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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.
Ian Threadgill
2/10/02
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