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to have been an iota of new material since then. He can't really be feeling good about it himself - the world has moved on.

Mark, October 2007

He came out to visit me and the boys in Iraq, so so funny. great lad.

Tommy, July 2006

Paul Tonkinson is one of the funniest, nicest comedians on the circuit.

Ange, January 2006

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