Dave Johns – Original Review
Note: This review is from 2007
Review by Steve Bennett
Few comics play the cheeky buffoon quite as well as Dave Johns. This ebullient Geordie, surely old enough to know better, is deceptively adept at just arsing around, producing a daft, playful set sure to bring a smile to your face.This is not a comedian who writes inspired or insightful material – it’s all rather pointless and juvenile, as his immaturely repetitive response to the Goldfinger theme tune so conclusively proves. Instead, his performance is all about creating the right spirit, which is something he unfailingly does.
He’s got the experience and the talent to know how to work a room, joshing with the audience one moment, drawing them in for something that seems intimate and serious the next, only to shatter the mood again with some more nonsense.
The structure of his set is quite loose – not to the extent that it’s entirely improvised or freeform, but enough to give it an air of freshness and a hint of unpredictability. Such fluid delivery, and a nice set response or two, means he can interact well with the audience.
Johns is no great innovator, nor has anything much to say. But he is an outstanding club comic, and living proof that you don’t need to be bland or hack to cut it at the more mainstream end of the circuit.
Review date: 3 Jul 2007
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett
