Simon Amstell (Regents Park Open Air Theatre,28.06.15)
What a lovely day yesterday was. The sort of day that temporarily makes you forget that your life is going completely awry. In something approaching a good mood, I went to the beautiful Regents Park Open Air Theatre to see Simon Amstell's last performance of "To Be Free".
Alex Edelman opened the show, largely reprising the material he had performed on The John Bishop Show the night before with some additional musings about Glastonbury. It was an assured 25 minutes, thought his newer material is not yet at the standard that earned him the Best Newcomer crown at Edinburgh last year.
There's currently a vast mirror behind the stage at the theatre which is being used.during the week for a production of "The Seagull" by Anton Chekhov. It feels like an appropriate backdrop for an hour of Simon Amstell's introspective musings. I've related to his bleak existential mindset in the past (he ended a previous set with the words "Remember, death is coming"), but this show presents a slightly cheerier Amstell. He gets a great deal of laughs early on by treading the line of arrogance and self-loathing usually occupied by the likes of Daniel Kitson ("I'm not a horrible person, I'm a vunerable brilliant clown").
His turbulent relationship with his parents and in particular his father draws some intriguing details, given an additional frisson with the revelation that his mother and his boyfriend's mother are in the audience tonight. Quite what the latter would have thought about Amstell's feelings towards her son at the end of the set is anyone's guess. But it demonstrates the raw honesty that has become his stock in trade. By the finale, Amstell seems to have moved closer to the contentment he strives for at the show's opening.
He's not someone I would ordinarily associate with great stage physicality but Amstell uses his spindly frame to great effect, mimicking a performance artist he witnessed writhing around on the floor with a piece of paper over his face. "And no-one was laughing!". That was not the case here. "To Be Free" is intelligent, accessible and superbly written. Amstell has become a supremely impressive stand-up.
Alex Edelman opened the show, largely reprising the material he had performed on The John Bishop Show the night before with some additional musings about Glastonbury. It was an assured 25 minutes, thought his newer material is not yet at the standard that earned him the Best Newcomer crown at Edinburgh last year.
There's currently a vast mirror behind the stage at the theatre which is being used.during the week for a production of "The Seagull" by Anton Chekhov. It feels like an appropriate backdrop for an hour of Simon Amstell's introspective musings. I've related to his bleak existential mindset in the past (he ended a previous set with the words "Remember, death is coming"), but this show presents a slightly cheerier Amstell. He gets a great deal of laughs early on by treading the line of arrogance and self-loathing usually occupied by the likes of Daniel Kitson ("I'm not a horrible person, I'm a vunerable brilliant clown").
His turbulent relationship with his parents and in particular his father draws some intriguing details, given an additional frisson with the revelation that his mother and his boyfriend's mother are in the audience tonight. Quite what the latter would have thought about Amstell's feelings towards her son at the end of the set is anyone's guess. But it demonstrates the raw honesty that has become his stock in trade. By the finale, Amstell seems to have moved closer to the contentment he strives for at the show's opening.
He's not someone I would ordinarily associate with great stage physicality but Amstell uses his spindly frame to great effect, mimicking a performance artist he witnessed writhing around on the floor with a piece of paper over his face. "And no-one was laughing!". That was not the case here. "To Be Free" is intelligent, accessible and superbly written. Amstell has become a supremely impressive stand-up.
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