one4review | On 14, Aug 2013

I guess most people would be aware of Phil Nichol as a manic stand-up comedian, after all he has won awards for this, but there is far more in his armoury than just that. He is a very good actor winning awards here, a fine singer and guitar player but is always high energy. The publicity blurb indicates that he is sitting down doing reading a comedy story. Really? Nichol sitting down for an hour? Never!

Starting the story having survived a bomb attack in Afghanistan, Nichol relates to all a potted history of his life from his origins in Scotland through emigration to Canada his burgeoning romances and the marriage to Kate his wife and their subsequent problems. Although there is light and shade there are still plenty of laughs along the way.

I have seen him numerous times over the years as a stand-up and an actor so this amalgam of styles in this performance seems totally natural. I have heard some of his stories before in a stand-up vein but they translate comfortably to the more theatrical setting of this piece .I could also see this working well on radio too because the usual antics he gets up to which are visual, are not used as much here.