Although I have been aware of Mark Watson for a number of years now and have seen him do a couple of ‘guest spots’ so on Friday 12 November at Dunfermline’s Alhambra Theatre this was the first time I had seen a full length show, and no it wasn’t one of his full length 24 hr marathons that at one time he was synonymous for, just an hour 50 or so as part of his latest tour.

Some comics make a grand entrance, but then Watson is not some comics. Unobtrusively I became aware that something was happening, there was typing being screened on stage and it was him, sitting quietly at the back of the stage typing funny comments on his laptop, certainly a different way of doing a warm-up.

In spite of, or maybe because of, a whole host of late comers interrupting proceedings, Watson started his show by being a little all over the place. That’s not saying he wasn’t funny, he just seemed rather distracted, starting stories, or opening windows as he described it, parking them, going elsewhere before returning to his original ideas.

The concept behind the title of his show is that he is nearly well known, TV appearances and advert campaigns he has featured in have led to him being ‘sort of’ recognised by taxi drivers and the like, yet he is not a household name like Derren Brown and Obama, two people he holds in high esteem.

For someone who is really a big name in the comedy world at least Watson is very self-effacing, often self deprecating, almost as he doesn’t really understand why he is as popular as he is. His many die hard fans in the 500 or so audience were with him through out, and I imagine he gained quite a few more over the course of the show. He is a very pleasant guy, as I observed after the show, always happy to talk to his fans and pose for photos too.

Watson is in the middle of his tour currently and the future dates can be found on his website www.markwatsonthecomedian.com For future gigs at The Alhambra check out their website www.alhambraddunfermline.com 

Reviewed by Geoff