Rob Rouse

Rob Rouse

Rob Rouse got his first break in comedy by winning the So You Think You're Funny? new act competition in 1998. As well as stand-up, he also performed as part of the Big And Daft trio with Ian Boldsworth and Jon Williams from 1997 to 2002, taking three shows to the Edinburgh Fringe. In 2002 he took his first solo show to the Fringe.

TV credits include presenting the first series of The Friday Night Project on Channel 4, the C4 sketch show Spoons, and playing Mike in the first series of the BBC3 sitcom Grown Ups.

In 2016, he played Bottom in Ben Elton's Upstart Crow.

Read More

Rob Rouse: No Refunds

Edinburgh Fringe comedy review

Lockdown seems to have sent Rob Rouse more stir-crazy than most – and it’s a madness he delightedly embraces.

For a blockbuster opening, he dons a sparkly hat bow-tie and waistcoat to sing a rousing anthem to lowered expectations. He has a cane, wonderfully, and even toots on a pink trombone (not a euphemism) as he performs with all the vim of the Rockettes but the physicality of an out-of-shape middle-aged man. The fact that it’s marvellous rather undermines the message of the lyrics.

Rouse’s boyish looks, as seen as Bottom on Upstart Crow, have indeed weathered, but if the grey temples and beard suggest a maturity, the content of this comeback show defies that. In fact, the juxtaposition makes the silliness more potent.

There are strong flavours of Vic Reeves in No Refunds, in the cheerful commitment to surrealism and the ridiculous imagery. It's evident in sketches such a demonstration on how to enliven Zoom calls or his song in the persona of Neil Young, his mask making it look as if the veteran's face has melted into a hideous grotesque.

The introductory song warns that Rouse thinks it’s funny when things go on for far too long, and certainly several skits outstay their welcome. French teacher Gerard Fan Fan, explaining why nouns are gendered, on vous regarde…

Rouse loves the contrast between the mundane and the showy, and the main stand-up section is a paean to the Hope Valley Garden Centre near his Peak District home (and yes, this bit, which leads into the Neil Young parody goes on too long).

But when this show hits, it really zings with unrestrained silliness, sold on Rouse’s funny bones and childish zest for showing off. As a work in progress, this outing of No Refunds augers excellently for his live comeback.

• Rob Rouse: No Refunds is at Gilded Balloon Teviot at 9pm tonight.

Read More

Published: 19 Aug 2021

Upstart Crow

Gadzooks! After some high-profile flops in both hemispheres,…
9/05/2016

Rob Rouse

Rob Rouse is an energetic, effervescent performer,…
1/01/2003

Rob Rouse

With more zest and verve than a hyperactive seven-year-old…
1/01/2002

We see you are using AdBlocker software. Chortle relies on advertisers to fund this website so it’s free for you, so we would ask that you disable it for this site. Our ads are non-intrusive and relevant. Help keep Chortle viable.