Tom Parry

Tom Parry

A member of sketch group Pappy's, Wolverhampton-born Tom Parry was nominated for best newcomer at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards in 2015 for his solo debut Yellow T-Shirt.

Pappy's, who made the BBC Three series Badults, have received several awards and titles since their formation in 2004, including Best Sketch, Character or Variety Act award from Chortle in 2008. They were also nominated for best show by the Edinburgh Comedy Awards in 2007 and 2012.

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Tom Parry: Parryoke!

Note: This review is from 2019

Edinburgh Fringe review by Steve Bennett

If you translate Tom Parry’s name into French it comes out as Joie De Vivre. 

Or it should, for the man just beams positivity. He’s the life and soul of every party; the guest at every wedding disco who’s the first to whip his tie off and wear it around his head. How do we know this? Because such contagious shedding of inhibitions to have unalloyed fun is at the very heart of Parryoake.

He knows his way around an evening-do dancefloor by now, having attended an impressive ten wedding in the past year (including one that featured a Swedish chef… but sadly not the Muppet one). His life has gone from music festivals to best man speeches, cannabis to canapes. 

And, of course, he’s still having a blast. Parry is the one man who’d be immune to Marie Kondo’s decluttering tips because for him everything sparks joy. He admires the same spirit in others, too, with a fantastic showbiz anecdote about Shane Ritchie doing something utterly bizarre entirely for his own entertainment.

Other examples of where he finds his simple pleasures include childhood games of British Bulldog and the karaoke suggested by the title. Choosing the right track to sing along to is crucial of course – providing one of several running jokes that give pattern to the knockabout hour. Another is the notion that the whole show is set in the 1990s to excuse his hilariously outdated reference points.

There are plenty of throwaway lines that are funny, too, with the comic doing especially fine work in spreading the genuine gender-neuter collective name for nieces and nephew: niblings. Isn’t that adorable?

Parry, who came to Fringe prominence via sketch group Pappy’s, is directing several other comedians’ shows this Fringe – and he certainly has a keen eye for structure. 

That includes the almost-obligatory heartfelt bit to stir the soul, before giving payback to most of his strands as he winds towards a typically upbeat conclusion to send the crowd away happy. For if you don’t emerge from a Tom Parry show without a broad smile on your face, you need to lay off the Botox.

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Published: 19 Aug 2019

Past Shows

Edinburgh Fringe 2006

Pappy's Fun Club


Edinburgh Fringe 2008

Pappy's Fun Club: Funergy


Edinburgh Fringe 2009

Pappy's: 200 Sketches In An Hour


Edinburgh Fringe 2015

Tom Parry: Yellow T-shirt


Edinburgh Fringe 2018

Beetlemania: Kafka for Kids!


Edinburgh Fringe 2019

Tom Parry: Parryoke!


Agent

We do not currently hold contact details for Tom Parry's agent. If you are a comic or agent wanting your details to appear here, for a one-off fee of £59, email steve@chortle.co.uk.

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