Gordon Southern
Note: This review is from 2001
How familiar this situation is becoming - another reasonable comic overstretching himself with an hour-long show containing about half an hour's material.
A one-man show should strive to be a real event with a proper sense of occasion, not just an extended set. Expectations are highe, and there needs to be a real sense of structure - meaning more than the odd use of the tried and tested callback trick of referring to previous gags.
Likeable Southern gets a decent laugh on more than one occasion (though you probably won't need more than two hands to count them) thanks to his whimsical comments on the most familiar of topics - flat-sharing, pornography, service stations - all hung on the loose theme of loneliness. But there's a fine line between talking about universal experiences and just regurgitating familiar observations - and Southern walks it shakily.
It's not a terrible show, but it is a pretty insignificant one.
Review date: 1 Jan 2001
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett