Mark Thomas's sister, who is training for the priesthood, describes him, he tells us, as "a prophet, preparing for a better way." While I understand why he responds to this allegation with a blizzard of profanity, I also see her point. Few comedians, if any, have the heart and the courage to tackle the sort of subject matter he does. Fewer still would be able to make it funny. The man is a national treasure, and to be able to see him up close and personal, in a local venue, where he can usher people to the front with the promise that he's "user-friendly", well it's a ****ing privilege.
Yes, he swears a lot. And he will say some shockingly rude things. But the sheer joy with which he does so makes it not just OK, but vaguely necessary. He's been doing stand-up for, I dunno, over ten years, at least, and his aura of simple matiness belies a finely honed comic talent. Witness how he instantly silences a laughing audience into rapt attention with a barely perceptible change of tone.
He's not quite a prophet : he doesn't offer a yellow brick road to a sane future. But you can tell he's still thinking about it. He does point out what doesn't work, and he's clearly been looking deeply at the motivations of governments and individuals. In spite of which, he's still very funny. His caricature of the editor of the New Statesman alone is worth the price of admission.
This series of shows is how he develops his material. It will be the same show, refined, each week. As he explained : "You'll have the chance to say you saw it when it was shit." No such luck.
Yes, he swears a lot. And he will say some shockingly rude things. But the sheer joy with which he does so makes it not just OK, but vaguely necessary. He's been doing stand-up for, I dunno, over ten years, at least, and his aura of simple matiness belies a finely honed comic talent. Witness how he instantly silences a laughing audience into rapt attention with a barely perceptible change of tone.
He's not quite a prophet : he doesn't offer a yellow brick road to a sane future. But you can tell he's still thinking about it. He does point out what doesn't work, and he's clearly been looking deeply at the motivations of governments and individuals. In spite of which, he's still very funny. His caricature of the editor of the New Statesman alone is worth the price of admission.
This series of shows is how he develops his material. It will be the same show, refined, each week. As he explained : "You'll have the chance to say you saw it when it was shit." No such luck.