****

4 Star

Those who know of Phil Nichol, the winner of the if.comedy Award in 2006, will know that there is more than one string to his bow. There is Nichol the stand-up, Nichol the actor and he is a good singer and guitarist too, so I suppose it was almost inevitable that given his all round talents that he should choose a vehicle like this to showcase all of his abilities in one show.

Set in a sleezy run down jazz bar in Baltimore on 19/01/1974 Nichol plays Jazz beat poet Bobby Spade who is debuting his latest opus ‘Welcome to Crazytown.’

Nichol is backed by a tight jazz trio, a double bass, a keyboard and a clarinet / guitar player to back up himself on acoustic guitar and vocals. Now I have to admit to not being a jazz fan or for that matter a beat poetry fan, but given the quality of the performance delivered I may have to reassess my tastes.

As with all performances I have seen Nichol deliver, he puts he heart and soul into it and this is certainly no exception. He delivers a performance that is worthy of the work and the backing band is excellent also.

It is obvious that he loves this piece and so he should. I wonder if it had been at a different time slot and possibly in the theatre section it would have attracted more of an audience.

****

Reviewed by Geoff

Stand I  V 5

4 to 30 August

18-50 to 19-50

Fringe Brochure P 109