Review of the Taskmaster star at Soho Thearte

There are certain advantages to building a comic persona around being slapdash. With no expectations of slickness, anything that doesn’t quite land just reinforces the conceit… as long as it *is* a conceit and not genuine incompetence.

It’s a line Phil Ellis has learned to walk well, especially when combined his low-status backstory of being a man for whom life is not going too well. ‘The biggest loser in all of comedy,’ is how he’s introduced by his hype man, Tom Short – and he’s paid to big him up.

In truth, this opening segment – at least until Ellis makes his distinctive entrance – is one of those ideas that doesn’t properly come off, with the audience unsure what to make of Short, who in turn appears uncertain quite how sincere to be. That anyone brought here by Ellis’s Taskmaster success might not yet have a handle on his stage shtick probably adds to the awkwardness.

Ellis admits he’s not afraid of pregnant silences, and is happy to fess up when his crowd work turns clunky – although he also mocks the vacuity of audience interaction videos that have made a certain Liverpudlian comedian very wealthy indeed. 

Such sniping definitely comes from a low-status position, however. Ellis’s huge life achievement is that in his mid-40s, he finally moved out of his flat-share and into a tiny studio, via a stay with his parents in Preston. And if that sounds bleak, wait till you hear his career history or even the full details of a truly wretched gig on a farm – though he’s always cheerful about how grim things seem.

That’s the appealing essence of his humour. There’s a darkness beneath much of the material which he gloriously underplays, acting the fool and making daft mischief.

Bath Mat – the title seems meaningless – is a redux of his Edinburgh show Soppy Stern that introduced us to his parents and other family members. Wisely, I think, much of the biographical details have been played down, as Ellis’s real life seems more vivid when we can extrapolate from small glances, and focus on shenanigans.

While there are stories here ranging from murder and dead pets to tender parental moments, Ellis is resolutely not a serious man seeking cultural kudos. He’s an old-school entertainer, always joshing with a jolly physicality and daft demeanour, which works especially well when he’s ad-libbing. 

When things don’t quite go smoothly, he  leans into the Shambles he creates with his hugely affable shtick, and soon wins  over those lost by the faltering opening.  Yes, there are some lulls in this Soho Theatre run, ahead of a full tour kicking off in February, but also just enough moments of inspired insanity to make for a stupidly fun hour.

» Phil Ellis tour dates 

Review date: 12 Dec 2025
Reviewed by: Steve Bennett
Reviewed at: Soho Theatre